Who is the Product Owner in Agile?

Aug 16

The Product Owner role fulfils a pivotal role in product management. They are the gatekeeper of the product team and the link between user value, business strategy and product direction.

Sometimes, the Product Owner works beneath or alongside a Product Manager, who may absorb some of the higher-level responsibilities. For example, business strategy, commercial planning, product roadmaps, and prioritisation of larger pieces of work, known as features or epics in Agile.

However, as Agile becomes increasingly popular and is adopted by companies worldwide, implementation of its practices and roles can vary across the board. Some organizations may not have a Product Manager, others may have Product Managers but no Product Owners, and the lines can often blur where the responsibilities for specific tasks lie.

So, let’s look at the typical responsibilities of a Product Owner working within an Agile product management team.

What are a Product Owner’s responsibilities?

While the Product Owner might get involved in various ad-hoc tasks, several responsibilities remain fixed in the product team. These are key to ensuring that development continues unimpeded.

1. Familiarising themselves with the product vision

Product Owners need to understand the product vision. Depending on the nature of the business and product under development, the picture may largely be shaped by one of two competing factors: the end user's needs and the needs and wants of senior management and the wider business.

2. Determining priorities

Product Owners have the authority to decide which work to prioritize. This requires a detailed understanding of the product vision and the client's or user's needs. However, it must also consider team velocity (output over time) and resources. Balancing these factors requires flexibility and constant adjustment, as the project's needs can flux and change over time.

When prioritizing the backlog, there are numerous methods at a Product Owner's disposal, such as the MoSCoW method (Must have, Should have, Could have, Won't have this time).

3. Grooming the product backlog

User stories and tasks belong in the product backlog, though they typically contain varying levels of detail. When working in an Agile team, the Product Owner is responsible for grooming the backlog regularly. This means prioritizing the backlog; well-defined, estimated stories should sit closer to the top. Before each sprint, the Product Owner will move stories into the sprint backlog in preparation for the upcoming Sprint.

The Product Owner needs to ensure a detailed “Definition of Done” in place, which the whole development team should understand and agree upon. Not only does this help to ensure the quality of user stories, meaning that all of the information needed is present, but it also helps to unify the product management team.

4. Defining user stories

Product Owners are responsible for creating and defining the product’s value-driven user stories. These measurable pieces of user value collectively contribute to a finished product. While companies and teams vary in what they consider to be a “complete” user story, one common acronym used to identify a good story is INVEST:

Independent: Wherever possible, the Product Owner should strive to ensure that user stories have no dependencies.
Negotiable: While a user story may exist in the product backlog, any member of the product management team should be able to question its justification.
Valuable: Every story needs to deliver tangible user value that aligns with the business goals.
Estimable: User stories should contain sufficient detail that the development team can estimate its size. If they can’t provide an estimate, the story lacks information.
Small: Ideally, user stories should be small enough to complete within a single sprint. This drives continuous, iterative improvement.
Testable: A user story should always contain acceptance criteria to enable testing against said criteria.

5. Communicating with stakeholders

Product Owners are the link between product management and the development team. They manage expectations between both links in the chain, ensuring that all key stakeholders are made aware of progress, limitations or changes in priority. They may also guard the development team against additional work coming down from above, though this is typically the job of the Scum Master.

IT Management & Consulting International

IT Management & Consutling’s mission is to help businesses and organizations improve productivity through Agile and Scrum leadership.

We have previously worked with a range of renowned companies, including Goldman Sachs, CabOnline, Cold Technology, and Clebag. Over the past seven years, we have helped clients reduce developing costs by up to 20% and improve on-time delivery by up to 45%.

We are always open to working with companies in Stockholm who are looking to increase their productivity.

Ondrej Papanek