Scrum : Responsibilities of a Product Owner in a Scrum Project

Understanding defined roles and responsibilities is very important for ensuring the successful implementation of Scrum projects. Scrum roles fall into two broad categories, namely, core roles and non-core roles. There are three core roles in Scrum that are ultimately responsible for meeting the project objectives. The core roles are the Product Owner, Scrum Master, and Scrum Team. Together they are referred to as the Scrum Core Team. It is important to note that, of these three roles, no role has authority over the others. Now, let us look at the Product Owner role in detail.

The Product Owner represents the interests of the stakeholder community to the Scrum Team and is the person responsible for maximizing business value for the project. He or she is responsible for articulating customer requirements and maintaining business justification for the project. The Product Owner, thus, ensures clear communication of product or service functionality requirements to the Scrum Team, defining Acceptance Criteria, and ensuring those criteria are met. In other words, the Product Owner is responsible for ensuring that the Scrum Team delivers value. The Product Owner must always maintain a dual view.

The Product Owner must understand and support the needs and interests of all stakeholders, while also understanding the needs and workings of the Scrum Team. Because the Product Owner must understand the needs and priorities of the stakeholders, including customers and users, this role is commonly referred to as the Voice of the Customer. Corresponding to a Product Owner role in a project, there could be a Program Product Owner for a program or a Portfolio Product Owner for a portfolio.

Before we check out some of the key responsibilities of a Product Owner, here is a video on the Product Owner role: http://www.scrumstudy.com/watch.asp?vid=455. 

The key responsibilities of a Product Owner in relation to a Scrum Project are:

•                    Defines the Project Vision and helps create the Project Charter and Project Budget

•                    Helps finalize Scrum Master for the project and identifies Stakeholder(s)

•                    Helps determine Scrum Team members and helps develop a Collaboration Plan

•                    Helps develop the Team Building Plan with Scrum Master(s)

•                    Creates Epic(s) and Personas and prioritizes Prioritized Product Backlog Items

•                    Defines Done Criteria and creates Release Planning Schedule

•                    Helps determine Length of Sprint along with helping creation of User Stories

•                    Defines Acceptance Criteria for every User Story and approves the created User Stories

•                    Facilitates Scrum Team and commit User Stories

•                    Explains User Stories to the Scrum Team while creating the Task List

•                    Provides guidance and clarification to the Scrum Team in estimating effort for tasks

•                    Clarifies requirements to the Scrum Team while creating the Sprint Backlog

•                    Clarifies business requirements to the Scrum Team

•                    Grooms the Prioritized Product Backlog and accepts/rejects Deliverables

•                    Provides necessary feedback to Scrum Master and Scrum Teams

•                    Updates Release Plan and Prioritized Product Backlog

•                    Helps deploy Product Releases and coordinates this with the customer

•                    Participates in Retrospective Sprint Meetings