HKSM
Chief Product Owner
For large-scale products, the Chief Product Owner owns the master prioritized product backlog, keeps it current, and synchronizes priorities across Scrum Teams by coordinating with their Product Owners, who manage the backlogs for their respective teams.
Key Points
- Accountable for the overall prioritized product backlog at the product or program level.
- Coordinates multiple Product Owners to align vision, goals, and release priorities.
- Manages cross-team dependencies and resolves priority conflicts to maintain a coherent ordering.
- Translates strategy into backlog themes and epics, and communicates with senior stakeholders.
Example
In a large e-commerce initiative with five Scrum Teams (Search, Checkout, Inventory, Mobile, and Security), the Chief Product Owner gathers stakeholder input, maintains a single prioritized product backlog, sets the next release theme, and works with each Product Owner to refine and sequence items, ensuring Security tasks precede Mobile and Checkout features that depend on them.
PMP Example Question
Several Scrum Teams report that their top backlog items conflict in priority and share dependencies. What should the Chief Product Owner do first?
- Direct each Scrum Master to adjust sprint goals to fit team-level priorities.
- Consolidate and reprioritize items in the master product backlog, resolve conflicts, and coordinate ordering with the Product Owners.
- Ask Product Owners to vote and select the highest-voted items for the next release.
- Escalate prioritization to the PMO to enforce enterprise alignment.
Correct Answer: B — Consolidate and coordinate the master backlog across teams
Explanation: The Chief Product Owner is responsible for the overall prioritized product backlog and for aligning Product Owners to resolve conflicts and dependencies.
