Requirements and responsibilities
A Scrum Master acts as a servant leader, coaching the team on Agile principles, facilitating Scrum events, and removing impediments to ensure smooth process and high team performance. A Product Owner defines the product vision, manages the product backlog to maximize value, and represents stakeholders and customers to the team. While distinct roles, they collaborate to guide the team in delivering a valuable product successfully.
Scrum Master Responsibilities:
Coaching & Facilitation:
Acts as a coach for the Scrum team, teaching and ensuring adherence to Agile values and the Scrum framework.
Impediment Removal:
Identifies and removes obstacles that hinder the team's progress and productivity.
Process Oversight:
Facilitates Scrum events (like daily scrums, sprint planning, and retrospectives) and helps the team improve its processes.
Team Environment:
Fosters a self-organizing and high-performing team environment, helping with conflict resolution when needed.
Stakeholder Collaboration:
May work with the Product Owner and stakeholders, ensuring alignment and communication.
Product Owner Responsibilities:
Vision & Goal:
Defines and communicates the Product Goal and works with stakeholders to get the product vision approved.
Backlog Management:
Creates, prioritizes, and manages the product backlog, ensuring items are clear, visible, and understood by the team.
Value Maximization:
Focuses on maximizing the value of the product delivered by the Scrum Team.
Stakeholder & Customer Representation:
Acts as the voice of the customer and is the primary point of contact for stakeholders, understanding their needs and market trends.
Product Roadmap:
Collaborates with the team to create and maintain a product roadmap, a strategic view of future deliverables.