Product Owner

Quick reference

• 00:03 Hi, this is Ray Sheen.
• 00:05 Let's talk about role of the product owner,
• 00:07 the toughest job on an Agile/Scrum project.
• 00:10 I'll start by discussing what the product owner does before the Sprint, and
• 00:15 then we'll look at what they do during the Sprint and after the Sprint.
• 00:19 The product owner is responsible for managing the product requirements,
• 00:23 the project scope.
• 00:24 They will interface will all the stakeholders to collect the requirements.
• 00:28 That includes the external stakeholders like customers and users.
• 00:31 It also includes all of the internal stakeholders.
• 00:34 So that means that all the departments and
• 00:36 operating locations that will be affected by the results of the project.
• 00:40 And, they will probably need to connect with people at various levels in
• 00:43 the organization in order to fully understand the deliverables and
• 00:47 requirements.
• 00:48 All of this is happening before the Sprint.
• 00:52 Every deliverable and every requirement must be written on a Story Card.
• 00:55 That means, both the story of what product result must do, but also a detailed
• 01:00 description of the demo criteria, the definition of done for that story.
• 01:05 If it is a large project,
• 01:06 the project owner will also take the lead in planning the releases.
• 01:10 In this case, they may have some business stakeholders and
• 01:13 the Scrum Master assisting them.
• 01:15 Once they have all the stories and
• 01:17 understand the releases, they're ready to prioritize the backlog.
• 01:21 This is where things become difficult.
• 01:23 It might be easy to pick number one and number last, but the product owner must
• 01:27 also differentiate between which one is number 11, number 12 and number 13.
• 01:33 Since all of the organization, the senior management, business teams,
• 01:36 and other stakeholders, must work through the product owner,
• 01:39 there can often be some very sticky politics involved with this role.
• 01:43 You need a strong product owner, but also someone with good business sense.
• 01:48 Now let's consider what the product owner does during a Sprint.
• 01:52 The product owner has a major role in the first part of the Sprint planning meeting
• 01:56 with the Scrum Team.
• 01:57 The product owner must explain what each Story Card means, so
• 02:00 they need to be expert enough on each story to answer the Scrum Team's questions
• 02:05 about the story and the demo criteria.
• 02:07 They must essentially become a subject matter expert on every aspect of
• 02:11 the project, another reason why the product owner role is a tough one.
• 02:15 As part of the Sprint planning, they're also insuring that the category and
• 02:19 priority is clear for every story in the Sprint backlog.
• 02:23 As the Sprint progresses, the Scrum Team will often have further
• 02:26 clarifying questions about a story, and the product owner must answer these.
• 02:31 Occasionally, the Scrum Team will either find that a story
• 02:34 can't be done the way it is written or
• 02:36 they identify something that is much better than what is written in the story.
• 02:40 In that case, the Scrum Team will come to the product owner and
• 02:43 ask to modify the story.
• 02:45 It's up to the product owner to decide whether or not they need to modify it.
• 02:49 Occasionally the Scrum Master will need the assistance of
• 02:52 the product owner to resolve roadblocks.
• 02:55 The Scrum Master's taking the lead on this.
• 02:57 But help from the product owner,
• 02:59 especially if it involves negotiating with stakeholders, can be very valuable.
• 03:04 Which brings us to the final point for the product owner's role during the Sprint.
• 03:08 Since, the product owner has a relationship with the stakeholders,
• 03:11 if there is communication about the project requested by a stakeholder
• 03:14 during the Sprint, it is often the product owner who often the product
• 03:17 owner who answers those questions.
• 03:19 The product owner also has some duties after the Sprint is finished.
• 03:23 After the sprint is complete, the product owner will decide which stories have
• 03:27 really been completed and which stories still need some more work.
• 03:30 A partially completed story should get a new Story Card to address
• 03:34 the remaining work.
• 03:36 The product owner is also the person communicating the results of the Sprint
• 03:40 to senior management and other stakeholders.
• 03:43 Now, the product owner can simplify this
• 03:45 by inviting those individuals to the Sprint Demo.
• 03:48 However, they must ensure that the stakeholders don't tamper
• 03:51 with the Agile/Scrum process during the demo.
• 03:55 The final thing they do is the Product Backlog refinement.
• 03:58 Inevitably, some of the Sprint results will be different than expected, and
• 04:02 even those that meet the demo criteria often will spark new ideas for added or
• 04:07 reduced features once the product owner actually sees how things perform.
• 04:11 So, some of the existing Story Cards may need to be rewritten, new ones added or
• 04:16 others removed, and almost certainly, some of the priorities will change.
• 04:20 All these are addressed by the product owner as they do their refinement
• 04:25 in order to prepare for the next Sprint of the project.
• 04:30 The product owner role is a tough one.
• 04:33 They must be excellent communicators, technically savvy,
• 04:36 have good business sense and can work through internal politics.
• 04:41 Add to that the fast paced environment of a Sprint requiring quick decisions, and
• 04:45 you can see why this role is so difficult

Lesson notes are only available for subscribers.