3 Skills to Become a Great Product Owner [Role and Responsibilities]
Product Owners are one of the most important roles in a product team. The Product Owner represents the business, customers, and/or users, and guides the team toward building the right product (not just any product).
In order to be an effective Product Owner, you first and foremost must be willing to put in the time to do the job well. Beyond that, learning how to prioritize effectively, weigh the needs of diverse stakeholders and requirements, and communicate effectively through various mediums are key for a successful product team.
If you don’t have a PO yet, you’ve recently entered the role, or you’re looking to brush up your skills, this article will help you focus on the key skills to develop.
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Product Owner Role and Responsibilities
The title “Product Owner” is the term generally used within the Scrum framework, though some teams might instead use titles like “Project Owner”, “Technical Product Manager” or “Customer Advocate.” For the sake of simplicity, we’ll be using Product Owner in this article.
Who actually fills this role varies: they can be the founder of a startup, a member of the marketing team, or hold a number of roles within their company. Regardless of their official role, however, all Product Owners must have an understanding of the users, as well as the business needs the product fulfills.
They are the liaison that communicates the product vision to the development team, establishes priorities, and works with product designers to translate the user’s needs into the final product. The following diagram visualizes the key responsibilities of a Product Owner:
