Scrum Master vs Product Owner: What's the Difference?

hey there my name is josh vector i'm one of the founding partners here at product manager hq i'm also a head of product for a software company called squibbler and today i'm going to address a topic that we as product people get all the time from companies looking for consultancy on product management or people who are just looking to understand more about product management and that is what exactly is the difference between a scrum master and a product owner as you may know product management is a complex field with many roles and positions that seem to have overlapping responsibilities this is especially true in an agile environment where depending on the company the rush to complete product sprints can blur the lines between who is supposed to do what as some product members find themselves adopting to ad hoc approach to cover other team members who are lagging behind the same can be said for scrum masters and product owners some business executives still haven't grasped the difference between the two positions and that is what i'm going to break down in this video but before we go ahead and dive in don't forget to hit that subscribe button to get direct notifications whenever we post new and insightful videos about product management just like this one and that way you'll always be guaranteed to get your fair share of high quality content from real product management experts in order to understand the differences between scrum masters and product owners we must first take a look at what scrum and product management are as well as how they are different i'll begin by first talking about scrum scrum is a goal-oriented methodology used in development that seeks to leverage iterative and incremental practices to help manage highly complex products it happens to be one of the main branches of the agile methodology a broader framework applied to development that emphasizes iterative periodic analysis and adaptation for product improvement apart from being an iterative approach to product management agile is also recognized for the focus it places on three other aspects of product projects so one we have a leadership framework that inspires teamwork while still respecting the importance of self-organization and individual contributions to projects two an approach to product creation that speeds up the design development and implementation process without compromising quality and three a business focus that seeks to bridge the gap between company goals and customer needs with that in mind scrum employs product teams to operate in short time frames known as sprints in which teamwork is key to achieving the overarching product goal there are three fundamental roles in scrum which make up the scrum team the scrum master the product owner and the development team later we'll go ahead and dive into more of the intricacies of each one's role in the team but first let's continue by taking a look at the kind of activities that occur within scrum according to scrum guide sprint is the first event as mentioned before sprints are short periods in which the development team works to complete a set amount of work following the completion of a sprint we then have sprint plannings where the product team defines what can be delivered in the following sprint and how that work will be achieved once that is done another activity that is done is a daily scrum which is a short discussion among the team planning their activities for the start of the day to reach a target set for the day next we have the sprint review event which serves to evaluate the outcomes of a given sprint last year we have sprint retrospectives which are events conducted at the end of a sprint here the scrum team and product owner discuss the scope of improvement in the product development process with that said a scrum master is the person in the scrum team who ensures that everyone adheres to scrum principles in doing so from masters make sure that the entire team is familiar with the scrum guide scrum methodology and all the scrum events they act as a facilitator for both the scrum team and the product owner managing them as a unit removing obstacles that stun sprint progress and in turn coaching individual team members so that they can improve within their respective positions scrum masters play their part by making sure the scrum approach is being implemented during product or software development in some cases scrum masters also lead team processes with practices such as kanban using these methods they ensure delivery of all requests resolve problems and facilitate product enhancements where necessary scrum masters also have to fulfill cross-departmental coordination roles these roles may include change coordinator and release coordinator among others scrum masters also work continuously to increase team efficiency and recommend changes to the product vision roadmap and backlog they help the development team and engineering teams develop faster and more efficient processes to sum it all up the role of a strum master is more of a team supervisory role now that we've examined the role of a scrum master now let us turn our attention to product owners the role of a product owner is closely linked to scrum methodology namely the agile framework because the collaborative and iterative nature of an agile product development the role of agile product owner transgresses the conventions of typical roles in business management essentially they wear several hats at different stages of the product development process at times it may be a market analyst business analyst product designer or project manager sometimes they wear these hats all at once that said generally speaking the agile product owner acts as a coordinator who interacts with multiple departments in teams in order to adequately relay product details to the development team the agile product owner is unique