Why Product Owner and Scrum Master cannot be the same person?

Product Owner and Scrum Master are the two roles of Scrum Team and the third role is Development Team. Usually people get confused with these two roles and also ask why do we need two separate roles and why cannot one person play both the roles to optimise the utilization of a person. So, this article helps you understand these two roles.

Primary focus of the Product owner is “Product” focus. It consists of the following:

Are we building the right product?
Are the features going to help to solve the customer’s problem or fulfill a need?
Is the order of the features in the Product backlog in such a way that it maximizes the Value?
Is the Product Increment released at the right time?

So the Product Owner role is external facing, and manages the stakeholders expectations, market research, user research, competitor product analysis. In addition to that, the Product Owner also takes care of the Product Backlog management, helping the Development Team understand the Product Backlog Items clearly to the required extent, available to the Team for any clarifications during the Sprint.

The Product Owner role is like the “Windshield” of the car. It helps the Driver to see what is coming ahead and also protects from the wind and dust. Similarly, the Product Owner protects the Development Team from the flood of the requirements by managing the Stakeholders’ expectations through Product Backlog prioritization.

Primary focus of the Scrum Master is “to improve the ability to improve” within the team and the organization. It consists of the following:

Is the team becoming self-organized and cross-functional?

• Are they able to resolve impediments on their own through their power, ability and knowledge?
• Are the Processes, Tools, Techniques, collaboration, communication becoming better?
• Are the Global/Systemic impediments getting resolved?
• Is the relationship between Product Owner and the Development Team healthy?
• Are the conflicts resolved through coaching?
• Is Transparency maintained at all levels?

So the Scrum Master role is internal focus within the team and the Organization. It focuses on people, collaboration, communication, tools, techniques and helps people become more agile.

So the Scrum Master role is like the rear view and the side mirrors of the car. They help the Driver to navigate safely in the traffic. These mirrors help to inspect and adapt by looking into the back and sides time to time. Similarly, Scrum Master helps the Development Team in Scrum Events to inspect and adapt to become better.

Can you drive with only windshield without having rear and side mirrors of a car? Can windshield do the job of rear view and side mirrors? No, the purpose of both are entirely different. Similarly, the responsibilities and focus areas of Product Owner and the Scrum Master are also entirely different. If one person plays both roles, it will lead to role conflict and leads to suboptimal results.