In Scrum, the Scrum Product Owner (PO) acts as a bridge between stakeholders and the development team. The PO is the single responsible person - not a team - who defines and prioritize the product backlog, translating stakeholder needs into actionable tasks. Through close collaboration, he guides the team, ensures alignment with the product vision, and makes decisions that drive development. This role demands effective communication, analytical thinking, and a deep customer understanding for successful product delivery.
Thus, this role’s job throughout the Scrum sprint is also to ensure there are always enough items ready at the top of the product backlog for the next sprint. Note that especially for sprints in a new team constellation or a sprint where many product backlog items (also called user stories) with a high uncertainty are handled, there is a possibility for a sprint to end earlier than the sprint duration. So he’s well advised to start planning the next product backlog items as soon as one sprint starts.
In short, he holds the product vision towards the Scrum team and should always be able to convey that vision and the initial steps towards that vision in form of product backlog items.
Bitcreed would love to help you get the most out of your existing Scrum Product Owner, support and coaching to a PO or would like to explore how Scrum and other agile methodologies could boost your products and teams. We’d be delighted to help you out with a Scrum Product Owner for hire, or assist you in recruiting one.