Empowering Product Owners as Strategic Leaders in Scrum Teams

TL;DR; Product Owners should be empowered as strategic leaders who drive product vision and business value, not just manage backlogs. Scrum Masters play a key role in coaching Product Owners to use customer insights and data for better decisions. Development managers should ensure Product Owners have the authority and support to lead effectively, rather than treating them as task managers.

Published on 26 March 2025

Written by Martin Hinshelwood

1 minute read

https://nkdagility.com/resources/xKiwFed7LSB

The Product Owner is not a backlog manager.

A great Product Owner is a product strategist, a market expert, and a value maximiser. They don’t just prioritise features—they ensure the team is building the right product in the right way to deliver real business impact.

Yet, many organisations treat the Product Owner role as a glorified business analyst.

A strong Scrum Master doesn’t just facilitate Scrum events; they teach, coach, and mentor the Product Owner to operate like a modern product leader. That includes leveraging customer insights, articulating a strategic vision, and making data-driven decisions.

If the Product Owner is weak, the whole Scrum Team suffers.

Are we empowering Product Owners to lead, or are we just giving them Jira access and hoping for the best?

Also published on: LinkedIn

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