How to Become a Product Owner? Essential Steps to Succeed

The position of a Product Owner is challenging yet rewarding. They would need to apply several skills, like:

• A perspective of the subject matter

• Effective communication with various teams

• Ability to manage time and team

• Ensure that projects meet business needs while remaining responsive to change

In my opinion, the Product Owners of successful Scrum teams execute the role of intrapreneurs. They manage their business as an independent entity but are a part of a big company. They have full accountability in increasing the product’s worth. Also, they are innovative and focus on developing products that could positively impact the firm’s toplines.

This guide will help you learn how to become a product owner and the required skills and certifications.

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Who is a Product Owner?

A specialist helps extract maximum value from each member of the Scrum team. This expert is a Product Owner and is responsible for the project’s results. Their key responsibility is to develop and deliver the product.

The PO manages every single detail of the project. These span its features and working. This helps them ensure that it complies with the stakeholders’ vision and intended goal. 

They also ensure total transparency to stakeholders in the development process.

The PO also decides what is to be provided to users. They can also propose adjusting the product if, for instance, they think it is not good enough for release.

What does a Product Owner do?

The expert needs to ensure that the product is successful upon its release. They will be responsible for many aspects of product development.

They set the team’s goals and provide the budget based on sales forecasts and the costs of creating each product or feature. The other duty of the PO is to build internal and external relationships with the team. They interact with product management, customers and business owners to accomplish this goal.

The first and principal representative of the client’s side is the Product Owner. They will handle timelines with contractors when required. Plus, they will set up frequent stakeholder check-ins, like status updates and user feedback.

Importance of a Product Owner in an Organization

After understanding what is product owner, let’s look at its importance. Here is why they are essential.

1. Team Motivation: Providing the development team with a clear vision and well-prioritized tasks. This step promotes motivation and efficiency.

2. Faster Product and Version Releases: Handling tasks effectively and making timely decisions are beneficial. They shorten the cycle of creating and bringing a product to the market.

3. Better ROI: Attention to valuable features and customer action enhances the return on investments.

4. Customer Satisfaction: A good PO ensures that the product offered by the company satisfies the needs of its users and makes users happy.

5. Sprint Reviews: The PO will review the completed work upon the end of each Sprint. They ensure that it meets the ‘Definition of Done’ and give approval to move ahead.

Steps to Become a Product Owner

Becoming a Product Owner requires a mix of education and soft skills. Here are the steps to help you understand how to become a product owner.

1. Get a bachelor’s degree: To become a product owner, you must hold a bachelor’s degree in IT or any other field. Here, you will learn about applications and terminologies. You will also get to know about systems and languages. They help in preparing you for a product owner position.

2. Finish Scrum training: Agile product owners operate under Scrum. You can undergo training to become an Agile product owner.

Moreover, there are also courses you must take such as:

• Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO)

• A-CSPO Advanced Certified Scrum Product Owner

The duration for both courses is 14 hours online or 16 hours on-site.

3. Gain Experience: With a knowledge-backed foundation, new product owners will be prepared for the workplace. However, it is not highly likely for anyone to be hired right out of university and be placed in a management position. Most of the IT managers have a working experience of at least 3 years.

It will be good for the product owners to use this time to get IT experience and not lag behind their professional growth.

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Responsibilities of a Product Owner

The following are the roles and responsibilities of a product owner:

1. Daily operations: They make sure that things are done at the right time and as per the workflows. All members working on the project will look up to the PO for guidance on daily operations.

2. Set the Vision: The product owner explains what users need. They should align the product's working to meet those needs. In parallel, the project should support the company’s aims and objectives. This is a very crucial leadership task. The vision needs to be shared with the team as well as all other stakeholders in the project. It helps the product owner in prioritizing and steering the team’s work. 

3. Develop the Product Roadmap: Product owners develop plans that align business objectives with product strategy. They will also identify technology solutions that support current and future needs.

4. Develop Product Strategy: A product strategy is a plan that explains how a particular product will be in the future. Through a product strategy, it is possible to define the target market. They can also craft the gist of the offering, USPs, pricing, distribution channels and so on.

5. Communication: Communication is one of the critical tools that keep a business running accordingly. Employees should understand the goals and vision of the company. They should ensure proper formal and informal communication within the team. This step will keep everybody on the same page. Product owners’ skills will help manage conflicts and create a better understanding among staff with this skill.

Top Skills of a Product Owner

Below is a list of skills that can be considered essential for a Product Owner.

