Who Defines Your Product Owner?

Who defines your Product Owner — Business or Development?

“Wait a minute!” you say. “That’s a nonsensical question. Scrum breaks down the organizational barriers between Business and Development. There is no us versus them. We’re all on the same team.”

True, Scrum does break down organizational barriers by placing the Product Owner and the Development Team on the same team — the Scrum Team. However, the current reality for most organizations is that distinctions between Business and Development still exist. Who, then, defines the role of Product Owner and who fills the role?

This question is further complicated by the fact that for the most part Scrum has been pushed by the development community onto their business counterparts. So much for “individuals and interactions over process and tools!” When Scrum is “pushed” rather than “pulled,” it’s not surprising those on whom it is pushed often fail to engage. When it is the “business” that fails to engage, who defines the role of Product Owner? Too often it is “development” who defines the role and fills it with a proxy Product Owner. It doesn’t have to be this way.

Start with Why

Before addressing who defines the role, perhaps it’s best to start with why define the role. Why is your team using Scrum or Agile? While Scrum is an excellent framework to help us continuously improve our processes, we sometimes forget the reasons that might warrant process improvement in the first place.

If we improve our processes and our customers don’t notice, is it an improvement?

The key benefit of Scrum is to create value for your customers. The Product Owner is responsible for maximizing this value. Improvements in process only matter if they create tangible value for the customer.

The Scrum Guide helps us in defining the Product Owner role:

“The Product Owner is responsible for maximizing the value of the product resulting from work of the Development Team.”

But it is mostly non-prescriptive in how to fill it:

“How this is done may vary widely across organizations, Scrum Teams, and individuals.”

Consider Customer Value

If your primary goal for using Scrum is to maximize customer value (perhaps with continuous process improvement a secondary goal), here are some questions to consider in deciding how this role will be done in your organization:

POWERFUL QUESTIONS:

• Are you willing to empower a single individual with the organizational authority to resolve any and all conflict within the product ecosystem?
• Are you willing to empower that same individual to make unilateral spending decisions related to the product?
• Is that individual capable (with appropriate support) of

- establishing a shared product vision

- holding together a coalition of stakeholders

- nurturing a development team

- assimilating new information to make optimal business decisions

- keeping every team member on the same page

- all in a dynamic changing environment full of unknowns?

• Can that individual ensure that the Development Team has real-time access to authentic business domain expertise related to your customers needs?
• Are they in it for the long haul? Most products exist for a long time. As long as the product exists, it needs a Product Owner. Maximizing value means for the whole product lifecycle.

If the answer to any of these questions is “no,” the ability of the Product Owner to maximize customer value will likely be constrained. In Scrum, these constraints are called impediments. Impediments are one of the reasons Scrum has a Scrum Master — the impediment-remover-in-chief!

Pragmatic Next Steps

If you want to get the most out of Scrum in maximizing customer value, start with a definition of the Product Owner consistent with that goal. Work with your team and leadership, making sure to include both development and business perspectives, to craft a shared definition of an empowered and effective Product Owner. Your Scrum Master can help by coaching the individual who fills this role and by working with the rest of the organization to remove impediments. Above all, let your business “why” drive your implementation of the Product Owner role and inform who would best fill it. And, remember to give your Product Owner the support they need to be the best they can be!