Product Owner Open

When can the Product Backlog be updated?

At any time when done by the Product Owner or a delegate. Feedback: The Product Backlog is dynamic; it constantly changes to identify what the product needs in order to be appropriate, competitive, and useful. Product Backlog items can be updated at any time by the Product Owner or a delegate. Even if the responsibility is delegated the Product Owner remains accountable for the Product Backlog.

Which of the following are needed in order to allow Sprint Planning to begin?

A Product Backlog with the most important items ready for discussion. A Product Goal communicated by the Product Owner. Feedback: Sprint Planning initiates the Sprint by laying out the work to be performed for the Sprint. This resulting plan is created by the collaborative work of the entire Scrum Team. The Product Owner ensures that attendees are prepared to discuss the most important Product Backlog items and how they map to the Product Goal.

In order to make investment decisions, the Product Owner is likely to look at the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) of the product being built. What costs will a Product Owner take into account?

All investments required to conceive, develop, operate and maintain the product.

It is mandatory for the Product Owner to monitor and share progress of the Product Backlog by using which method?

Any practice based on trends of work completed and upcoming work. Feedback: Various practices upon trending have been used to forecast progress, like burn-downs, burn-ups, or cumulative flows. These have proven useful, but none are mandatory, and care should be taken because none can replace the importance of empiricism. What will happen is unknown, no matter what has happened.

What variables should a Product Owner consider when ordering the Product Backlog?

Anything that informs them to achieve the product's goals and to optimize the value delivered. Feedback: The Product Owner is responsible for ordering the items in the Product Backlog to best achieve the Product Goal, thereby optimizing the value of the work the Developers perform. How this is done, and what value means, may vary widely across organizations.

How does an organization know that a product built using Scrum is successful?

By releasing frequently, and measuring the value customers/users experience. Feedback: Scrum Teams deliver products iteratively and incrementally, maximizing opportunities for feedback. If a product is not released, the opportunity to capture user and market feedback is lost.

The Sprint Review is the only time at which stakeholder feedback is taken into account.

False Feedback: A Product Owner engages actively and regularly with stakeholders. However, to limit the disturbance to the development progress and keep focus high, the stakeholders have a formal role in the process at the Sprint

True or False: A Product Owner is essentially the same thing as a traditional Project Manager?

False Feedback: A traditional project manager is responsible for all aspects of a project; costs, resources, execution, release, planning, capacity. Scrum is a framework for complex product development, regardless of whether the work is organized in projects. The Product Owner is accountable for maximizing the value of the product and the work performed, this is complemented by the specific accountabilities of the Developers and the Scrum Master.

The value delivered by a product can only be determined by revenue.

False Feedback: Value is likely to vary across products and organizations.

True or False: The value delivered by a product can only be determined by revenue.

False Feedback: Value is likely to vary across products and organizations.

True or False: The Scrum Team must choose at least one high priority process improvement item, identified during the Sprint Retro, and place it in the Sprint Backlog.

False.

Which two statements explain why the Definition of Done is important to the Product Owner?

It creates transparency regarding progress within the Scrum Team. It establishes the expected quality of the Increment reviewed at the Sprint Review. Feedback: All Scrum Team members must have a shared understanding of what it means for work to be complete, to ensure transparency. This is the Definition of Done for the Scrum Team and is used to assess when work is complete on the product Increment. The Increment reviewed at the Sprint Review must meet the Definition of Done.

What is the Product Owner accountable for in Scrum?

Maximizing the value of the product resulting from the work of the Scrum Team. Feedback: In addition to being accountable for maximizing the value of the product and the work of the Scrum Team, the Product Owner is accountable for effective Product Backlog management, communicating the Product Goal, ordering the Product Backlog, and making the Product Backlog transparent. The Product Owner may do these things or may delegate the responsibility to others. Even if the responsibility is delegated the Product Owner remains accountable.

When does a Developer become accountable for the value of a Product Backlog item selected for the Sprint?

Never. The entire Scrum Team is accountable for creating value every Sprint. Feedback: All members of the Scrum Team share in the accountability for creating value every Sprint.

The Developers find out during the Sprint that they are not likely to build everything they forecast. What would you expect a Product Owner to do?

Re-negotiate the selected Product Backlog items with the Developers. FB: During the Sprint, scope may be clarified and re-negotiated between the Product Owner and Developers as more is learned.

To what extent does technical debt limit the value a Product Owner can get from a product?

Technical debt causes a greater percentage of the product's budget to be spent on maintenance of the product. The velocity at which new functionality can be created is reduced when you have technical debt.

The Product Owner manages the Product Backlog. Who is accountable for estimating the effort to complete the Product Backlog items?

The Developers. Feedback: The Developers are responsible for all estimates. The people who will perform the work make the final estimate.

What is a Product Backlog?

The Product Backlog is an emergent, ordered list of what is needed to improve the product. Feedback: The Product Backlog is an ordered list of everything that might be needed in the product and it is the single source of work undertaken by the Scrum Team. The Product Backlog evolves as the product and the environment in which it will be used evolves. As long as a product exists, its Product Backlog also exists.

What best describes the relationship of the Product Owner and the stakeholders?

