Product Owner

A product owner is a Scrum team role that's accountable for the product's outcome and responsible for maximizing its value.

The Product Owner is accountable for effective Product Backlog management, which includes:

• Developing and explicitly communicating the Product Goal
• Creating and clearly communicating Product Backlog Items
• Ordering Product Backlog Items
• Ensuring that the Product Backlog is transparent, visible and understood

The Product Owner may do this work or delegate the responsibility to others on the Scrum Team. Regardless of who does the work, the Product Owner remains accountable for it being accomplished and for the value delivered.

Far beyond Product Backlog management, it is critical for the Product Owner to earn the respect of the entire organization in order to get the support they need for the decisions they make. This is key to a Product Owner’s success. These decisions need to be transparent in the Product Backlog, and through the Increment of work shared at the Sprint Review.

Remember, the Product Owner is one person, not a committee. They also represent the needs of many stakeholders in the Product Backlog. If someone in the organization wants a change in the Product Backlog, they need to discuss this with the Product Owner and try to convince them. But at the end of the day, the Product Owner makes the decision. The Product Owner should also be getting feedback from customers on the product.?