What does it mean to be a Product Owner in Scrum

1. Being a Product
Owner
Helen Meek

2. Strategy
Understands the goals & priorities of the
organisation
Defines & owns the future product roadmap
Understands & analyses what our competitors are
doing
Validates hypotheses by engaging research
Thinks outside the box for the next innovation

3. Value
Defines how the value of the
outcomes can be measured and
monitored on a regular basis
Owner of the budget Understands how to prioritise the
backlog based upon effort, value
and the goals of the organisation
Responsible for validating ideas
quickly through incremental
delivery

4. Stakeholder
Management
Works with internal & external customers to
understand changing business needs
Captures future work on the product backlog
A focal point for stakeholders to engage with
Gathers feedback on released features to validate or
grow the product further
Champions the team and encourages people to
attend key review sessions
Brings alignment to areas where differing opinions
are present

5. Sprinting
Shares the vision, goal
and roadmap on a
regular basis
Owns the release plan,
as well as the overall
roadmap
Works with team to
create vertically sliced
user stories
Drives the refinement
process
Owns the prioritised
product backlog
Creates the goals of a
sprint and shares with
the team
Can terminate the sprint Attends the Daily Scrum
Attends the Sprint
Planning
Available to answer
questions when the team
requires it
Attends the retrospective
Collaborates with the
team throughout the
Sprint
Owns the Sprint Review.
Works with team to
showcase, gather
feedback and share
product performance

6. Skills &
Attributes
Has authority to make decisions
Can say ‘No’
Can resolve conflict over differing ideas
Open minded & curious
Great communication skills & Stakeholder Management
Responsible
Great product & domain knowledge
Entrepreneurial & visionary
Knows when to cut losses

7. Useful Practices
Visioning
Techniques
Impact
Mapping
Value Stream
Mapping
Product
Canvas’s
Opportunity
Canvas’s
Kano Analysis
Personas User Stories
Story Telling
(Steve Denning)
The 3 C’s (Card,
conversation &
confirmation)
User Story
Mapping
9 Story Slicing
Patterns
Proto Types &
Mock Ups
Behaviour
Driven
Development
Acceptance
Test Driven
Development
Real Options
Theory
Incremental &
Iterative
Development
Kanban for
managing
Ideation
Lean Start Up

8. In Summary
They are responsible for WHAT problem needs solving,
WHY it needs solving,
WHO it needs solving for
and WHEN it needs to be solved by.
• They are trusted by their organisation to own the Product.
• They are a Visionary Leader, who understands how to disrupt their market and
create value.
• They are held accountable to the value that they create for their customers and
ensuring and fabulous return on investment.
• Avoids pressuring the team to go beyond a sustainable pace.
Mark Summers - Agile Coach