The Product Owner is one of the three accountabilities defined in Scrum.
What exactly is a Product Owner, and what are their specific responsibilities? The Scrum Guide defines the role as follows:
The Product Owner is accountable for maximizing the value of the product resulting from the work of the Scrum Team. How this is done may vary widely across organizations, Scrum Teams, and individuals.
The Scrum Guide
The Product Owner is also accountable for effective Product Backlog management.
A product is co-created with Developers and the Scrum Master. Within that collaboration, the Product Owner is the individual primarily accountable for the product’s ROI (Return on Investment).
The guide further elaborates:
For Product Owners to succeed, the entire organization must respect their decisions. These decisions are visible in the content and ordering of the Product Backlog, and through the inspectable Increment at the Sprint Review.
The Scrum Guide
The Product Owner is one person, not a committee. The Product Owner may represent the needs of many stakeholders in the Product Backlog. Those wanting to change the Product Backlog can do so by trying to persuade the Product Owner.
As stated, a single individual holds final accountability for the prioritization of Product Backlog items (PBIs). To fulfill the accountability of maximizing product value, they perform 'effective Product Backlog management,' which the Scrum Guide illustrates with the following examples:
The Scrum Guide
- Developing and explicitly communicating the Product Goal;
- Creating and clearly communicating Product Backlog items;
- Ordering Product Backlog items; and,
- Ensuring that the Product Backlog is transparent, visible and understood.
Product Backlog Items (PBIs) are the elements that make up the Product Backlog. All items must be sequenced according to priority. Determining this order is a vital responsibility of the Product Owner; even if the order is decided in collaboration with the Scrum Master, Developers, or stakeholders, the Product Owner remains solely accountable for the outcome. These decisions are made transparent through the content and ordering of the Product Backlog, as well as the inspectable Increment during the Sprint Review.
Additionally, 'developing and explicitly communicating the Product Goal' is a crucial part of the role. The Product Goal was introduced in the November 2020 update of the Scrum Guide. It describes a future state of the product which can serve as a target for the Scrum Team to plan against, and it is contained within the Product Backlog. You could say that Product Backlog items represent the 'What' needed to achieve the Product Goal. The Product Owner must develop the Product Goal by continuously evaluating business conditions, the organization’s overall strategic positioning, and market business value.
The Product defined in the Scrum Guide is not limited to software or physical items. It could be a service or something even more abstract. In any case, Scrum requires one individual to be the Product Owner. Here, we present a Product Owner Checklist for those who are about to take on the role or are currently in it. While these points focus on the fundamentals found in the Scrum Guide, your first goal should be to answer "Yes" to all of them.
How did you do? Even focusing on the basics, the Product Owner's role is multifaceted, and the necessary skills and knowledge vary depending on the product. Being a Product Owner is a demanding role, but passion for the product is more important than anything else. With the support of your Scrum Master, Developers, and stakeholders, let's grow together with your product.
Odd-e Japan offers Certified Scrum Product Owner® (CSPO®) training, a Scrum Alliance® certified program.
Courses are led by Kazumasa Ebata (ebacky), CEO of Odd-e Japan and a Certified Scrum Trainer® (CST®). We also frequently host sessions with guest trainers from overseas.
The CSPO® training conducted by Kazumasa Ebata (ebacky) uses an approach where the agenda is co-created with the participants. (*This flexible, participant-driven style, without a fixed agenda, is reserved for highly experienced CSTs®). Below are examples of topics covered in past sessions:
Odd-e Japan Official Training
- Introduction
- History
- Scrum Overview
- Scrum Roles
- Scrum Events (Ceremonies)
- Scrum Artifacts
- Role Play
- Product Discovery
- Initial Product Backlog Creation
- Product Backlog Maintenance
- Minimum Expectations During a Sprint
- Collaboration with the Team
- Acceptance Criteria and 'Done'
- Technology & Engineering
- Scaling Scrum
By attending CSPO® training, you will gain foundational knowledge and insights such as:
Odd-e Japan Official Training
- Become a (more effective) Product Owner for your organization and team.
- Develop the skills to serve as a (better) Product Owner for your team.
- Experience the real-world challenges of making tough decisions during Product Backlog creation and prioritization.
- Enhance your contributions as a Scrum Team member.
- Develop the skills to serve as a (better) Scrum Master for your team.
- Effectively explain Scrum to others in your capacity as a Product Owner.
- Gain the ability to effectively manage and control scope in product development.
- Learn how to measure and reduce 'time-to-market' through Scrum practice.
- Identify common illusions and pitfalls that people face during product development through experiential learning.
- Gain actionable insights for improving project management and product development, even if you cannot immediately implement full Scrum.
We offer Certified Scrum Product Owner® (CSPO®) training.
Register via the link below.