A Powerful Partnership: Product Owners & Business Analysts

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Rachael Wilterdink > Agile > Acceptance Criteria > A Powerful Partnership: Product Owners & Business Analysts

I have recently been reading other blogs about the roles of Product Owners and Business Analysts. Most of them approach the subject from a PO versus BA perspective. I don’t see these roles as conflicting, but rather, complementary. In fact, together Product Owners and Business Analysts are a powerful partnership.

A strong Product Owner is the most valuable person on a Scrum Team, but can often be stretched too thin. The PO is responsible for maximizing value, but s/he does not have to do all the work alone. This is where a Business Analyst can provide value by helping the PO.

Business Analysts are a powerful complement to a strong Product Owner. Together, I view them as a “dynamic duo”. While some of the responsibilities for each of these roles are clear and distinct, others overlap. With a solid partnership, a PO/BA team can drive greater value delivery.

Photo of two hands putting together two puzzle pieces, meant to represent partnership between Product Owner and Business Analyst

Delegation

The Product Owner is accountable for delivering on a Product Goal and Vision, but s/he may delegate work to others. This is where a Business Analyst can step in. Examples of tasks a BA may assist with:

Data Analysis image
  • Market Research
  • Benchmarking
  • Competitive Analysis
  • Data Analysis
  • Customer Surveys

These activities support the PO in making choices when evaluating the value and ordering the Product Backlog. This type of information isn’t static, and analysis should be ongoing throughout the life of the product.

Planning

A BA can play a tactical role on a Scrum Team, but may also help with higher levels of planning. This could include product, portfolio, or even strategic planning. (Keep in mind, however, that there is a very different mindset required to switch to different levels of planning.

A planning onion diagram to show the different levels of planning a Product Owner and Business Analyst may be involved with
Planning Onion

Product Backlog Refinement

Business Analysts may also help the Product Owner with Product Backlog Refinement. They could:

  • Facilitate story writing or story mapping workshops.
  • Take the results of such sessions to populate the initial product backlog with Epics, Features, and User Stories.
  • Perform functional decomposition to create the skeleton of a product, and flesh it out as the PO prioritizes.
  • Participate in PO stakeholder meetings, and assist the PO in eliciting and documenting the Acceptance Criteria (a/c) for User Stories.
  • Model requirements, as needed, based on the type of project and level of documentation needed.
  • Help the PO order the Product Backlog; the BA will understand dependencies or technical considerations that the PO may be unaware of.
  • Ensure that the PO has looked at the stories and a/c and given approval, whether formal or informal.

BA as Product Owner Proxy

You may have heard the phrase “beware the BA proxy”… however, there are many ways that the BA can support and assist a busy Product Owner during sprinting:

  • Answer questions from the developers (the BA is generally very intimate with any requirements; s/he can always manage up to the PO if an answer is unknown).
  • Help clear up any requirements conflicts, if there are any.
  • Facilitate and/or make the call on small items that the PO probably wouldn’t want to be bothered with (minutia).
  • Verify whether any defects identified are, in fact, defects; if so, triage by assigning a severity level, based on agreed upon standards.
  • Get stakeholder feedback as a Sprint progresses.
  • Make sure that the Product Owner is kept up-to-date – the BA and PO should communicate regularly.

Sprint Review Preparation

A Business Analyst can support the Product Owner by helping to prepare for each Sprint Review. A BA may:

  • Provide the PO a list of all the stories that were completed to present at the sprint review.
  • Gather any necessary metrics that the PO wishes to share.
  • Identify any items NOT completed, and provide reasons/context why, so the PO can communicate it in a transparent way.
  • Help the PO forecast items tentatively planned for the next Sprint, or even further out, based on a Release Roadmap.
  • Facilitate or “drive” during the Sprint Review, especially if the PO is unavailable for some reason.
  • Ensure that stakeholder feedback is recorded and added to the product backlog for future consideration.
  • Validate that the business need for each story has been met, by ensuring that acceptance criteria are met

Conclusion

A Product Owner and a Business Analyst make a winning team. It’s not about who does what. It is about Business Analysts supporting and enabling a Product Owner to achieve the highest value and best outcomes. If you are a Product Owner or a Business Analyst, please let me know what you think. Are there any other ways you collaborate for success?

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