A busy Product Owner working with many teams should communicate a clear Product Goal and delegate some activities to the Developers. Adding more Product Owners or a PMO layer splits accountability.
Exam Question
When the Product Owner is too busy to work with all of the teams in a multi-team product development effort, which strategy will help them?
(choose the best answer)
A. Add component team Product Owners.
B. Communicate a clear Product Goal and delegate some activities to the Developers.
C. Enlist the Program Management Office to help coordinate work.
D. Hire sub-Product Owners and assign them to each Scrum Team.
E. All of the above.
Correct Answer
B. Communicate a clear Product Goal and delegate some activities to the Developers.
Why This Is the Correct Answer
The Scrum Guide says the Product Owner may do the Product Backlog work or delegate it to others, and “Regardless, the Product Owner remains accountable.” A clear Product Goal is what makes delegation safe. When every team understands the target state of the product, the Developers can refine items, talk with stakeholders and make smaller decisions in line with that goal. The Product Owner then focuses on the decisions only they can make. Adding sub-Product Owners or component Product Owners would break the rule that the Product Owner is one person, not a committee, and would lead to conflicting priorities across teams.
Why the Other Options Are Wrong
A. Add component team Product Owners. This creates multiple Product Owners for one product and encourages component teams instead of feature teams.
C. Enlist the Program Management Office to coordinate. A PMO adds a coordination layer outside Scrum and does not reduce the Product Owner’s decision load.
D. Hire sub-Product Owners for each team. The Product Owner is one person. Sub-Product Owners split accountability and create proxies.
E. All of the above. A, C and D all conflict with Scrum, so this option is wrong.
Exam Tip
When a Product Owner is overloaded, the expected answer combines a clear goal with delegation. Options that add more “owners” or coordination layers are wrong.
Key Takeaways
- A clear Product Goal lets the Product Owner delegate safely.
- The Product Owner stays accountable after delegating.
- Sub-Product Owners and proxies split accountability.
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More PSPO II exam questions
- What is a benefit of frequent product releases?
- Organizations should reduce their investment in a product when the product’s:
- Your product’s current value is low and your most recent three releases have failed to improve the current value, but the unrealized value of the Product is high.
- You are a Product Owner for a product with a rapidly declining customer base. One very influential stakeholder emphasizes the need to add more features to the product – to focus on capturing new customers.
- You have been a Product Owner at a new company for a few weeks. It has become clear to you that many people, both inside and outside the Scrum Team, expect close involvement in the decisions that you, as a Product Owner, are accountable for.