Which activity should a Product Owner never do?

• A. Prioritize the backlog after team estimation
• B. Attend the daily stand-up as a spectator
• C. Write user stories without user feedback
• D. Set the Sprint Goal for the Developers without consulting them

Answer: (D)

In Scrum, the Sprint Goal is a shared objective that comes from collaboration between the Product Owner and the Development Team during Sprint Planning. It provides focus and direction for the entire sprint, aligning what’s being built with why it matters.

Setting the Sprint Goal without consulting the Developers undermines this collaboration and the team's self-organization. It reduces buy-in, can make commitments seem imposed rather than owned, and risks creating a goal that isn’t feasible or valuable from the team’s perspective. By contrast, the Sprint Goal should be created with input from the team, so everyone understands what will be delivered and why it’s important.

The other activities aren’t prohibited by Scrum. The Product Owner may attend the daily stand-up as a spectator, and backlog items can be prioritized and refined with consideration of estimation. Writing user stories without user feedback is not ideal and can miss real needs, but it isn’t an outright prohibition like unilaterally setting the Sprint Goal. The key concept is collaboration and shared ownership of the sprint objective.