A great product owner acts as the CEO of a product.
They are also the glue that binds the scrum team and product stakeholders together with the objective of creating the most valuable product, service, or feature.
They collaborate with others to solve the most compelling problems and develop solutions that have never existed before.
Customers
A great product owner works with a Business Model Canvas and a Value Proposition Canvas to fully understand customers and their requirements.
They look at customers from multiple angles, trying to understand the jobs that customers are trying to achieve, the pains they are trying to avoid and the gains they are trying to make.
A great product owner works closely with customers to determine what needs to be built and what problems need to be solved.
They serve as the voice of the customer within the organisation and use their knowledge of the product environment to creatively connect potential opportunities with existing problems.
Internally
A product owner acts as the custodian of the product and helps to map out the vision and purpose of the product to the development team as well as the organisation.
They work closely with developers to create a backlog of items and prioritise that backlog in order of importance and capability.
Product Owners provide feedback to the developers and guide them toward the best solution.
They often create user stories to help developers understand the purpose of the specific item and they play a critical role in connecting developers with customers and product stakeholders.
Product Stakeholders
A product owner is also the interface between the scrum team and the product stakeholders.
Product owners communicate all elements of the product development process to various stakeholders and work with Scrum Masters to alleviate potential impediments to progress within the organisation.
Product Owners manage risk, costs, and communicate progress regarding goals and objectives.
Effectively managing expectations and acting as a conduit for stakeholder feedback to the developers.
In some instances, the product owner is the CEO or founder of a start-up organisation. They have an idea, a vision and a purpose and work with teams to make that vision manifest.
In essence, a great Product Owner is the individual who takes ownership of the product and works closely with others to continuous improvement of the product, service or feature.
If you would like to become a Product Owner, visit our Certified Scrum Product Owner course page as well as the Advanced Certified Scrum Product Owner course page.
Frequently Asked Product Ownership Questions
- What is the difference between a Product Owner and a Project Manager?
- How is a product owner different to a product manager?
- Is a product owner a member of the development team?
- Do you need project management experience to be a Product Owner?
- How does a Product Owner integrate into a Scrum Team?
- Do project managers traditionally make great product owners?
- Is the product owner role a great fit for people in creative industries?
- Is there different levels of seniority for product owners?
- What are career opportunities for a Product Owner?
- What do Product Owners do?
- Do you need to be a developer to be a product owner for a software company?
- Can you create a Product Ownership role in a company that doesn’t do Scrum?
- What are some great traits of a product owner?
- How will I know if a product owner role is a great fit for me?
- Do product owners attend daily scrums?
- Do product owners interact and engage with project stakeholders?
- How does a product owner integrate into a marketing team?
- Do entrepreneurs make great product owners?
Frequently Asked Product Owner Training Questions
- What is a Certified Scrum Product Owner?
- Will I be able to lead product development after doing a CSPO course?
- What will you learn on a CSPO course?
- How well recognised and respected is the CSPO course?
- What do you need to know to sign up for the CSPO course?
- How well does a CSPO course prepare you to be a product owner?
- Do I get textbooks and course materials as part of my CSPO course?
- What would be a good certification path for a Product Owner?
- Are there different CSPO certifications and how do they differ?
- How long is the CSPO course and how is it configured?
- Is the CSPO course theoretical or practical?
- Do companies invest in CSPO courses or is it primarily individuals?
- How do I progress as a Product Owner?
- Would you recommend the CSPO course for entrepreneurs?