Jelena Vucinic: Why Sharing Product Ownership Leads to Better Product Results

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In this episode, Jelena highlights the qualities of a great Product Owner (PO) who excels by sharing product ownership with the team. This PO had deep knowledge of the product but also understood that they didn’t need to know everything. By involving the team in product decisions and creating a sense of co-ownership, the team became more engaged and motivated to deliver better results. Jelena emphasizes that this collaborative approach helps the team to fully understand customer needs and take pride in the product’s success.

Jelena identifies two common anti-patterns in Product Owners: The Controller and The Organizer. The Controller tries to make every decision, leading to a bottleneck and stifling team creativity. On the other hand, The Organizer focuses more on coordination and administration but lacks a deep understanding of the product. This PO is often disconnected from the team’s efforts and the product vision. Jelena suggests fostering better collaboration and encouraging Product Owners to involve the team in decision-making processes, particularly through practices like mobbing, which can help integrate the PO more closely with the team and the product.

About Jelena Vucinic Jelena is a self-conscious perfectionist and an everlasting optimist. She is deeply curious about the way people interact. After listening attentively, she likes to ask open questions that often help to reflect and improve collaboration. Jelena believes that every single person makes a difference, and she is dedicated to helping teams and leaders unlock their potential. You can link with Jelena Vucinic on LinkedIn.