What does the PRODUCT OWNER do at the Sprint PLANNING meeting?

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Do you remember, what is “a Product”? — A product is a vehicle to deliver value. It has a clear boundary, known stakeholders, and well-defined users or customers. A product could be a service, a physical product, or something more abstract.

Who is accountable for this product being good, useful, valuable, and successful? – the Product Owner. Developers are the people in the Scrum Team that are committed to creating any aspect of the Product. But the person accountable for maximizing the value of the Product, resulting from the work of the Scrum Team, is – the Product Owner. So, we come to the 1st accountability in the Scrum Team – the Product Owner. The important point here is that – it is NOT the "amount of work" that is maximized, NOT the number of product characteristics created, but the “Value delivered”.

Every job that is needed to… create, develop and improve the Product is collected in the Product Backlog. But these jobs are NOT just "placed there”. They are in order and are being gradually refined. So, we come to the 1st Scrum artifact – the Product Backlog.
the Product Backlog – is an emergent, ordered list of what is needed to improve the Product. Its elements are called Product Backlog items.
{2013} the Product Backlog lists all features, functions, requirements, enhancements, and fixes, that constitute the changes to be made to the Product in the future. It is the single source of work undertaken by the Scrum Team.
So, the Product Owner MAXimises the value of the Product, resulting from the work of the Scrum Team. How does the Product Owner maximize the value? – By effectively managing the Product Backlog. This person is accountable for this. It means that the Product Owner:
1. Develops the current objective of the product – the Product Goal;
2. Creates and orders Product Backlog items; and,
3. Ensures that all these elements – the Product Backlog, the Product Goal, and the Product Backlog items – are clearly communicated, transparent, visible, and understood.
Product Owners may do all the above work themselves, or they may delegate the responsibility to others. Regardless, the Product Owner remains accountable.

But they are not alone in this – ScrumMasters help Product Owners find techniques for effective Product Backlog-management, and they help their Scrum Teams understand the need for clear and concise Product Backlog items.

The Product Owner’s decisions are visible – transparent: in the content of the Product Backlog, its Items, and their ordering, and through the inspectable Increment at the Sprint Review.

For Product Owners to succeed, the entire organization must RESPECT their decisions. Otherwise, they cease to be “the Owners of the Products”, and become, rather, the "Owners of the teams’ backlogs", “Requirements coordinators", or the "Transmitters of stakeholder requests".

The Product Owner is the only person with the authority to cancel the Sprint, in case the Sprint Goal becomes obsolete.

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In this online course, you will learn about the most popular Agile approach used by 87% of teams – Scrum! As an Agile coach and Scrum Master with years of experience, Dim Blinov will guide you through the essential elements of Scrum including roles, events, artifacts, values, and pillars.

The course covers various elements of Scrum, including:

1. The definition of Scrum. It is a lightweight framework that helps teams and organizations generate value through adaptive solutions for complex problems.

2. The key elements of Scrum, including the accountabilities (Product Owner, Developers, Scrum Master), events (Sprint, Sprint Planning, Daily Scrum, Sprint Review, Sprint Retrospective), and artifacts (Product Backlog, Sprint Backlog, Increment) + the commitments associated with the Scrum artifacts (Product Goal, Sprint Goal, Definition of Done).

3. The five Scrum values (Focus, Openness, Respect, Commitment, and Courage) and the three empirical pillars (Transparency, Inspection, and Adaptation).

4. Additional elements of Scrum, such as Product Backlog Refinement, Empowerment and Self-management, Lean thinking, Cross-functionality, and Iterative-Incremental approach.

The 3 Accountabilities are the Product Owner, the Developers, and the Scrum Master.
The 5 Events are the Sprint, the Sprint Planning, the Daily Scrum, the Sprint Review, and the Sprint Retrospective.
And the 3 artifacts are the Product Backlog, the Sprint Backlog, and the Increment.
These are 3 commitments for those 3 artifacts, 5 Scrum values, and 3 empirical pillars.
The 3 Commitments are the Product Goal, the Sprint Goal, and the Definition of Done.
The Values are Focus, Openness, Respect, Commitment, and Courage.
The 3 Empirical pillars are Transparency, Inspection, and Adaptation.