The Product Owner actively asks for stakeholder input and expectations to incorporate into the Product Backlog. Feedback: The Product Owner represents the stakeholders to the Scrum Team, which includes representing their desired requirements in the Product Backlog. The Product Owner is accountable for maximizing the value of the product resulting from the work of the Scrum Team. The Product Owner is also accountable for effective Product Backlog management.

How important is it for a Product Owner to order Product Backlog items by using value points?

The Product Owner may order the Product Backlog by using value points or select another technique, the decision is up to them. Feedback: The Product Owner is accountable for ordering the Product backlog, regardless of the techniques they may utilize to define that order. Indications of value on Product Backlog items may be useful but are only a prediction until validated by users and the market.

Adaptation requires regular inspection. In what ways does the Product Owner contribute to the results achieved by inspection ?

The Product Owner shares the current state of Product Backlog at the Sprint Review, which, combined with the inspection of the Increment, leads to an updated Product Backlog. The Product Owner invites stakeholders to the Sprint Review to learn how the current state of the marketplace influences what is the most valuable thing to do next. Feedback: Scrum users must frequently inspect Scrum artifacts and progress to detect undesirable variances. The primary tool for the Product Owner to uphold transparency is the Product Backlog. Product Backlog is a living artifact that is actively maintained and updated to reflect reality. At the Sprint Review, attendees collaborate on the next things that could be done to optimize value, which is processed into an updated Product Backlog.

Who creates the Definition of Done?

The organization (or the Scrum Team if none is available from the organization). Feedback: If the Definition of Done for an Increment is part of the standards of the organization, all Scrum Teams must follow it as a minimum. If it is not an organizational standard, the Scrum Team must create a Definition of Done appropriate for the product.

Is the Product Owner required to be present at the Sprint Retrospective?

Their attendance is mandatory. The Sprint Retrospective is an opportunity for the Scrum Team to assess and improve itself. FB: The Sprint Retrospective is an opportunity for the Scrum Team to inspect itself and create a plan for improvements to be enacted during the next Sprint.

The Product Owner's authority to change and update the Product Backlog is unlimited, except for:

There are no exceptions; the entire organization must respect a Product Owner's decisions. Feedback: For the Product Owner to succeed, the entire organization must respect their decisions. (WF): For the Product Owner to succeed, the entire organization must respect their decisions.

A Product Owner is entitled to postpone the start of a new Sprint after the conclusion of a previous Sprint for the following reason:

There is no acceptable reason. A new Sprint starts immediately after the conclusion of the previous Sprint. Feedback: A new Sprint starts immediately after the conclusion of the previous Sprint.

What phrases best describe the relationship of the Product Owner and the Developers?

They collaborate often so the Developers build Increments keeping end-user and stakeholder concerns in mind. They collaborate often so the Product Owner can make informed decisions in balancing effort and value of Product Backlog items. Feedback: The Product owner clearly expresses Product Backlog items, ensuring the Developers understand items in the Product Backlog to the level needed for developing them and creating the value the Product Owner envisions. Scope may be re-negotiated if the effort grows much higher than anticipated.

How do timeboxes help the Product Owner and the other members of the Scrum Team validate assumptions, adapt, and maximize the value of their product?

Timeboxes help minimize risk by creating the opportunity to validate assumptions using feedback from users and the market; allowing Scrum Teams to inspect progress toward the Product Goal and decide whether to pivot or persevere. Feedback: The Product Owner manages the Product Backlog against the assumption that value will be generated. This assumption remains invalidated when not checked against users and the market. When a Sprint's horizon is too long, you increase the risk that what is being developed may no longer be desired. Sprints limit risk to one calendar month or less of work.

A first Sprint can start before the Product Owner has a complete and exhaustive Product Backlog in place.

True. A first Sprint requires no more than a Scrum Team and enough ideas to potentially complete a full Sprint.

What two things best help the Product Owner manage the value of a product?

Validating assumptions of value through frequent releases. The order of the Product Backlog. Feedback: The Product Owner manages Product Backlog against the assumption that value will be generated. Indications of value on Product Backlog are useful but are only a prediction until validated against users and market.

Which description best fits the role of the Product Owner?

Value Maximizer. The Product Owner is responsible for maximizing the value of the product.

What should Developers do if the Product Owner is unavailable?

Within the Sprint, the Developers make the best decisions possible to assure progress toward the Sprint Goal, re-aligning with the Product Owner once they are available again. Feedback: The Scrum framework consists of Scrum Teams and their associated roles, events, artifacts, and rules. Each component within the framework serves a specific purpose and is essential to Scrum's success and usage. The Scrum Team consists of a Product Owner, the Developers, and a Scrum Master. The Product Owner is responsible for maximizing the value of the product and the work of the Scrum Team. In the absence of a Product Owner, the latter accountability is not performed.

What are typical activities for a Product Owner in a Sprint?

Work with the Developers on Product Backlog refinement. Collaborate with stakeholders, user communities, and subject matter experts. Feedback: The Product Owner represents the needs of many stakeholders in the Product Backlog. This typically requires active interaction in order to be able to represent stakeholders and their needs. Product Backlog refinement is an ongoing process in which the Product Owner and the Developers may collaborate on the details of Product Backlog items.