Gartner Research

Product Management Must Take Back the Role of Product Owner

Published: 22 November 2022

Summary

The critical role of product owner has been largely defined by its relationships to engineering and confined to tactical execution. Product managers must work to expand this role and pull it back into the product management team or risk missed value due to lack of market and customer knowledge.

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Overview

Key Findings
  • Due to the narrow focus on engineering/development needs and tactical execution, product owners’ priorities and decisions can often be disconnected from product managers’ goals and intent.

  • When the product owner role reports through a technical organization rather than a product organization, goals and objectives may not properly align with those of product managers.

  • Because they are often deeply involved in day-to-day development work, the product owner can lose focus on the underlying needs and expectations of the customer and the market.

Recommendations

Product managers working to extend product leadership in their organization should:

  • Improve the connection between tactical execution and longer-term strategy

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