Having been a Scrum Master for different teams in different companies, I have seen what works and what doesn’t.
The characteristics of a good product owner are the ability to understand their product, and to explain the product strategy and vision to their stakeholders, and to the scrum team. They should also be able to discuss the details with the team and answer their questions in a timely and detailed manner.
Develop and Maintain a Product Vision and Roadmap
Understanding a product, and being able to produce a product vision and roadmap that aligns with the company strategy is a skill that needs to be developed by a product owner. In some organisations, the product owner has been used as a project manager, reducing their capacity to learn about their product, and this is often to the detriment of the organisation. In these cases, the senior developers and architects are relied upon to fill the gap.
Have a Good Working Relationship with the Team
A product owner should also be able to have a good working relationship with the team or teams that work on the product. There are numerous challenges the team can encounter, so the product owner needs to be able to answer the questions from the team, and make decisions regarding the product. This also needs to be done in a timely manner so that the PO doesn’t become a bottleneck for the team – see my article on why the product owner should attend the daily scrum for some more details.
Organisation skills are important for a product owner. A well-maintained backlog of prioritised, well-defined stories helps the team to work at a good pace and reduces the reliance on the PO.
Maintain a Good Relationship with Stakeholders
The product owner often needs to represent the interests of stakeholders in the organisation, so the ability to build and maintain these relationships is important. This is particularly important when they need to consider the input from these stakeholders, who have their own priorities, and may try to influence the work the team does. The PO then is often a shield for the team, protecting them from the internal and external politics of the organisation, so they can focus on working on the product.
