The role of the Product Owner (PO) in Scrum is critical for the success of the project. Often, when organizations scale up their Scrum practices to larger or multiple teams, the PO role also needs to be scaled. However, scaling the PO role brings its unique challenges. Here, we will contrast two patterns for scaling the Product Owner role, which are: having a single Product Owner (SPO) and having a team of Product Owners (TPO).

Table of Contents

Pattern 1: Single Product Owner (SPO)

A single-product owner (SPO) pattern is often employed in organizations where one person manages all the aspects of product ownership.

Pros:

  • Clear Accountability: There is clarity of decision-making, as only one person has final authority on priorities.
  • Consistent Vision: One person holds the product vision, ensuring consistency across all teams.
  • Streamlined Communication: Single point of communication ensures information is not lost or distorted.

Cons:

  • Work Overload: PO could be overwhelmed with multiple responsibilities, like stakeholder management, backlog refinement, and coaching the team.
  • Limited Availability: The Product Owner’s limited availability might hinder the team’s progress.

Pattern 2: Team of Product Owners (TPO)

In the team of Product Owners (TPO) pattern, organizations opt for multiple Product Owners working together to manage larger or multiple products.

Pros:

  • Distribution of Load: Shared ownership reduces the risk of overload, and each PO can concentrate on a specific area.
  • Timely Availability: Teams have better access to a PO when they need guidance, as there’s always someone available from the PO team.

Cons:

  • Coordination Overhead: Multiple POs mean coordination is a must to maintain product direction and consistency. This in itself might become a task.
  • Blurred Responsibility: It’s challenging to enact ‘one voice’ when there are multiple POs. The decision-making process can get complicated leading to delayed or conflicting directions.

Combining the SPO and TPO Models

Interestingly, these patterns aren’t mutually exclusive and may be combined to form hybrid models. For example, an organization might have a Chief Product Owner who works with multiple product owners.

As an example, consider a large-scale software development project with multiple teams working on different aspects of the product. If the SPO model is utilized, the single PO needs to coordinate between various stakeholders, manage the entire backlog for different teams, and may become a bottleneck due to their limited availability.

On the other side, the TPO model, in the same circumstances, would divide these responsibilities among different Product Owners. One PO might handle the backend stories, another the frontend stories, and a third might focus on stakeholder management. This way, POs could align their working hours with their respective teams, increasing availability and hastening decision making.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is crucial to acknowledge that there isn’t a ‘one-size-fits-all’ model for scaling the Product Owner role. The approach must be tailored according to the size of the organization, the complexity of the products, and the working culture of the teams. Both single Product Owner and team of Product Owners patterns have their strengths and weaknesses, and organizations need to assess the trade-offs and decide which pattern or hybrid is best suited to their needs.

Practice Test

The Chief Product Owner (CPO) is a role created to manage single product development when a large Product Owner team becomes unmanageable. True/False?

  • True
  • False

Answer: False

Explanation: The Chief Product Owner role is created to manage multiple Product Owners in a large project or when working with multiple teams.

Area Product Owners are responsible for a functional area or specific domain of a product. True/False?

  • True
  • False

Answer: True

Explanation: Area Product Owners are scaled product owners who focus on a specific functional area or component of the product.

What is the role of a Business Owner in the scaling of the Product Owner role?

  • a) Creates the product vision
  • b) Chooses the Chief Product Owner.
  • c) Sets organization’s strategic goals
  • d) All of the above

Answer: d) All of the above

Explanation: As a part of scaling, the Business Owner may establish the product vision, select the Chief Product Owner, and set strategic goals for the organization.

A Chief Product Owner is responsible for aligning the work of multiple Product Owners. True/False?

  • True
  • False

Answer: True

Explanation: The CPO’s role is to ensure that the efforts of multiple Product Owners are aligned towards achieving the same product vision and strategy.

When using the “LeSS” (Large-Scale Scrum) framework, there is only one Product Owner per team. True/False?

  • True
  • False

Answer: False

Explanation: “LeSS” follows one Product Owner for multiple teams to maintain a single product backlog.

One drawback of the Area Product Owner model is lack of coordination between different areas. True/False?

  • True
  • False

Answer: True

Explanation: While the Area Product Owner model allows for specialization and deep understanding of certain areas, it can also lead to problems with coordination and alignment between different functional parts of a product.

Business Analysts can play a role similar to a scaled Product Owner in Scrum. True/False?

