Answering: “You have just been hired as a Scrum Master by a company new to Scrum. The company wants to use Scrum to build a new product that was conceived by the product management department. You will be the Scrum Master of two new teams that will build a first version of the product. The product management department assigns two new Product Owners, but wants more advice about the required participation with the new Scrum Teams. Which two suggestions would you offer?”

Suggest one Product Backlog for the whole product and one Product Owner accountable for it. Two Product Owners or two backlogs for a single product split accountability and hide the real ordering of work.

Exam Question

You have just been hired as a Scrum Master by a company new to Scrum. The company wants to use Scrum to build a new product that was conceived by the product management department. You will be the Scrum Master of two new teams that will build a first version of the product. The product management department assigns two new Product Owners, but wants more advice about the required participation with the new Scrum Teams. Which two suggestions would you offer? (choose the best two answers)

• A. Each Scrum Team has a separate Product Backlog, holding each team’s assigned requirements.
• B. A single Product Backlog should be maintained holding all requirements for the new product.
• C. Two Product Owners are necessary, one for each Scrum Team. They report to an overarching chief Product Owner.
• D. Having one Product Owner will improve the clarity of accountability to the teams and to the product management department.

Correct Answer

B and D.

Why This Is the Correct Answer

The Scrum Guide says that teams working on the same product “should share the same Product Goal, Product Backlog, and Product Owner.” It also states that “the Product Owner is one person, not a committee.” A single Product Backlog gives both teams one ordered list, so they always work on what matters most for the product as a whole. A single Product Owner gives the teams and product management one clear point of accountability for value and for ordering decisions. The second person in the department can still help, for example with refinement or stakeholder work, but final calls on the Product Backlog rest with one Product Owner.

Why the Other Options Are Wrong

A. Each Scrum Team has its own Product Backlog with its assigned requirements. Splitting the backlog by team hides dependencies and lets each team optimize locally. There is one product, so there should be one Product Backlog.

C. Two Product Owners, one per team, reporting to a chief Product Owner. This creates a committee and a hierarchy around a single product. Scrum has one Product Owner per product, and no chief Product Owner role.

Exam Tip

When a question mentions multiple teams on one product, the correct answers almost always keep one Product Backlog, one Product Owner and one Product Goal.

Key Takeaways

• One product means one Product Backlog.
• The Product Owner is one person, not a committee.
• Several teams can share a Product Owner without splitting accountability.