Roles and responsibilities of product owner

Top 6 important roles and responsibilities of Product Owner you need to know!

Product management has risen to prominence globally as a result of the development of artificial intelligence and machine learning as well as rising consumerism. Whether it's in major Fortune 500 companies or startups, there is an increasing demand for effective product management. The certified Scrum Product Owner role is a stepping stone in Product Management.

The Product owner owns the business plan and is accountable for revenue generation. In fact, it is the product owner's job to make the product a reality and maximize return on investment.

The Scrum Guide does outline a few duties for the Product Owner role, however, different companies have their unique interpretations of this. Product Owners are responsible for both Strategical and Tactical tasks.

• The Product Owner then ensures that the development team is informed of the overall product vision. Additionally, the product is created by the development team exactly as the Product Owner had envisioned it.

• The Product Owner is particularly task-oriented. They will document software specifications, test the final product developed by the development team, take part in the sprint review, and ensure that user stories are finished sequentially.

Who is a Product Owner? 

A Scrum team can't function without a Product Owner.

They are responsible for managing the backlog of work items for their teams. A backlog is simply a list of work items that the Scrum teams need to complete. The backlog is like the holy grail for any Product creation whereas the user stories are just one of the ways to represent a product requirement.

The Product owner is responsible for prioritizing Backlog items. They supervise the product backlog by ensuring that its priorities are current and in line with the product vision. As they represent the business or user they are also accountable for collaborating with the stakeholders to define which features will be included in the product release.

Why do we need a Product Owner?

The business plan belongs to the product owner, who is also accountable for revenue generation. Making the product a reality and maximizing return on investment are, in fact, the duties of the product owner. For the product to flourish, the entire organization must respect the Product Owner's judgments. 

Simply put, all actions, choices, and outcomes are the product owner's responsibility. They find products for their consumers rather than customers for the product. One might say that great product owners are visionary.

The product owner prioritizes needs. To put it another way, they must balance the three factors of scope, budget, and time, balancing priorities in terms of the demands and goals of all parties involved.

A product owner primarily manages 3 important aspects

1. Scope 

2. Budget

3. Time

for instance, if the product being developed must be released within six months it constrains the scope of the project. To decide how and when to develop the product at each iteration, the product owner will need to assess which elements of the project have flexibility and which don't.

Roles and Responsibilities of a product owner

1. Defining the Vision

• The Product Owner is in charge of setting objectives and creating the product vision.

• Despite the flexible and frequently quick-paced nature of product development, having a product owner with a higher perspective ensures that the team retains a unified vision. For a project to succeed, everyone involved must be on the same page.

• By developing a Product Roadmap, a product owner aids the team in maintaining the goal. The product roadmap is a strategic visual summary that maps out the vision and direction of the product.

2. Managing the product backlog

• The task of building up a backlog of items and assigning them based on the objectives falls to the product owner.

• The Product Owner compiles the backlog of items and prioritizes them in accordance with the overall strategy and company goals.

• The product backlog isn't just a list of things to do. It is a dynamic list that needs to be updated often in response to changing requirements as it develops.

3. Overseeing development stages and Prioritizing needs

• The product owner must prioritize the items in the product backlog in a way that yields the best results. There are many tools to assist product owners in accomplishing this.

• Under the supervision of the product owner the Scrum team works first on those segments that are most important and when completed are released to the user or customer for their feedback. 

• The order in which tasks are completed during a sprint is another crucial component that influences the achievement of goals.

4. Evaluating Product Progress at each iteration 

• It is crucial that the product owner communicates and involves the Scrum development team in the organizational visions.

• The product owner should respond to all team inquiries and consider any recommendations for modifying, eliminating, or enhancing the user's goals. This is essential for user feedback and for motivating the team.

• Once the vision, strategy, and product priorities have been established the product owner should devote a significant amount of time to overseeing the actual development of the product 

• They play an integral role in all phases of the event, including planning, prioritizing, reviewing, retrospecting, and sprinting.

5. Anticipating the client's needs

• This mainly includes understanding the client's needs to manage the developmental process.

• They Communicate with all stakeholders to understand the business objectives which include the users, buyers, and the sponsors

• Their deep market knowledge and communication skills allow them to anticipate problems or needs and address them. A successful Scrum product owner will be an expert at understanding and anticipating the client’s needs to more effectively manage the development process.

Conclusion

Product owners serve as the link between the creation and implementation of strategies in the scrum. This requires a focused mindset and distinct business tools. Their roles and duties include understanding all the aspects of the product and knowing how to facilitate 360-degree collaboration while serving as both a liaison and the user's voice. 

Want to start your professional journey as a Product Owner?

We provide a step by step guidance on how to become a Product owner at our internationally renowned CSPO workshop (Certified Scrum Product Owner).

With our CSPO Certification,  your employment prospects will expand across all industries. Join us for a hands-on, incredibly insightful workshop where our experienced trainers will provide you with the real-world techniques used to discover and develop products as a Product Owner.

To know more about Certified Scrum Product Owner click here