The Heart of Scrum: People

Projects are done by people, for people. The agile philosophy emphasizes close collaboration between two key groups:

  • The project team, who builds the product.
  • The project clients, who benefit from it.

One of the most crucial roles in this collaboration is the Product Owner.

The Product Owner: A Central Role in Scrum

The Product Owner holds the responsibility for managing the product backlog and making all key decisions related to it. This role is critical for the success of the project.

What does the Product Owner do?

  1. Defines and Validates Requirements:
    • Gathers and documents user stories and epics.
    • Ensures the backlog reflects all necessary functionalities and priorities.
  2. Prioritizes the Product Backlog:
    • Decides which user stories should be built first and which can wait.
    • Adjusts priorities as the project evolves, ensuring the most valuable tasks come first.
  3. Reviews and Validates Outputs:
    • At the end of each sprint, the Product Owner checks the deliverables to ensure they meet the agreed requirements.
    • Provides constructive feedback if something doesn’t meet the expected standards.
  4. Approves the Final Product:
    • At the end of the project, the Product Owner gives the final approval, ensuring the product is ready for release.

Who Can Be a Product Owner?

Usually, the Product Owner represents the organization for which the product is being created—essentially, the project client. This person needs a strategic vision and domain expertise.

Common roles that might act as Product Owner include:

  • Head of Sales
  • Head of Marketing
  • Head of IT, etc.

The Product Owner needs to be hands-on throughout the entire project, working closely with the team, reviewing progress, and adapting to changes when necessary.

The Power to Adapt

In Agile, requirements can change. The Product Owner plays a key role in approving changes and adjusting priorities between sprints. If a high-value user story emerges, it’s the Product Owner’s job to bring it forward, ensuring the project remains focused on delivering value.

The 12 Agile principles

User satisfaction

Satisfy the customer through early and continuous delivery of valuable software.

Welcoming change

Accept and integrate changes, even in advanced stages of development, to ensure a competitive advantage for the customer.

Frequent delivery

Frequent delivery of working software (preferably within short timeframes, days, or weeks).

Continuous collaboration

Business and developers must work together daily throughout the project.

Motivated people support

Build projects around motivated individuals, providing them with the support, tools, and autonomy to get the job done.

Face to face communication

The most effective method of conveying information within a team is direct conversation.

Working software

Progress is measured through working software.

Agile focuses on operational and customer-usable functionality as an indicator of progress.
Avoid false perceptions of progress (e.g., only code developed but not tested or integrated).

Keep a steady pace

Agile promotes sustainable development, where sponsors, developers, and users can maintain a constant pace indefinitely.

Excessive pace leads to burnout, reducing quality and morale.
Realistic goals ensure consistent, high-quality productivity.

Technical excellence

Continuous attention to technical excellence and good design improves agility.

Avoid shortcuts that can cause errors or require additional work in the future.
Design and technical quality are key to ensuring long-term success.

Simplicity

Focus only on activities that add value.
Avoid unnecessary complexity.
Simplicity improves efficiency and value, working smarter.

The art of maximizing undone work is essential.

Self-organized teams

The best requirements and designs emerge from self-organizing teams.

Autonomous and motivated teams produce better solutions.
Agile promotes horizontal management, promoting autonomy and collective ownership.
This approach speeds up decisions and increases effectiveness.

Reflect and Adapt

The team reflects regularly to become more effective and adapts its behavior accordingly.

Continuously reviewing processes and priorities improves flexibility and efficiency.
Analyzing situations such as Bill’s unmet expectations can improve management of future requirements.