What are the characteristics of a good Product Owner?

A question that many people have already asked themselves and some will ask for the first time: what are the characteristics of a good Product Owner?

Typically, you would answer communication skills, creativity, ability to work in a team, or presentation skills… And you would be essentially right, but these are skills and traits that are good to master by any team-player, right?

The number 1 characteristic of great Product Owners is the ability to make decisions. A successful Product Owner is a person who is not afraid of making decisions and knows how to do it. They don't wait until the last minute for a decision to be made or for the situation to force them to make it.

Business acumen is also an important trait. In this role, it is very important to adopt the perspective of the customer and the end-user, to keep an eye on the costs of maintaining the product, and on the stakeholders.

But even the best Product Owner with all these qualities will not be able to do anything if they are not empowered by the company they work for. The organisation must provide the freedom to make decisions and trust that they are good ones. After all, that's what this role is all about.