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- Defining the vision
- The agile product owner is the point person on the product development team, using their high-level perspective to define goals and create a vision for development projects.
- Product owners are responsible for communicating with stakeholders across the board, including customers, business managers, and the development team to make sure the goals are clear and the vision is aligned with business objectives.
- Having a product owner with a higher perspective ensures that the team maintains a cohesive vision despite the flexible and often fast-paced nature of agile product development. Everyone needs to be on the same page in order for a project to work effectively.
- A product owner can help the team maintain that vision is by creating a product roadmap. The product roadmap is a high-level, strategic visual summary that outlines the vision and direction for the product offering over time. It is both a strategic guide for stakeholders to reference as well as a plan for execution.
- Managing the product backlog
- One of the most important responsibilities for a scrum product owner is managing the product backlog. This is the development team's project to-do list.
- The product owner's responsibility is to create the list of backlog items and prioritize them based on the overall strategy and business objectives. Additionally, the product owner will need to map out project dependencies to inform the necessary sequence of development.
- The product backlog isn't a static to-do list though. It is a live document that should be continually updated based on evolving project needs throughout development.
- Because the product backlog will change frequently, the product owner must make the list accessible and available to all stakeholders (particularly developers) to ensure optimized performance and project outcomes.
- Prioritizing needs
- Another key role of the product owner is to prioritize needs. In other words, they must juggle the triangle of scope, budget, and time, weighing priorities according to the needs and objectives of stakeholders.
- For example, if the product under development needs to launch within six months, that constrains the scope of the project. As the project evolves, the product owner will have to gauge which areas have flexibility and which don't to determine how and when each iteration and product element will be developed.
- Overseeing development stages
- With the vision, strategy, and product priorities set, the product owner should spend a significant amount of time overseeing the actual development of the product. They are a key player throughout each event, including planning, refinement, review, and sprint.
- During the planning stages, the agile product owner works with stakeholders to identify and organize the steps required for the next iteration. They will then meet with their team to refine the process, identify areas for improvement, and support the sprint.
- Anticipating client needs
- The successful scrum product owner will be an expert at understanding and anticipating the client's needs to more effectively manage the development process.
- Their deep market knowledge and communication skills allow them to anticipate problems or needs and address them.
- Acting as primary liaison
- The product owner is also the primary communicator and link between stakeholders and teams. As such, they have to be expert communicators, making sure there's buy-in from stakeholders on all major decisions and strategy and clear instructions and deliverables for the developers.
- Evaluating product progress at each iteration
- The product owner is accountable for each stage of the development process and the final product. They take a primary role in inspecting and evaluating product progress through each iteration. The product owner makes the judgment call on the performance, deciding if the team needs to go back to the drawing board or if they can move on to the next steps.
- Agile product owners wear many hats. So they need tools and solutions that can adapt to their changing roles as quickly as they do.
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