A look behind the scenes: The role of a Product Owner
The Product Owner is responsible for the WHAT not the HOW
In general, the Product Owner is accountable for maximising the value of the product resulting from the work of the Scrum team. That includes multiple activities like developing the product goal, clear communication of the product backlog items, prioritising the product backlog items and ensuring that the product backlog is transparent, visible, and understandable. That means the Product Owner is responsible for the WHAT not the HOW and takes care of the product strategy (=what gets created and in which order). Product Owners are not responsible for the development process (=how the features are created). The tasks of the Product Owner can be done by his or her own or can be delegated to other people. However, important is that the Product Owner remains accountable.
Can we have more than one Product Owner in Scrum?
The clear answer is NO. The Product Owner is one person, not a committee. They may represent the needs of many stakeholders in the product backlog, but only one person is acting as a Product Owner. When Scrum teams become too large, it is useful to consider a reorganisation into multiple Scrum teams supporting a single product. Ideally, a Scrum team consists of a group of 10 people or fewer. If you want to follow the approach of multiple Scrum teams, then this is possible. However, please keep in mind that the Scrum teams are sharing ONE product goal, ONE product backlog, ONE Product Owner and a common Definition of Done (=criteria for determining if a product increment is complete). Having multiple Product Owners (e.g. one PO per Scrum Team) could lead to problems such as disagreement on the strategy.
Product Owner vs. Scrum Master
Two roles that are often confused with one another are the Scrum Master and the Product Owner. The Scrum Master leads the agile development team and supports the Product Owner by relaying updates to relevant employees. The Scrum Master is responsible for managing the process of Scrum, for keeping the team organised and run smoothly by facilitating meetings, for helping the team with any impediments and holding the team members accountable for their commitments.
Product Owners, however, manage the product backlog, the list of all features, and tasks that need to be completed to ensure the company gains maximum value from the product.
Both roles are essential for a successful implementation of Scrum, but the Product Owner focuses on the product vision and the maximisation of its value, while the Scrum Master focuses on facilitating the Scrum process and supporting the team to work effectively and efficiently.
Key roles and responsibilities of a Product Owner
1. Acting as the liaison between teams and stakeholders
The Product Owner is the most important communicator and the connector between stakeholders and teams. As such, they must be experts in communication and ensure that all important decisions and strategies are supported by the stakeholders and that the developers receive clear instructions and deliverables. The PO acts as the primary point of contact for all stakeholders (e.g. customers, partners, executives and other departments) on all matters that are related to the product.
2. Connecting with the customer
Basic and simple rule: Focus on Customer Centricity. The Product Owner should know what the customer wants and needs. The knowledge of the customer is always the baseline for the next steps and decisions along the process. Otherwise, it can happen that the product is developed by passing the customer’s needs and as a result the product will not be accepted. To avoid wasting time and money, the focus should always lie on the customer no matter what they consume (e.g. products, software, services, APIs or any other solutions). Therefore, it is important to identify problems and pain points that customers want and need to be solved. The Product Owner needs to address a range of customer needs to deliver a whole-product solution. They are able to do so by understanding the entire Customer Journey and Experience to maximise customer satisfaction rather than focusing on a single need.
3. Contributing to the vision and roadmap
The PO defines and manages the product vision, strategy and roadmap, based on the customer and stakeholder needs and market research. Market rhythms, market events, competitive threats, etc. can influence the product strategy significantly. Therefore, it is important to understand the market forces by analysing the market and to understand the drivers that trigger feature requests. The Product Owner needs to represent the perspective of the end users and how they interact with solutions and features. Communication between the Product Owner and the team is essential for the success. The Product Owner helps to ensure that the vision and the roadmap are reflected in the backlog and communicated to the team to ensure that the teams are aligned.
4. Managing and prioritising the team backlog
Here are some tips and tricks to manage and prioritise your backlog:
– Do not lose control over your backlog – A very common mistake is that backlogs are too extensive. The larger the backlog list, the more difficult it is to manage, which can lead to a mess and is impossible to maintain.
– Stick to one product backlog – Order, maintain and own one product backlog and do not keep separate lists.
– Focus on value above all else – The product backlog isn’t just a wish list of every idea that people pass on to you. Be intentional about what goes in the backlog. The rule is very simple: If it doesn’t have value, that’s your cue to remove it.
– Reorder the product backlog continuously – The product backlog is a living artifact. It is an emergent, ordered list of what is needed to improve the product and the single source of work undertaken by the Scrum team. The ordering of the product backlog may change from week to week, so make sure you keep the product backlog up to date on a constantly basis.
– Make the backlog transparent – Make the product backlog transparent for all the stakeholders and the Scrum team. Every sprint starts with the sprint planning and in every meeting you need an ordered product backlog so that the Development Team can create an actionable plan for the Sprint.
5. Feedback for continuous improvement
The Product Owner is accountable for the product and should gather feedback at each iteration and needs to adapt the product backlog based on that feedback. One way is, for example, using a sprint retrospective to conclude a sprint and to plan ways to increase the quality and effectiveness of upcoming sprints.
Ready to fulfil this role?
As you can see, the Product Owner plays a crucial role in bridging the gap between business stakeholders and the development team, ensuring that the product meets the business objectives and delivers value to the customers. Having clear and effective communication and an ability to prioritise and make decisions on what features to include, should be key assets for a Product Owner. To be successful in this role, it is very important to have a strong presence, demonstrate leader- and ownership of the product and inspire others to share and contribute to the vision and goals of the product.
Source:
https://www.scrum.org/resources/scrum-guide
https://scaledagileframework.com/product-owner/
https://www.simplilearn.com/what-is-a-product-owner-article
Author:
Markus Kittenberger