1. A point of view: Presentation is one of the key Product Owner skills. They are helpful in presenting your product ideas to key stakeholders such as investors or customers. It is true that a product owner does not need to be an incredible speaker. However, they should have good verbal communication skills. With it, they get to convey their message as it is and to avoid any misconceptions.

2. Management of stakeholders: Product owners communicate internally and externally regularly at the individual and organizational levels. They must be strong in stakeholder management. They need to reach the right people at the right time to ensure smooth progress. They will also lead productive meetings and drive crucial decisions about the product.

3. Soft skills: A product owner needs solid soft skills to keep a business successful in the long run. The most difficult aspect of developing skills is the time and effort needed. They are vital for developing emotional intelligence, effective communication, and an essence of teamwork. However, mastering these soft skills will offer you an advantage over your competitors.

4. Project management skill: While a product owner is not viewed as a project manager, they must still own some basic project management principles. As a leader of the agile development team, he needs to have this ability. Managing a task involves using skills, abilities, proficiency, and resources. With these factors, they get to achieve the stated project objectives.

The procedure includes 5 steps:

1. The planning method

2. The starting up process

3. Execution

4. Controlling and tracking

5. Closing

All the above duties are carried out by a product owner alongside the DevOps team.

Product Owner Salary

Salary Variation across Geographies

Salaries for Product Owners and Product Managers vary greatly by region. In major cities such as Bengaluru, Mumbai, and Hyderabad, pay is generally higher. This is due to the significant concentration of technology corporations and startups vying for tech talent.

For example, a Product Manager in Bengaluru might earn anywhere from Eighteen Lakhs to Thirty-Five Lakh Rupees annually. In non-metro areas, the range might vary from Twelve Lakhs to Twenty-Five Lakh Rupees.

Salaries Based on Experience and Seniority

Salary also depends on how much experience and seniority somebody has.

An entry-level product manager or product owner in India would generally get an offer with a salary of about 6 Lakh to 9 Lakh Rupees. As years of experience are added, the pay keeps scaling up tremendously.

A person with three to seven years of experience would make between Twelve Lakhs and Twenty Lakh Rupees.

Senior professionals having more than seven years of experience get paid anywhere between Twenty Lakhs and Forty Lakh Rupees, or even higher. This point is especially applicable if they are leading big product teams.

Product Owner Job Opportunities

The present space needs companies to create products faster and delight customers. This is where a Product Owner excels at their job. They act as a bridge between stakeholders and development teams and drive fruitful project execution.

Product owners’ skills are critical in determining product vision and maintaining the product backlog. This skill ensures that the final result meets the customer's needs and business goals. Agile approaches are becoming more popular. Hence, this role has gained more and more prominence.

The Best Certifications for Product Owners

To increase your chances of landing a Product Owner role, consider pursuing one or more certifications.

1. A-CSPO: Levelling up and expanding one’s knowledge base,

The Advanced Certified Scrum Product Owner (A-CSPO) is ideal for improving your proficiency. You can gain deeper insights and enrich your base Scrum knowledge with it. This certification offers tactical guidance on product ownership, stakeholder interactions, and product vision.

2. APMG International Agile Project Management: The certification provides practical guidance on managing agile projects. It combines flexibility with structured governance. This way, you get a robust framework for project managers. AgilePM focuses on delivering value through iterative development and collaboration. 

3. CSPO: The CSPO certification is a badge of credibility for Product Owners. It is given by the prestigious Scrum Alliance. Hence, it holds worldwide recognition in the tech space. A CSPO expert showcases specialist competencies in working within the Scrum framework. 

Conclusion

You can highlight your ability to deliver enhanced value in Scrum and meet product development vision. When you clear the CSPO exam, your name will be added to the official Scrum Alliance Certified Practitioner’s list.

The career of a product owner is very promising, and one gets ample opportunities to shape the products and make decisions. It is essential to acquire the correct product owner skills and certification to help you come out on top in this exciting, in-demand career. The whole career path is challenging yet satisfying because of the opportunities provided.

FAQs

1. Can the Product Owner and Scrum Master Be the Same Person?

Yes, it can be done, but it is not ideal.

• The Scrum Master focuses on helping the team work efficiently.

• The Product Owner focuses on the product and its value to the business.

Both jobs combined may create a conflict between these different responsibilities.

2. Is the product owner’s role in demand?

Yes, there is a great demand for product owners, particularly in companies that use the Agile approach. Due to an increase in the number of businesses adopting Agile practices, the demand for skilled product owners keeps growing.

3. Is a product owner role stressful?

It can be stressful because the Product Owner is responsible for the product’s success. They also need to manage different stakeholder expectations. However, the role can be very rewarding if you enjoy leading teams and solving problems.