  • True
  • False

Answer: False

Explanation: Business Analysts don’t own the product vision or make final decisions about the product in Scrum. They can provide significant inputs and act as stakeholders, but they aren’t scaled Product Owners.

What is a potential benefit of the Chief Product Owner model?

  • a) Avoids duplication of effort
  • b) Allows for specialization of Product Owners
  • c) Ensures the Product Owner role is not diluted
  • d) All of the above

Answer: d) All of the above

Explanation: By having a Chief Product Owner model, a single point of responsibility for the entire product vision is maintained. They coordinate among multiple Product Owners, which avoids duplication and allows specialization.

Area Product Owners have more decision-making authority than a Chief Product Owner. True/False?

  • True
  • False

Answer: False

Explanation: While Area Product Owners have decision-making authority within their domain, strategic decisions about the product as a whole are still made by the Chief Product Owner.

Who has the responsibility to decompose and refine items in the Product Backlog in SaFE’s Product Owner Team model?

  • a) Product Manager
  • b) Product Owners
  • c) Chief Product Owner
  • d) Scrum Master

Answer: b) Product Owners

Explanation: The Product Owners are responsible for decomposing and refining items in the Product Backlog.

Interview Questions

What are the two major patterns usually used for scaling the Product Owner role?

The two major patterns for scaling the Product Owner role are hierarchal and horizontal patterns.

In a hierarchical pattern for scaling the Product Owner role, what is the chief product owner’s role?

The chief product owner typically sets the overall strategy and priorities for the product line, establishes a vision and direction for multiple teams, and manages interdependencies among teams.

How is the area product owner role defined in a hierarchical pattern for scaling the Product Owner role?

Area product owners generally manage smaller parts or components of the product. They work under the guidance of the chief product owner and they own the details or specific sections of the product backlog.

In terms of horizontal scaling, how are Product Owners allocated?

In horizontal scaling, different product owners are assigned to different customer segments, markets or geographies. Each product owner is responsible for a specific market or customer segment.

What are the critical benefits of a Hierarchical Pattern for scaling the Product Owner role?

The hierarchical pattern allows for clear decision-making authority and helps manage complex products by breaking down the product into more manageable parts. It also facilitates the coordination of interdependencies among teams.

What are the common challenges of horizontal scaling?

Horizontal scaling often requires more coordination across different product owners. This can lead to increased complexity and risk in maintaining consistency across the product.

In a horizontal pattern for scaling the Product Owner role, how is alignment usually achieved amongst the different product owners?

Alignment is usually achieved through regular communication and collaboration sharing clear visions, ambitious goals, and a mutual understanding of the overarching business strategy.

How does a hierarchical pattern help in managing dependencies?

The hierarchical pattern helps manage dependencies by having a chief product owner who is responsible for overseeing inter-team dependencies and resolving conflicts regarding priorities.

How can we ensure consistency across the product in horizontal scaling?

Consistency can be ensured through regular communication and collaboration between product owners. They should have a mutual understanding of the overarching business strategy and regular synchronization meetings can aid this.

What role does the Scrum Master play in scaling the Product Owner role?

The Scrum Master facilitates effective communication and collaboration among product owners and teams, whether the company is using a hierarchical or horizontal scaling pattern, which can support successful scaling of the product owner’s role.

Which pattern is preferable for a company having multiple product variations targeting different customer segments?

The horizontal scaling pattern would be preferable for a company with multiple product variations targeting different customer segments.

Why might a hierarchical scaling pattern be useful for companies with complex and interrelated products?

Hierarchical scaling pattern is useful as it allows the chief product owner to set the overall strategy and priorities for the product line and manage inter-team dependencies, providing clarity and direction in complex environments.

What is the key to successfully scaling the Product Owner role irrespective of the pattern used?

The key to successful scaling is effective communication, collaboration, and synchronization among product owners and development teams, be it in a hierarchical or horizontal pattern.

Which pattern of scaling provides better visibility to stakeholders into product-related decisions and priorities?

The hierarchical scaling pattern tends to provide stakeholders with better visibility into product-related decisions and priorities, as there is a chief product owner who serves as the main point of contact.

Which scaling pattern allows Product Owners with distinct expertise to contribute uniquely to the business?

The Horizontal scaling pattern allows Product Owners with distinct expertise, associated with either customer, markets or geographies, to uniquely contribute to the business.

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