The Product Owner is the role responsible for the execution of the project in Scrum teams.

What is a Product Owner?

A Product Owner, or Ürün Sahibi, is the person who plans all the processes from the initial stages to the final form of a project being developed. The Product Owner ensures communication and coordination among all stakeholders involved in the project. They define the vision and goals of the project, aiming to determine and maximize the product's value. While doing so, they prioritize time and cost management.

In Scrum product development, a ranking called the product backlog, which can be translated as a product work list or product backlog, is followed. The Product Owner is responsible for managing this backlog. The Owner first determines the product's goal and communicates it clearly to all relevant teams. The Owner also defines the necessary tasks for the backlog, making the list as explanatory as possible and giving the instructions needed to complete the tasks. Throughout the process, they monitor the progress and take action when changes are necessary.

Skills Required for a Product Owner

Product Owners are often experienced in project management. They are also visionary, have leadership qualities, and strong communication skills. Some of the skills a Product Owner should have include:

• Leadership Skills: They must be able to direct all the teams working on the project they are responsible for toward the right goals.
• Knowledge and Experience: They should have knowledge and experience in the product and industry being developed.
• Effective Communication: They must be skilled in effective communication, constantly communicating with the project's stakeholders. They should clearly state their requests while also being persuasive.
• Analytical Thinking: They should be able to make the right decisions based on data such as market and competition analysis, and user behavior reports.
• Time Management: They should efficiently manage time, ensuring tasks are completed on time and the project is ready by the specified dates. They should direct teams and tasks with time considerations in mind.
• Problem-Solving: They should be able to take quick action when necessary and resolve disputes and problems that arise promptly.

Responsibilities of a Product Owner

Generally, individuals in the role of Product Owner are responsible for increasing the project's value, achieving targets within the specified time, and ensuring communication among stakeholders. More specifically, the responsibilities of a Product Owner include:

• Project Planning: They play a role in defining the project's scope, goals to be achieved, timelines, and steps of the project process.
• Identifying Customer Needs: They use their knowledge of the project's field and industry to identify customer needs.
• Resource Allocation: They ensure the allocation of necessary resources for the realization of the project.
• Central Communication Hub: They are the central hub of communication among all stakeholders of the project, including customers, end-users, and developers. They communicate the customer's vision and goals to the product development teams and gather feedback from the end-users.
• Monitoring and Evaluation: They monitor and evaluate the product development process and ensure the project continues in line with the goals with feedback when necessary.
• Quality Control: They check if the project outputs are above a certain standard.

The role of the Product Owner involves planning the product development process from the initial stage to the final delivery to the customer. Constantly in communication with all project stakeholders, the owner sets the desired targets and ensures the outputs meet these targets.