What Does an Associate Product Owner Do?

The ultimate goal of every organization is to offer the best-in-class services or products to their customers. When companies take on any new project, they face many issues throughout the project life cycle. Some of the typical ones include lack of resources, poor time management, changing client requirements, exceeding budget, and unclear project goals. Over the years, many methodologies have evolved to address these issues and ensure proper planning, management, and execution of projects. The Agile and Scrum methodologies are one of such sought-after ways to be implemented for the success of a project.

The Scrum Guide gives the definition of Scrum as a lightweight framework that helps people, teams. The organizations generate value through adaptive solutions for complex problems.’

There are three crucial roles in an organization that follows Agile and Scrum practices. The Scrum Master, Product Owner, and the Scrum Team. This article particularly focuses on the role of a product owner. You will know who an associate product owner is and what are his responsibilities. You would also understand why product owner aspirants usually rely on an online training program, like Simplilearn’s Certified Scrum Product Owner course, to gain all the necessary skills.

What is an Associate Product Owner?

A product owner is a critical part of an Agile team who handles the responsibility of maximizing the value of the product. That is created by the development team. Their major tasks include prioritizing the product backlog, clearly expressing its items, optimizing the value of work done by the developers, and guiding the Scrum team with their assigned work. They ensure that all the Scrum team members have clarity, transparency, and visibility regarding the product backlog.

An associate product owner is a designation referring to an individual. Who assists the product manager in performing the above tasks. Companies that wish to first train the employee regarding the best practices for building their products. How to develop and release product functions and features hire an associate product owner. When they have gained sufficient hands-on experience, they are given the opportunity to progress into the Product Owner role.

A professional preparing to achieve the role of an associate product manager needs to lay the groundwork for gaining the right qualification. This includes a thorough understanding of the Scrum framework and how inspection, adaption, and transparency are applied in Scrum. They should learn how to manage products with agility by mastering product backlog management, product value, and forecasting and release planning. Next, they should know how to manage technical risks using Scrum values and optimize the flow. Finally, aspirants should have a clear understanding of how to extend the impact map to gain better product insights. 

Associate Product Owner Responsibilities

Wondering what responsibilities will you handle after stepping into the shoes of an associate product owner? Well, here we have discussed some of the common ones that every organization gives:

• Gather and analyze huge data sets to help the product team identify what to build and set the priorities.
• Development and execution of product vision and strategy that involves researching the features, conducting discovery sessions, writing user stories, and owning the product backlog.
• Refining of product backlog and preparation for program increment planning.
• Supporting the product design sprint, identifying areas of improvement, and providing assistance throughout the development events including the final sprint.
• Communicate with the stakeholders, customers, development team, and business managers to ensure that all of them are aware of the product goals and how they align with the business objectives.
• Validation of user stories to ensure that they meet the acceptance criteria through appropriate, persistent acceptance tests.

To handle such responsibilities, associate product owners need to be a data-driven, self-motivated, team player and have strong interpersonal skills, analytical skills, and communication skills.  

Your Path to Becoming an Associate Product Owner

If you are serious about an associate product owner career. We would recommend you to achieve some Scrum-related certifications as they help in demonstrating your expertise in this area. One of the popular certifications for product owners is the Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO) certification offered by the prestigious Scrum Alliance. As a CSPO, you will become capable of expanding your career opportunities across various industry sectors that adopt Agile practices. Maximize the value of your team’s work and engage with a global community of Agile practitioners who are committed to continuous improvement.

To achieve this certification, there is a basic requirement of attending 14 hours of live online or 16 hours of in-person training with a Certified Scrum Trainer (CST). Note that there is no test for this certification. This is why many aspirants prefer taking online CSPO courses from authorized training providers to fulfill this requirement. Your instructor will be a CST who will guide you throughout the entire learning objectives set by the Scrum Alliance. If you don’t have any idea regarding the CSPO training providers. You can visit the Scrum Alliance website and check further details. Just select the certification type and enter your location, you’ll be provided with the list of instructors taking the course. So, don’t wait for more to start your CSPO journey and become a successful product owner.