in the sense that their responsibilities shift in accordance with that they're wearing at a given point in time however generally speaking there are five main responsibilities that an agile product owner has to take ownership of at all times during the product development process for starters an agile product owner has to understand the product vision in its entirety its purpose its proposed design the problem it solves and product usage estimates among other things then an agile product owner is accountable for drafting up the product strategy in the form of a plan that they plan to translate into a product roadmap it is at this point that the agile product owner defines product stories and following this whereas traditional product owners are solely responsible for drafting up the product backlog and delegating tasks to the various departments or teams the agile product owner invites the entire product team to participate in the creation of the backlog coordinating their efforts and using their insight to create a tendent schedule that they manage throughout the progress of the product development lifecycle in doing so the agile product owner is expected to maintain fluid communication with both product team members as well as senior management a product owner works with stakeholders and end users to develop a vision of a product's function and operation speaking of which at pmhq we offer official product management and product ownership certificates so i'll make sure to leave a link to our certification page where you can check all these different courses so you want to level up your product ownership skills we actually have a dedicated course and certification to doing just that or if you're in a business executive watching this video and you want your team members to run through a certification process like that you can also have them do that too and now that we've broken down the roles and responsibilities of scrum masters and product owners let us now talk about their differences one of the main differences that immediately jumps out at you is that scrum masters are far more focused on maximizing the value and potential of the scrum team and by extension eventual return on investment while product owners are focused almost exclusively on building the best product for their customers as possible scrum masters are supervisory figures that serve to encourage motivate and maintain a balance within the scrum team they may advise product owners on what should be done in the product roadmap or backlog management however that is secondary and completely optional to them they are focused on ensuring that scrum team members operate to the best their abilities and in turn perform well in their given roles product owners on the other hand are completely absorbed in the product that they're developing their chief primary concern is ensuring that the product is a success to the customers who use them while they'll pay attention to the roi it is not a priority to them instead they follow the product development roadmap manage the product's backlog and assume responsibility for the product's success each role also has a very specific responsibility the product owner forms a key link between the scrum team and the customers he understands and converts customer requirements and problems into actionable user stories prioritizes them and arranges user stories in the product backlog he is responsible for maximizing the value of the product after analyzing and prioritizing product features using sprint reviews and other similar methods the role of the scrum master is more of an overseers role that coaches the team to ensure that everyone is in line with the agile process they host daily stand-up meetings to sync with development team progress and note any obstacles and may keep the team from completing tasks therefore unlike product owners scrum masters act as a facilitator for the team to provide a better vision and improve the team's working efficiency in doing so the product owner is accountable for project completion and providing timely updates to clients and customers while the scrum master is accountable for the entire quality of the project as well as keeping the team on track towards meeting project completion timelines to wrap things up i'd like to share with you some advice for startups and small companies who tend to ask whether a product owner can also be the scrum master the simple answer is no the main reason for that is that it creates a conflict of interest product owners are responsible for creating the vision and plan for a successful product scrum masters have to oversee the entire process and make sure it's efficient and relevant as a result the scrum master reviews the product owner's work and provides recommendations for improvement or best practices therefore both jobs require different people for separate perspectives to properly use agile methodology you need both the scrum master and the product owner i hope that this video has been insightful and the differences between product owners and product managers are clear for you before we go i'd like to leave you with a question to see how well you've been paying attention to today's video true or false a scrum master plays an active role in the product backlog grooming in their capacity as an advisory figure to the product owner let me know your answer in the comment section be sure to like the video and subscribe to the channel so you can keep up with everything product management and that's it i'll catch you in the next video and i wish you the best of luck in your career journey cheers

Channel: Product HQ

Views: 3,039

Keywords: product owner, scrum product owner, scrum master, product owner vs scrum master, scrum master vs product owner, scrum, sprint planning, what does a product owner do, what does a scrum master do

Id: SzdLAxk4g7w

Length: 11min 9sec (669 seconds)

Published: Tue Sep 07 2021