Ace the 2025 CSPO Challenge – Unleash Your Scrum Mastery!

The role of ensuring that the Product Backlog is in a ready state primarily falls on the Product Owner. This is because the Product Owner is responsible for defining the vision of the product and maximizing the value that the development team can deliver. A well-maintained and clear Product Backlog is essential for the Scrum Team to prioritize work effectively, understand the goals, and deliver valuable increments of the product.

The Product Owner collaborates with stakeholders and considers their feedback when prioritizing the backlog items, but the ultimate responsibility for grooming and ensuring that backlog items are clearly defined, understood, and prioritized rests with the Product Owner. They must ensure that the backlog items are refined, estimated, described in sufficient detail, and aligned with the overall product strategy, which allows the development team to work efficiently during sprints.

Stakeholders may provide input and requirements, and the Developers may offer insights into technical feasibility and work estimation, but it’s the Product Owner who owns the backlog and bears the responsibility for its readiness. This understanding emphasizes the Product Owner's critical role in the Scrum framework and underscores the importance of their involvement in backlog management.