Agile Mindset for Manufacturers: Role of the Product Owner

The Action Engineering team embraces an Agile mindset & Scrum practices in our work.
In our Agile articles, we share tips & coaching opportunities that work well for us. 

The product owner plays a key role in Scrum, and it is important to understand the responsibilities of this role. Instead of being the leader of the team, the product owner is seen as the key stakeholder of the team. The product owner has a vision of what the team should build.

The product owner has many qualities, but the three most important are:

• being available to the team,
• communication skills,
• and business awareness.

As the team works on the product, questions will inevitably be raised. The product owner needs to be available and actively engaged with the team to ensure the team builds to the vision. If the product owner simply shares their vision with the team at the start of the project and then walks away, the product owner risks the team not delivering on what was expected.

Communication is another key skill of the product owner. The product owner not only has to share their vision with the development team; they have to share it with the other stakeholders. The product owner is the main conduit between the team and the other stakeholders, so good communication skills are key.

A successful product owner also needs to possess business awareness. As the key stakeholder, the product owner is responsible for prioritizing the backlog. To make these decisions about what the product should or shouldn’t have, the product owner should possess knowledge of the market, customers, and the overall business. They filter stakeholder input to maximize the value delivered by the scrum team for the business.

Do you need help becoming the best product owner for your team? Send us a message. We have years of experience coaching product owners to perform at the top of their game.