The Product Owner represents the interests of the stakeholder community to the Scrum Team. The Product Owner is responsible for ensuring clear communication of product or service functionality requirements to the Scrum Team, defining Acceptance Criteria, and ensuring those criteria are met.
In other words, the Product Owner is responsible for ensuring that the Scrum Team delivers value. The Product Owner must always maintain a dual view. He or she must understand and support the needs and interests of all stakeholders, while also understanding the needs and workings of the Scrum Team. The Product Owner must understand the needs and priorities of the stakeholders, including customers and users.
Responsibilities of the Product Owner in Scrum Processes
|
Process |
Product Owner Responsibilities |
|
Create Project Vision |
|
|
Identify Scrum Master and Stakeholder(s) |
|
|
Form Scrum Team |
|
|
Develop Epic(s) |
|
|
Create Prioritized Product Backlog |
|
|
Conduct Release Planning |
|
|
Create User Stories |
|
|
Estimate User Stories |
|
|
Commit User Stories |
|
|
Identify Tasks |
|
|
Estimate Tasks |
|
|
Create Sprint Backlog |
|
|
Create Deliverables |
|
|
Groom Prioritized Product Backlog |
|
|
Demonstrate and Validate Sprints |
|
|
Ship Deliverables |
|
|
Retrospect Project |
|
Some other important responsibilities of a Product Owner are:
- Determining the project’s initial overall requirements and kicking off project activities; this may involve interaction with the Program Product Owner and the Portfolio Product Owner to ensure that the project aligns with direction provided by senior management.
- Representing user(s) of the product or service with a thorough understanding of the user community
- Securing the initial and ongoing financial resources for the project.
- Focusing on value creation and overall Return on Investment (ROI).
- Assessing the viability and ensuring the delivery of the product or service.
