What It Means
The Product Owner is the member of a Scrum TeamScrum teamThe small, self-managing group that does the work in Scrum: one Product Owner, one Scrum Master and the Developers, typically 10 or fewer people. See more accountable for maximizing the value of the product the team works on. Under the 2020 ScrumScrumA lightweight framework, defined in the Scrum Guide, in which a small team delivers work in fixed-length Sprints of one month or less and adjusts after each one. See more Guide that includes managing the Product BacklogProduct backlogIn Scrum, the ordered list of everything needed to improve a product, and the single source of work for the Scrum Team. See more, the ordered list of what the product needs: setting its long-term Product GoalProduct goalIn Scrum, the long-term objective for a product, a future state the team plans toward, kept in the Product Backlog as its commitment. See more, writing clear backlog items, deciding their order, and keeping the list visible and understood. A Scrum Team has exactly one Product Owner, who can hand parts of this work to others while remaining accountable for it.
Try It: Flip the Product Owner's Four Backlog Duties
Tap each card to flip it. These are the four Product Backlog duties in the 2020 Scrum Guide, in plain words.
1. The Product Goal
Work out the product's long-term objective and say it out loud, so the whole team plans toward it.
2. Clear backlog items
Write each item on the Product Backlog so the team understands what it is and why it matters.
3. The order
Decide what comes first. The backlog is an ordered list, and the Product Owner sets that order.
4. A visible backlog
Keep the list open to everyone, current and understood, so nobody works from a stale copy.
The Product Owner can hand any of these to someone else and still answers for all four.
How People Say It
- "Check with the PO before you pull that in."
- "The product owner moved it to the top of the backlog."
- "That's a call for the product owner, not us."
The Breakdown
How a Product Owner works through a Sprint
- Keep the Product Goal written at the top of the Product Backlog.
- Order the backlog so the most valuable items sit at the top.
- At Sprint PlanningSprint planningThe Scrum event that starts each Sprint, where the whole Scrum Team agrees why the Sprint is valuable, what can be done in it and how the work will get done. See more, explain why the coming Sprint matters and propose how it could add value.
- During the Sprint, answer the Developers' questions and help adjust scope when they learn something new.
- At the Sprint Review, show stakeholders what was finished and listen for what should change.
- Reorder the backlog with what you heard.
Who decides what
| Question | Who decides under the 2020 Scrum Guide |
|---|---|
| What order the backlog is in | Product Owner |
| Which items go into this Sprint | Developers, working with the whole team at planning |
| How the work gets done | Developers |
| Whether Scrum is being used well | Scrum MasterScrum masterThe person on a Scrum Team accountable for the team's effectiveness and for Scrum being understood and used as the Scrum Guide defines it. See more helps the team with this |
Short version to try today. Take any shared to-do listTo-do listA written list of the tasks you plan to do, checked or crossed off as each one is finished. See more and put it in strict order, one item per line with no ties. That forces the choices a Product Owner makes every week.
Where It Comes From
Product Owner is one of the three accountabilities in the Scrum Guide by Ken Schwaber and Jeff Sutherland. Its November 2020 edition added the Product Goal as the backlog's long-term objective and, as Scrum.org notes, began calling these accountabilities rather than roles.
Good to Know
Anyone who wants the backlog changed goes through the Product Owner, according to the 2020 Scrum Guide, and the rest of the organization is expected to respect those decisions. That only works when the Product Owner has real authority, so a team whose "PO" has to check every choice with a manager may find its Sprints stalling. The guide is free at scrumguides.org and is the place to check the current wording.
FAQ
What does a Product Owner do?
They are accountable for maximizing the value of the product and for the Product Backlog: its Product Goal, clear items, their order and keeping it visible. They can delegateDelegationHanding a task, and the authority needed to finish it, to someone else, while you stay responsible for the result. See more the work but stay accountable for it.
Can a Scrum Team have two Product Owners?
No. The 2020 Scrum Guide describes one Product Owner per Scrum Team, and when several teams work on one product they share the same Product Owner.
Does the Product Owner tell the Developers how to do the work?
No. The Product Owner decides what matters most and in what order, and the Developers plan how to build it. They work together at Sprint Planning.
Do It in Buhata
Tasks, Team Space and Decisions (Team X)
Keep the Product Backlog as an ordered list in Tasks inside a Team Space in Buhata, and record each ordering call in Decisions with the Team X add-on so the team can see why it was made.
Open BuhataRelated Terms and Categories
- Product backlog
In Scrum, the ordered list of everything needed to improve a product, and the single source of work for the Scrum Team.
- Product goal
In Scrum, the long-term objective for a product, a future state the team plans toward, kept in the Product Backlog as its commitment.
- Scrum team
The small, self-managing group that does the work in Scrum: one Product Owner, one Scrum Master and the Developers, typically 10 or fewer people.
- Scrum master
The person on a Scrum Team accountable for the team's effectiveness and for Scrum being understood and used as the Scrum Guide defines it.
- Backlog refinement
The ongoing Scrum activity of splitting Product Backlog items into smaller, clearer ones and adding details such as a description, order and size.
Sources
Ken Schwaber and Jeff Sutherland, The 2020 Scrum Guide (scrumguides.org); Scrum.org, "What You Need to Know about the 2020 Scrum Guide"; Scrum.org, "Accountability, Responsibility and Roles"
- scrumguides.org/scrum-guide.html
- scrumguides.org/docs/scrumguide/v2020/2020-Scrum-Guide-US.pdf
- www.scrum.org/resources/blog/what-you-need-know-about-2020-scrum-guide
- www.scrum.org/resources/accountability-responsibility-and-roles
Last updated .