Product Owner Training

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

• By the Product Owner and stakeholders accepting the Increment at the Sprint Review

• By measuring the actual time spent on development versus the time estimated for development

• By frequently releasing the Increment to the customer and measuring the value the customer receives

• By measuring that velocity has increased since the last release

Answer explanation

Scrum Teams deliver products iteratively and incrementally, maximizing opportunities for feedback. If the Increment is not released, the opportunity to capture customer feedback is lost, and the product's true value cannot be accurately measured.

What is the principal value of releasing the Increment to customers?

• To learn about the Scrum Team's productivity

• To validate assumptions made when creating the product

• To learn about the forecast of functionality that was developed

Answer explanation

Releasing the Increment to customers or users is the only way to validate assumptions about value.

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

• The availability of resources and skills for implementation.

• Anything that informs them to achieve the product's goals and to optimize the value delivered.

• Lowest development cost in order to maximize Return of Investment (ROI)

• Development cohesion as indicated by Developers

• Effort first, then value

Answer explanation

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.

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.

• They are not allowed. The Sprint Retrospective is an opportunity for the Developers to improve.

• They are optional. Attendance is only required when the Product Owner gets invited by the Scrum Master.

Answer explanation

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:

• Decisions by the CFO, the CEO or the board of directors

• Technical and architectural work that needs to be done first, as indicated by the chief enterprise architect

• Items the Scrum Master has identified as impediments

• There are no exceptions; the entire organization must respect a Product Owner's decisions

• High impact changes that have not been approved by the change request board

Answer explanation

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.

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?

• The accumulated cost over the earned value of the product

• The money spent on development and delivery of the product

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

Answer explanation

Total cost of ownership (TCO) is an estimation of the expenses associated with purchasing, deploying, using and retiring a product or piece of equipment. TCO, or actual cost, quantifies the cost of the purchase across the product's entire lifecycle.

The Product Owner is not only accountable for development and release of a product, but also the cost of maintaining and operating the product over its lifetime.

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

• Whenever a team member can accommodate more work

• At the Sprint Planning event

• Never. The entire Scrum Team is accountable for creating value every Sprint

• During the Daily Scrum

Answer explanation

All members of the Scrum Team share in the accountability for creating value every Sprint.

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

• The order of the Product Backlog

• Validating assumptions of value through frequent releases

• Setting value on individual Product Backlog items using Value Poker

• Devising a formula for a neutral calculation of value

Answer explanation

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.

What should Developers do if the Product Owner is unavailable?

• Ask the Product Owner's manager to decide in the Product Owner's absence

• 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.

• Management should assign a substitute Product Owner to fill in when the Product Owner cannot be there.

• Wait until the Product Owner is available again

Answer explanation

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.

When can the Product Backlog be updated

• At any time when done by the Product Owner or a delegate.

• Only during Product Backlog refinement sessions if the Product Owner is present.

• Never, unless agreed to by the change request.

• Only after a Sprint Review if agreed to by the stakeholders.

Answer explanation

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.