A Product Owner is stretched thin and asks a business analyst to write most of the Product Backlog items and to propose their order each week. Is that permitted, and who answers when the ordering is challenged?
Professional Scrum Master I, objective 1. Understanding and applying the Scrum framework medium
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The options
Correct Permitted — the Product Owner may delegate the work, and remains accountable for it
Correct. Scrum is explicit that the Product Owner may do this work or delegate it, and equally explicit that the accountability does not travel with the task.
Not correct Not permitted — Product Backlog management may only be carried out by the Product Owner in person
Wrong. Delegating the work is allowed and is often how a Product Owner copes with a large product. What is not allowed is delegating the accountability.
Not correct Permitted, and accountability passes to the business analyst for the items they write and order
Wrong. Accountability in Scrum does not move with a handed-over task. When the ordering is challenged, the answer comes from the Product Owner regardless of who typed it.
Not correct Permitted only if the Scrum Master approves the arrangement first
Wrong. A Scrum Master has no approval role over how a Product Owner works. Their part is to help find techniques for effective Product Goal definition and Product Backlog management if asked.
Why
Four things sit with the Product Owner: developing and explicitly communicating the Product Goal, creating and clearly communicating Product Backlog items, ordering them, and ensuring the Product Backlog is transparent, visible and understood. Any of that work can be shared out. The line to remember is that the Product Owner is one person, not a committee — delegate the work, never the accountability.
Where this comes from
- Cited
- Scrum Guide section Product Owner
- What it says
- The Product Owner may do the above work or may delegate the responsibility to others. Regardless, the Product Owner remains accountable.
Practise this
Reading one question is not practice. The trainer will draw a set from objective 1 and space the ones you get wrong.
Practise Professional Scrum Master I
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