PO is a Person and a Role There has been a lot of talk lately about the Product Owner and people are getting quite heated about it. Here's my take on it.

The Product Owner is the person (not role, person) who is held accountable for the success of the team. He or she is the boss, commander, one throat to choke, MFIC, single wring-able neck, Big Cheese, etc. If you want to know who the PO is, just ask management who has the bull’s eye painted on his or her chest. Period... and that's all I have to say about that.

Well, maybe not. Because of this unique relationship the Product Owner has with both management and the team, some things should be obvious. Among these are:

1. The Product Owner has the right to be involved in every decision the team makes, but an obligation not to micromanage;
2. The Product Owner has veto power at all times, but should control the urge to use it; and
3. The team has the obligation to give the Product Owner all the information needed to make good decisions.

Wait a minute, though. Scrum has three defined roles (roles, not people): Product Owner, ScrumMaster, and Team Member. Oh... so we have a person called the Product Owner and a role called the Product Owner. How interesting. Could this cause a problem?

Yes. It gets people confused. Don't be one of them. Just follow along.

On a Scrum team, there are three sets of responsibilities:

1. Whats and Whens: What are we building? When do we need it? What does that requirement mean? What provides value to Stake Holders? Et cetera. These are usually called the Product Owner responsibilities.
2. Hows and Dos: How do we do it? How do we verify it? Actually do the work. Et cetera. These are called the Team Member responsibilities.
3. Team and Process: How does this team work? What is the process? Facilitation. Et cetera. These are called the ScrumMaster responsibilities.

Here's the rub - SELF-ORGANIZING TEAMS. People have skills, people don't play roles. The Scrum team makes up its own rules about who does what - that's the essence of the team's process in Scrum. That's why the Product Owner (person) writes the stories on some teams and not on others... That's why the Product Owner (person) does acceptance testing on some teams, and not on others... That's why the Product Owner (person) does design and architecture on some teams, and not on others... The list goes on and on.

Of course, some organizations have attempted to "processize" the job of the Product Owner (person), so that they all do the same things on the teams within the organization. Other organizations have insisted that just because you do some of the Product Owner responsibilities, you must BE the Product Owner. (Do you really think an analyst is the "single wring-able neck"? I didn't think so...) It's your team, it's your organization, you do what you want to do... This is just my opinion.

But, as far as I'm concerned, here's all you have to remember about the Product Owner:

• The Product Owner is the Team Member who is the "single wring-able neck."
• What the Product Owner does on the team is based on his or her skills and the needs of the team.
• All Product Owners are different.

Thanks, Dan ;-) dan@danube.com

Attachment	Size
PO Is a Person and a Role blog.pdf	121.68 KB