Often, for whatever reason, we are developing a new application/platform and we do not have a Product Owner (PO) role in our team. I would never recommend anyone to live without the role of the PO, but unfortunately, there are contexts that force us to live without this important role (either temporarily or permanently). And this situation can have some consequences that we will discuss in this article.

What does (or what is) a Product Owner do?

The goal of a Product Owner is to maximize the value of the product. To do this, you will need to have a very clear product vision and know the business objectives you are trying to achieve.. What problem are we trying to solve? and… How do we measure it?

Generally, this person comes from business and is in constant contact with all those people who may have an interest in the product to know the details that the product must have to bring the product vision to reality. You will also be in constant contact with the development team to comment on technical aspects or even to give you some ideas to improve the product from your point of view.

To carry out the product vision, the PO uses the Product Backlog (PB). The PB is a list of everything that needs to be done to complete the product vision. It is very important to have this list constantly prioritized in order to be able to order the work items and to know where we have to invest our efforts and at what time.

Why do we need a Product Owner?

First of all, let’s look at one of the main reasons why we need a PO.

Based on Henrik’s scheme we have 3 points of view:

• Normally, the development team tends to focus on building the product in the right way and with a good architecture (blue circle),
• the Scrum Master or Agile Coach tends to focus on accelerating learning and value delivery (green circle), and
• the Product Owner focuses on building the product that our users really need (black circle), in a way that maximizes the value of the product.

Ideally, we want all 3 circles, but it is difficult to find the balance. In our case, if we do not have a PO, it will increase the risk of building a “cathedral” when we really needed “offices” and that is a risk that many may not be able to take.

Why don’t we have a Product Owner?

The first thing I would ask myself is why we do not have this role within our organization. Is it because we don’t need it? Because we can’t afford it? Or simply because it is difficult to find the PO profile we are looking for? From here, we can maneuver according to the response.

1. “Don’t we need a Product Owner?”

• If it’s because we don’t need it. In this case, it is very likely that someone has taken this role whether they are aware of it or not. For example, someone from the development team (without PO knowledge) together with someone from business might be in contact to know what the development team should do. This may allow the developer to have a broader view of the product, but it still takes up time that could be used to build the product. Moreover, this dual role is not usually a good friend of company because it brings with it stress, frustration and bottlenecks. Therefore, it would be good to rethink what our current situation is in all honesty and inform ourselves well on how we would function with a PO.

2. “We didn’t find what we were looking for.”

• “It’s hard to find the PO profile we’re looking for.” The first thing I would ask myself would be whether we need a senior profile to pull the cart and bring all his experience or we can count on a more junior profile to have the advantage of “molding” it to the culture and interests of the organization. Keep in mind that an experienced PO will find it more difficult to change his or her pre-established ideas on many issues, which can sometimes turn into conflicts. It’s something I think is worth considering because if we realize that a junior profile suits us, not only is your salary lower, but you’ll probably have a PO sooner rather than later.
  

3. “We can’t afford a Product Owner.”

• “We can’t afford it.” This situation is highly complex. Precisely for the reason I mentioned in the first point. Although I would not recommend it in 99% of the cases and it contradicts the above mentioned, what can be done with the help of a lot of discipline and also external help, is that a person wants to share his usual role with the PO role. This means that, at the very least, this person must acquire a minimum of training, must know how to combine the tasks and the time dedicated to one thing and another and, above all, must be aware in every conversation with someone in the organization whether he/she is speaking from his/her usual role or from his/her new role as PO. On the latter depends the success of this person with 2 roles and it is the most difficult. Even so, I would only recommend this option to an organization that is mature in agility and that does not find it difficult to adopt this type of change. Any organization that falls outside of this profile, I recommend that they look for other alternatives.

Conclusions

Obviously, there are infinite contexts and not everyone has the same needs. But if you want to be a reference in your market and the best in your business domain, you probably want a PO dedicated to maximizing the value of your product.