Hi, this is Ray Sheen.
Let's talk about role of the product owner,
the toughest job on an Agile/Scrum project.
I'll start by discussing what the product owner does before the Sprint, and
then we'll look at what they do during the Sprint and after the Sprint.
The product owner is responsible for managing the product requirements,
the project scope.
They will interface will all the stakeholders to collect the requirements.
That includes the external stakeholders like customers and users.
It also includes all of the internal stakeholders.
So that means that all the departments and
operating locations that will be affected by the results of the project.
And, they will probably need to connect with people at various levels in
the organization in order to fully understand the deliverables and
requirements.
All of this is happening before the Sprint.
Every deliverable and every requirement must be written on a Story Card.
That means, both the story of what product result must do, but also a detailed
description of the demo criteria, the definition of done for that story.
If it is a large project,
the project owner will also take the lead in planning the releases.
In this case, they may have some business stakeholders and
the Scrum Master assisting them.
Once they have all the stories and
understand the releases, they're ready to prioritize the backlog.
This is where things become difficult.
It might be easy to pick number one and number last, but the product owner must
also differentiate between which one is number 11, number 12 and number 13.
Since all of the organization, the senior management, business teams,
and other stakeholders, must work through the product owner,
there can often be some very sticky politics involved with this role.
You need a strong product owner, but also someone with good business sense.
Now let's consider what the product owner does during a Sprint.
The product owner has a major role in the first part of the Sprint planning meeting
with the Scrum Team.
The product owner must explain what each Story Card means, so
they need to be expert enough on each story to answer the Scrum Team's questions
about the story and the demo criteria.
They must essentially become a subject matter expert on every aspect of
the project, another reason why the product owner role is a tough one.
As part of the Sprint planning, they're also insuring that the category and
priority is clear for every story in the Sprint backlog.
As the Sprint progresses, the Scrum Team will often have further
clarifying questions about a story, and the product owner must answer these.
Occasionally, the Scrum Team will either find that a story
can't be done the way it is written or
they identify something that is much better than what is written in the story.
In that case, the Scrum Team will come to the product owner and
ask to modify the story.
It's up to the product owner to decide whether or not they need to modify it.
Occasionally the Scrum Master will need the assistance of
the product owner to resolve roadblocks.
The Scrum Master's taking the lead on this.
But help from the product owner,
especially if it involves negotiating with stakeholders, can be very valuable.
Which brings us to the final point for the product owner's role during the Sprint.
Since, the product owner has a relationship with the stakeholders,
if there is communication about the project requested by a stakeholder
during the Sprint, it is often the product owner who often the product
owner who answers those questions.
The product owner also has some duties after the Sprint is finished.
After the sprint is complete, the product owner will decide which stories have
really been completed and which stories still need some more work.
A partially completed story should get a new Story Card to address
the remaining work.
The product owner is also the person communicating the results of the Sprint
to senior management and other stakeholders.
Now, the product owner can simplify this
by inviting those individuals to the Sprint Demo.
However, they must ensure that the stakeholders don't tamper
with the Agile/Scrum process during the demo.
The final thing they do is the Product Backlog refinement.
Inevitably, some of the Sprint results will be different than expected, and
even those that meet the demo criteria often will spark new ideas for added or
reduced features once the product owner actually sees how things perform.
So, some of the existing Story Cards may need to be rewritten, new ones added or
others removed, and almost certainly, some of the priorities will change.
All these are addressed by the product owner as they do their refinement
in order to prepare for the next Sprint of the project.
The product owner role is a tough one.
They must be excellent communicators, technically savvy,
have good business sense and can work through internal politics.
Add to that the fast paced environment of a Sprint requiring quick decisions, and
you can see why this role is so difficult