“For product owners, who need guidance on their path, organizations wanting to set clear and right expectations for the role, and educators seeking to optimize their offerings around product ownership, the Product Owner Growth Wheel is a context-sensitive skill and need-based tour guide for product owner education.”
Product Owner Growth Wheel Team, Agile Coaching Retreat Vienna 2024
What Is the Product Owner Growth Wheel?
The Product Owner Growth Wheel is a visual and conceptual framework designed to help Product Owners (POs) assess their skills, understand their responsibilities, and identify opportunities for growth. Inspired by the Agile Coaching Growth Wheel, it divides the product ownership skillset into core competency areas and provides a structured approach to personal and professional development.
The Product Owner Growth Wheel represents the key competencies and responsibilities that define a successful PO. These competencies are typically grouped into four primary directions (e.g., People, Product, Me/Inward, and Others/Outward), with Self-Mastery at the center as the foundation of effective Product Ownership. Each area contains critical skills and topics that a PO must develop to maximize their impact on teams, stakeholders, and the organization.
What Can the Product Owner Growth Wheel Be Used For?
- Self-Assessment and Reflection
- Helps POs evaluate their current skills and identify strengths and areas for improvement.
- Encourages reflection on how effectively they are fulfilling their role in each competency area.
- Growth and Development Planning
- Provides a roadmap for personal and professional growth by highlighting focus areas for skill-building (e.g., product strategy, stakeholder engagement, or self-organization).
- Supports setting actionable development goals aligned with the PO’s context and career aspirations.
- Role Clarification
- Offers clarity on the multifaceted nature of the PO role, emphasizing the balance between product delivery, stakeholder collaboration, and organizational alignment.
- Acts as a guide for new or transitioning POs to understand the full breadth of their responsibilities.
- Coaching and Mentoring
- Serves as a tool for coaches and mentors to facilitate conversations with POs about their competencies and growth.
- Provides a shared language and structure for discussing challenges and opportunities.
- Team and Organizational Alignment
- Helps align the PO’s focus with team and organizational goals.
- Encourages discussions about how the organization can support the PO role (e.g., providing clarity, resources, and empowerment).
The Product Owner Growth Wheel concept is licensed as a derivative work of the Agile Coaching Growth Wheel under a CC-BY-SA v.4.0 license.