What makes a good product owner?
According to an article by Christiaan Verwijs, who has dived into the research of Product Owners, these are key activities:
- Communicator: The transfer of knowledge between different sites, as well as from and to the team.
- Prioritizer: The selection and ordering of the Product Backlog so that the highest value is delivered first.
- Refinement: The breakdown and clarification of work on the Product Backlog, as well as their acceptance criteria:
- Product Discovery tends to be forgotten, and might require more time and attention.
- Traveler: The process of building an understanding of stakeholders by visiting them and spending time with them.
- Intermediary: Acting as an interface between management and the team and the process of disseminating domain knowledge.
- Shared product ownership: Scrum teams are more effective when there is a shared concern for the needs of stakeholders in the team.
- Release Master: The management and approval of plans to release new versions to stakeholders.
- Quality (Gatekeeper): Approving completed items for a release.
- Customer Relationship Manager: Supporting stakeholders in their use of a product. This includes training, technical support, and preparation for new releases.