Blog, Pitang.

The Role of the Product Owner

Professionals working in product development, especially digital products, almost always question the existence of manuals and approaches for those who take on the role of Product Owner within an agile project.

In the Scrum Guide, little is described about the role of the PO, detailing only their performance during the execution of the framework. However, we know that the digital product development market requires a wide scope of action for this role, mainly in discovery processes, confusing some professionals about what would be the best approach to adopt for each challenge.

The Scrum Guide describes the Product Owner as: the role responsible for maximizing the value of the product resulting from the work of the Scrum Team. How this is done may vary widely across organizations, Scrum Teams, and individuals. Perhaps the issue is the phrase “vary widely,” as not knowing what is expected of a PO in the day-to-day of an agile project can cause a certain degree of “anxiety.”

One point that the guide highlights is that the PO is one person, not a committee, and that there should only be one per product. However, what is observed in the market are some dysfunctions caused by a limited understanding of this role.

The Product Owner's Performance in Tactical and Strategic Areas

To begin improving this understanding, we need to explore a bit more the relationship between the discipline of Product Management and the world of agile methods and frameworks, as the PO's involvement in the Tactical area of Product Management is commonly observed, while their involvement in the Strategic area is rarely seen.

P.O. performance in the Tactical area:

• Collaboration with the Agile Team;

• Product Backlog Management;

• Stakeholder Management;

• Refinement;

• Alignment on what needs to be done.P.O. performance in the Strategic area:

The PO's performance in the Tactical area is important and should not be neglected. However, as this professional advances in their knowledge of Product Management, they must understand that their “perspective” must also encompass the more Strategic area, such as:

• Marketing and Sales;

• Launch Strategy;

• Product Vision;

• Product Lifecycle;

• Laws that may affect your product and the market;

• Partnerships;

• Business Case;

• Customer Retention;

• TCO (Total Cost of Ownership);

• Revenue and Expense.

Questionable Product Owner Stances

In light of all these mentioned skills and responsibilities, we will describe, in a practical way, which stances POs should adopt for better performance and success in agile projects, and which ones they should avoid in their daily routines.

• The Waiter: merely passes along information. Receives it from one of the stakeholders and puts all their wishes/demands into the backlog;

• The Scribe: practically only writes user stories. Resembles a business analyst a lot, jotting down numerous details, requirements, acceptance criteria, etc.;

• The Manager: is the person responsible for looking after the team. The manager cares about team happiness, personal development, and learning new skills. While very important, should this be a Product Owner's main concern?

• The Project Manager: is focused on the best use of resources and managing the development plan;

• The Expert: is typically a superuser. This person has a lot of experience operating the product/service. Knows all the details, knows exactly how the product works, and what you can and cannot do;

• The Gatekeeper: is the single point of contact between the Scrum Team and the outside world. They block all connections between Developers and Stakeholders. Everything goes through them.

Successful Product Owner Stances

• The Visionary: is focused on presenting the product vision, future state, possibilities, goals, and opportunities.

• The Collaborator: seeks collaboration with stakeholders and the Scrum Team. Being a collaborator, you seek input, ideas, opinions, and feedback from other people;

• The Customer Representative: is focused on truly understanding problems, pain points, and opportunities. It is about putting oneself in the customer's shoes and understanding their needs;

• The Decision Maker: is focused on making choices. Knowing how to say no. Which items to add to the Product Backlog? What is the next big goal? Which customers to please and which not to;

• The Experimenter: is focused on innovation and experiments. But also considers hypotheses, tests, learnings, and data. The experimenter is not just about adding new things, but also about validation;

• The Influencer: is focused on influencing stakeholders, customers, and the Scrum Team to move in the right direction. Influencing people and changing their minds.

Continuous Improvement of the Product Owner's Work

Although many professionals identify to some degree with the questionable stances section, the idea is not to establish an absolute truth about how the PO should act, but rather to offer a practical alternative for them to evaluate their performance and continuously improve in such a competitive and complex market.

Finally, we must understand that an effective PO, as they evolve, must acquire more knowledge in Strategic areas of Product Management, just as they apply their knowledge in Tactical areas, delivering more value to the customer and the market, and improving their ability to maximize the Return on Investment (ROI).

And you? Do you identify with any of these profiles? Do you know where to start your evolution from a questionable stance to a successful one?