Glossary
What does a product owner do?
The product owner owns the order of the backlog and the value. Responsibilities, how it differs from a project manager, common misreadings.
The product owner owns what gets built next — not how it is built and not who builds it. The most visible expression of that ownership is the order of the backlog.
Why one person
Not for authority but to avoid a deadlock: when several people prioritise at once, everything ends up "high" and the order stops meaning anything. One person who decides and can justify the decision is accountable; a committee is not.
The responsibilities
Ordering and maintaining the backlog, being able to justify the value of a request, clarifying acceptance criteria with the team, and being reachable for questions. What is not included: assigning work, estimating (the team does that) or running the process (that is the scrum master).
Versus a project manager
A classical project manager owns deadline, budget and scope together. A product owner owns value and lets scope and timing follow from it. Merging both roles into one person usually produces classical project management wearing agile vocabulary.
FAQ
Can one person be product owner for several teams?
Possible, but it becomes a bottleneck quickly. As soon as a team is waiting for answers, the role is overloaded regardless of who holds it.
Should the product owner estimate?
They can take part in the conversation, but the estimate belongs to the team doing the work. Otherwise an estimate turns into a target.
Does Kanban need a product owner?
The role comes from Scrum, but the job always exists: somebody has to decide what gets pulled next.