Product Owner Accountability On A Scrum Team [Scrum Guide Video]
Please note: This is still the most current version of the Scrum Guide in 2025.
Video: Scrum Team - Product Owner
This is from the official 2020 Scrum Guide by Ken Schwaber and Jeff Sutherland.
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Scrum Team - Product Owner as defined in the official 2020 Scrum Guide
Product Owner
The Product Owner is accountable for maximizing the value of the product resulting from the work of the Scrum Team. How this is done may vary widely across organizations, Scrum Teams, and individuals.
The Product Owner is also accountable for effective Product Backlog management, which includes:
Developing and explicitly communicating the Product Goal;
Creating and clearly communicating Product Backlog items;
Ordering Product Backlog items; and,
Ensuring that the Product Backlog is transparent, visible and understood.
The Product Owner may do the above work or may delegate the responsibility to others. Regardless, the Product Owner remains accountable.
For Product Owners to succeed, the entire organization must respect their decisions. These decisions are visible in the content and ordering of the Product Backlog, and through the inspectable Increment at the Sprint Review.
The Product Owner is one person, not a committee. The Product Owner may represent the needs of many stakeholders in the Product Backlog. Those wanting to change the Product Backlog can do so by trying to convince the Product Owner.
References and Additional Learning Resources
View the “Scrum Team - Product Owner” section in the Interactive Scrum Guide.
Listen to the “Scrum Team: Product Owner Audio Clip” from the Scrum Guide Audio Book.
Listen to the official 2020 version of the Scrum Guide Audio Book.
View the official online digital version of the 2020 Scrum at InteractiveScrumGuide.com.
Watch the official 2020 Scrum Guide YouTube Playlist at sg20_playlist.mvizdos.com.
Learn more about Implementing Scrum with Michael Vizdos at ImplementingScrum.com.
Subscribe to your free weekly Saturday morning, emails with the original Scrum Chicken and Pig Cartoons about Implementing Scrum by visiting subscribe.mvizdos.com.
Finally, you can learn more about Michael Vizdos, creator of ImplementingScrum.com, the Scrum Guide Audiobook and the Interactive Scrum Guide at michaelvizdos.com.
Get even more FREE resources to learn about Implementing Scrum at learn.mvizdos.com.
About the Author: Michael Vizdos
Hi. I really do appreciate you reading this article. My name is Michael Vizdos and I’ve worked with thousands of people on teams all around the world for the past 30+ years of my professional career.
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