Product Owner Accountability

According to the Scrum Guide, the Product Owner is accountable for maximising what?

• A The team's velocity over time
• B The size of the Product Backlog
• C The value of the product resulting from the work of the Scrum Team ✓
• D The number of features delivered each Sprint

Answer: The Product Owner is accountable for maximising the value of the product resulting from the work of the Scrum Team, not merely output or volume of work.

How many people can hold the Product Owner accountability for a single product?

• A Exactly one person ✓
• B A committee of two or three
• C Any number, shared across the Developers
• D One per stakeholder group

Answer: The Product Owner is one person, not a committee. They may represent the needs of many stakeholders but remain a single accountable individual.

If a stakeholder wants to change a Product Backlog item, who must they convince to make that change?

• A The steering committee
• B The Product Owner ✓
• C The Scrum Master
• D The Developers by majority vote

Answer: For the Product Owner to succeed, the entire organisation must respect their decisions; those who want to change the Product Backlog can do so by trying to convince the Product Owner.

The Product Owner may delegate Product Backlog management work, but who remains accountable for it?

• A The Developers
• B The Product Owner ✓
• C Whoever the work was delegated to
• D The Scrum Master

Answer: The Product Owner may have others manage the Product Backlog on their behalf, but the Product Owner remains accountable for it in every case.

Which of the following is NOT a Product Owner accountability described in the Scrum Guide?

• A Ensuring the Product Backlog is transparent, visible and understood
• B Developing and explicitly communicating the Product Goal
• C Ordering Product Backlog items
• D Writing all the technical implementation tasks for the Sprint Backlog ✓

Answer: Decomposing work into technical tasks within the Sprint Backlog is the Developers' responsibility; the Product Owner manages the Product Backlog and the Product Goal.

For the Product Owner to be successful, what must the rest of the organisation do?

• A Assign the Product Owner to manage the Developers
• B Require sign-off from a project manager before each Sprint
• C Respect the Product Owner's decisions ✓
• D Approve every backlog change through a change board

Answer: The Product Owner's decisions are visible in the content and ordering of the Product Backlog, and for them to succeed the whole organisation must respect those decisions.