Recently I came across a question about "What are the main responsibilities of a Scrum Product Owner?" "The discussion of this issue. This is a very good question because the role of the Product Owner is not well understood. The actual roles and primary responsibilities of the Product Owner in a real-world project can vary widely, depending on the nature of the company's business and the scope and complexity of the project for which the Product Owner is responsible.
The Scrum Guide defines the role of the Scrum Product Owner. However, it recognizes that the roles of different organizations vary widely. The Scrum Guide reads as follows:
The Product Owner is responsible for maximizing the value of the product generated by the development team's work. There can be significant differences in how implementations are performed by different organizations, scrum teams, and individuals.
The Product Owner is the only person responsible for managing the Product Backlog. Product backlog management includes:
Articulate product backlog items;
Schedule items in the product backlog to better achieve goals and tasks;
optimize the value of the work performed by the development team;
Ensure that the Product Backlog is visible, transparent, and clear to all, and indicates what the Scrum Team will do next;
Ensure that the development team understands the items in the product backlog at the required level.
These responsibilities can be performed by the Product Owner or by the development team. However, the Product Owner is still responsible.
The nature of a company's business can have a big impact on the main responsibilities of the product owner. There are two types of companies that are most important in this regard.
1.Product-oriented company
Product-oriented companies that sell to external customers are at one extreme. In these companies, the product owner may assume the full responsibility of the product manager, including product P&L liability.
In a real project, the key skills of a product owner may be essentially the same as those of a good product manager; However, for large and complex products, there may be a product manager who is responsible for the overall business of the product and a product owner who is responsible for development.
2.Project-based companies
At the other end of the spectrum are companies that are not in the business of product development at all. The work is more project-oriented, developing application solutions for internal use in the company. In this environment, the role of the Product Owner can be very different.
This role is typically characterized by the role of the Product Owner, which is somewhat of a combination of "Business Analyst" and "Project Manager". However, the role goes far beyond that of a business analyst and project manager. The Product Owner typically has more decision-making power and responsibility than these two roles.
The Product Owner has some of the attributes of a Business Analyst:
Both have the responsibility to represent the needs of the business solution, but the role of the product owner is more than just an ordinary business analyst. The Product Owner has decision-making responsibility for requirements, while the average business analyst does not have that power.
The Product Owner also has some of the attributes of a Project Manager, as he is responsible for the successful completion of the project. This responsibility is also much more important than that of the average project manager. Project managers are typically only responsible for delivering defined requirements and are not responsible for the business success of the project as a whole.
On a practical project, the main responsibilities of the Product Owner include:
Business Analysis – Some "business analyst" skills are necessary to define requirements concisely and accurately, but domain knowledge and business knowledge are also required to be a decision-maker to identify and prioritize these requirements.
Product management – Depending on the nature of the company's business (product or project) and the scope and complexity of the project, the product owner role may include components of product management.
Project Management – Some "project management" skills are necessary to make good risk-based decisions when managing a project that makes it successful from an overall business perspective (more than just meeting defined requirements).
Holistic management – Most importantly, from a business perspective, the product owner is ultimately responsible for the success or failure of the project. He is an important decision-maker and is sometimes referred to as the "CEO of the project".
In addition to the nature of the company's business discussed above, the primary responsibilities of the product owner can also vary greatly due to the scope and complexity of the project.
At one extreme, you might have a small, single-team agile project with very limited scope and complexity. At the other extreme, you might have a larger, more complex, enterprise-level project involving multiple teams.
Of course, this also has a big impact on the role of the Product Owner.
Project management