What is a Product Owner?
Learn About the Role of the Product Owner
As described in the Scrum Guide, a Scrum Product Owner is accountable 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.
The Product Owner is also accountable for effective Product Backlog management, which includes:
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Developing and explicitly communicating the Product Goal;
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Creating and clearly communicating Product Backlog items;
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Ordering Product Backlog items; and,
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Ensuring that the Product Backlog is transparent, visible and understood.
The Product Owner may do the above work or may delegate the responsibility to others. Regardless, the Product Owner remains accountable.
For Product Owners to succeed, the entire organization must respect their decisions. These decisions are visible in the content and ordering of the Product Backlog, and through the inspectable Increment at the Sprint Review.
The Product Owner is one person, not a committee. The Product Owner may represent the needs of many stakeholders in the Product Backlog. Those wanting to change the Product Backlog can do so by trying to convince the Product Owner.
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Product Owner Training
- Professional Scrum Product Owner (PSPO) course is a 2-day course on how to maximize the value of software products and systems. Product Owners need to have a concrete understanding of everything that drives value from their products where students learn through instruction and team-based exercises.
- Professional Scrum Product Owner - Advanced (PSPO-A), Mastering the Product Owner Stances is a 2-day course focuses on helping experienced practitioners expand their ability to establish a solid vision, validate their hypotheses, and ultimately deliver more value to their stakeholders.
Product Owner Certification
Scrum.org provides 2 levels of Professional Scrum Product Owner certification.
- PSPO I demonstrates an intermediate understanding of the Scrum Framework and how to apply it to maximize the value delivered with a product.
- PSPO II demonstrates an advanced level of understanding of how the Scrum framework can support the creation of value, and how to achieve it in the real world.
- PSPO III demonstrates a distinguished level of understanding of how to own a vision, manage a Product Backlog, and engage with stakeholders & customers to deliver valuable products using Scrum.
Product Owner Learning Path
Already a Product Owner or ready to start your journey? Visit our Product Owner Learning Path to take a guided tour through suggested resources for continued learning for Product Owners or search all Product Owner related resources.