A Product Owner's core responsibility is to represent the customer to the development team. It is critical to manage and identify improvements in the product backlog or the prioritised list of requirements for future product development. In fact, the Product Owner is the only person who has the authority to change the order in which items in the product backlog are prioritised.
One uncommon part of Product Owner responsibilities is that you must always be available to the development team to answer any queries they may have about the customer's perspective on how they're implementing a product feature.
Who is a Product Owner?
The fact that the product owner’s role is new and thus have uncertainties. It began as part of the Scrum agile software development framework, which has only been around for a few decades. Businesses in areas other than software began to adopt Scrum and agile as the framework got more prominent, providing positions for product owners.
The product owner is a tactical member of the development team in some businesses. In certain cases, the work is more strategic and geared toward representing customers' wants and interests. Other businesses appoint product owners to supervise development sprints.
Major Responsibilities of a Product Owner
Let's take a closer look at the essential tasks and responsibilities of a product owner:
- Converting product managers' strategies into development responsibilities -
When it is said that product owners manage the backlog, it does not mean that they just shuffled existing user stories and other task-level data. Product owners need to be more proactive. They are often in charge of drafting (or at least revising) these stories into tasks that the development team can complete.
- Keeping a line of communication open with development to answer the questions -
The development team may be unsure about a certain job allocated to them while working on stories and other activities during a sprint. They might not comprehend why a user storey instructs them to design the product's functionality in a certain way, for example.
They may also believe they have a faster, more efficient way to build the feature, but are concerned whether doing so will adversely impact product management's strategic objective. In these cases, the development team should seek answers and assistance from the product owner. The team will need these answers fast because the company's development sprints are time-limited—usually two weeks or a month at the most. As a result, the product owner should be available to the development team and ready to answer their inquiries as soon as possible.
- Assisting in the coordination of product and development -
The big-picture goals and strategies for a product's success are set by product managers. The actual (or digital) product is built by the engineering or development teams. However, there is a lot of leeway for interpretation—and misinterpretation—between these two extremities of the product development continuum.
Product owners serve as a link between the development and product teams. They explain the product manager's vision and what each product's area is supposed to do for its users in English. This allows them to explain the how and why behind all of the user stories and other tasks they're prioritising to the development team.
- Understanding the market and the needs of your consumers -
Product owners must understand their market and customer needs in order to be beneficial in converting their company's strategic plan into the appropriate execution processes.
Working with product managers to identify what challenges they're trying to tackle with the product, what customer wants or desires have influenced their product strategy, and what the team considers product success are common examples of this. Gaining this high-level understanding of the market, customer personas and product strategy aids product owners in performing various tactical functions on a daily basis, including:
- Breaking down the epics of product management into user stories.
- Sprint planning and prioritisation.
- Keeping track of progress at every level of growth.
- Answering queries from developers regarding the reasoning behind user stories or tasks.
- Organizing and prioritising the backlog of products -
Because it collects and prioritises the development team's user stories to work on in forthcoming sprints, the product backlog is a crucial document for agile businesses.
Whether or not a business uses the agile sprint paradigm, product owners will spend a significant amount of time and effort assessing the development backlog and prioritising what the developers should work on next. This ensures that the team follows the product management team's strategic goals and priorities when executing.
- Creating a vision -
The agile product owner is a member of the product development team who defines goals and creates a vision for development projects utilising their high-level viewpoint.
Customers, business managers and the development team are all stakeholders with whom product owners must communicate to ensure that goals are clear and the vision is aligned with business objectives.
- Involving in Daily Scrum, Sprint Planning Meetings, and Sprint Reviews and Retrospectives -
Scrum ceremonies allow the Product Owner to review and adapt his or her work. As a result, attendance at these ceremonies is synonymous with success. It is critical for the product owner to attend Scrum meetings as it not only keeps the development team informed about the goals but also helps the product owner understand the team's perspective if any obstacles arise.
- If it is judged that a significant change in a direction is required, a Sprint should be terminated -
The product owner might cancel the sprint if the Sprint goal has no meaning (will not create business value) due to the excessive change. The termination is usually the result of a dramatic shift in corporate objectives; something previously deemed critical is no longer required, or something even more important is discovered.
What do they do?
On the one hand, the Product Owner collaborates with stakeholders to obtain the appropriate requirements or to create new requirements that they may not be aware of or understand at the time. This not only strengthens our relationship with our customers but also contributes to the development of trust. The Product Owner, on the other hand, assists the delivery team/development team in comprehending the vision and needs. As a result, its job functions similarly to that of a bridge between the two ends, thereby paving the way for good communication.
How to become a product owner?
A solid understanding of the product, as well as analytical and strategic skills, are required to become a product owner. The market and stakeholders must be understood by someone who wants to delve deep and become a good product owner. He or she should be able to build a vision and know when to juggle product backlog items so that the bucket is always prioritised.
Challenges that a Product Owner comes across
The following are the primary issues that a Product Owner is most likely to face:
- A road map for the product is missing.
- Acceptance criteria at a high level
- Investing too much time in product support rather than taming the backlog.
- Changing priorities in the middle of a sprint
Working around the product road map, focusing on high-value backlog items, creating precise acceptance criteria, focussing on grooming quality backlog items, and avoiding disruptive sprints are all ways for Product Owners to avoid these common traps.
What will be the learning path for the role of the Product Owner?
Are you a business analyst who is having trouble figuring out what your new responsibilities as a Product Owner entail? Are you interested in working as a Product Owner? Or do you want to get a better knowledge of the Scrum Framework and the Product Owner role? Then join iCert Global on our path to become a great Product Owner.
What are the benefits of obtaining a CSPO certification with iCert Global?
A well-trained Product Owner makes important product decisions in every high-functioning Agile team. A Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO) is one such credential that prepares holders to be successful product owners by teaching them about on-time delivery of high-value releases and maximising ROI.
As a result, the globally recognised CSPO certification is a career-defining credential for anyone interested in taking on the tough role of Product Owner on a Scrum team.
Future of a product owner
For Scrum teams, a Product Owner is essential. This function is comparable to that of a deeply rooted tree with a solid foundation on the product side and vision, approach, and planned execution on the outer side. The product owners are responsible for the product's quality and delivery in accordance with the stakeholder's expectations.
A Product Owner must have a holistic view of the product, including business understanding, go-to-market preparedness, organisational readiness, and product capabilities. To ensure product success, all of these should be managed, coordinated, and aligned.
CSPO® Certified Professionals is in demand
Product Owners have a plethora of opportunities in today's industry. With Scrum being used by 90% of modern teams, the demand for Certified Scrum Product Owners has skyrocketed. Their presence on an Agile team ensures a quick return on investment while optimising business value. The following are some of the reasons why Product Owners are so important:
- 38 percent of Product Owners are accountable for maintaining interactions with Stakeholders as an intermediary.
- Product Owners account for 24% of all project business considerations and work directly with customers.
- 15% of Product Owners interact directly with the Scrum team.
Who is a Certified Scrum Product owner?
A Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO) is someone who has been trained in Scrum terminology, methods, and concepts by a Certified Scrum Trainer and is capable of fulfilling the job of Scrum Product Owner.
Conclusion
A product owner must pay close attention to both customers and software developers. This reality is most evident in their work defining features and prioritising development, but it is also evident in their responsibility for a product's vision.
A product owner and a project manager, for example, are equally responsible for project outcomes. While the product owner is concerned with how to create a product that meets the needs of stakeholders and end users, the project manager is concerned with meeting delivery deadlines and making efficient use of resources.
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