How to Become a Certified Scrum Product Owner?
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- by Frederik Vannieuwenhuyse
- 18th Dec, 2018
- Last updated on 22nd May, 2019
- 6 mins read
Who is a Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO® )?
A Product Owner is a role defined in Scrum. Scrum is a framework for complex product development (*). The Product Owner is responsible for maximizing the value of the product resulting from the work performed the Development Team. The role exists in Scrum to have 1 person with a clear accountability of WHAT product or service will be built. The Product Owner role is also used as a title outside Scrum, in other frameworks, but if you want to understand the definition of the role and responsibilities of a Product Owner, you need to start to look and to understand it in the scope of a Scrum Team.
(*) (“product”, to be defined in context, this is a generic term for the product or service being developed for the end-users)
(*) (“development”, also to be defined in context, this is a generic term for all activities needed to create and deliver value to the end-users)
A Certified Scrum Product Owner is a certification issued by the Scrum Alliance for the Product Owner role.
Roles and Responsibilities of the Certified Scrum Product Owner :
A Product Owner is responsible for maximizing the value of the product (or service, …) being built. The Product Owner is responsible for WHAT will be built by the development team
The role of the Product Owner can be quite challenging and high-demanding.
When reading The Scrum Guide, it says that product backlog management is the main activity for a Product Owner. The product backlog is a tool to ensure it’s clear what’s needed in the product and what’s the most valuable thing to build next. Managing a backlog, and refining items on the product backlog is a continuous activity.
The Product Owner often serves as the spokesperson for the product. This means he/she needs to be able to answers questions appropriately, for example regarding product vision, roadmap, planning, why certain choices have been made, etc. This also includes NOT answering certain questions, because the Product Owner knows the development team is in a more appropriate position to answer the question more accurately, and as well to facilitate a conversation with the development team involved.
The strategic significance of the CSPO®
The Product Owner role in Scrum is a role, both with a tactical, strategic and operational aspect.
The Product Owner is the personification of the end-users, customers, business stakeholders. He or she represents the different views, perspectives and he or she is finally accountable for maximizing value.
To be able to do the job, the Product Owner has business (domain) knowledge, affinity with end-users, affinity with “development” (activities needed to deliver a piece of value), and knowledge of how to do agile product management. Product management is a multi-disciplinary job.
Sometimes, a Product Owner is a role given to a person, as an additional role to his/her existing function. To my experience, a Product Owner requires at least half the time of a normal day job.
I have seen Product Owners who were not involved in the necessary activities. Given below are the duties crucial to any Product Owner.
Do’s
- Treat requirements as a hypothesis, focus on learning
- Ensuring Product Backlog items are clearly expressed
- Keep slicing for value (use techniques as user story mapping)
- Create a shared understanding by visualization
- Challenge the team by asking open questions
- Challenge your stakeholders by repeatedly asking “Why?”
- Engaging with end-users to get feedback, treat the sprint review at the last responsible moment to get feedback
- Facilitating Product Backlog Refinement (necessary to ensure items are ready to be planned in an upcoming sprint)
- Treat estimates as estimates, not commitments, trust the team
- Feed the team with problems not only solutions
- Focus on goals (long-term and short-term)
- Communicate uncertainty to stakeholders, as uncertainty
- Understanding Lean Product Development
- Do engage in retrospectives
- Be fair about what’s done and not done
- Set an example, act and speak according to Scrum Values and Agile Principles
Tips to consider for becoming CSPO®
What is CSPO® certification?
CSPO® stands for Certified Scrum Product Owner. It’s the initial (entry-level) certification of a Product Owner. Scrum Alliance is the accredited body of the CSPO® . Now, let’s see the steps for becoming CSPO® .
Prerequisites to become a CSPO®
There are no specific prerequisites to attend a course. To take the CSPO® certification exam, Scrum Alliance makes it a prerequisite to attend a 2-day class given by a Certified Scrum Trainer (CST). After completing the 2-day class you are invited to take the online test.
Who can take up this CSPO® course?
Anyone interested in the Product Owner can take up this course.
Why you should become a CSPO® certified?
A CSPO® certification is accreditation and a proof of a body of knowledge at a specific point in time. The industry is asking for certifications, so if you want to take up the Product Owner role, a certification can give you this extra accreditation.
Difference between CSPO® and PSPO
CSPO® is an abbreviation which stands for Certified Scrum Product Owner. This is a certification offered by the Scrum Alliance, specifically for the Product Owner role. PSPO is an abbreviation which stands for Profession Scrum Product Owner. This is a certification offered by scrum.org, specifically for the Product Owner role.
In my opinion, both certifications are equivalent and define a high-quality standard.
There’s a difference in the way of obtaining certifications and how to maintain this.
Certifications issued by Scrum Alliance are obtained by taking an online exam after mandatory attending a 2-day training given by a Certified Scrum Trainer. The pass acceptance score is 24/35 questions (65%). Obviously, this is not particularly difficult to pass, but it’s not meant to be.
Certifications issued by scrum.org are obtained by taking an online exam without the prerequisite of attending training.
- 1 attempt for the PSPO I online exam costs 200 USD.
- Passing score: 85%
- Time limit: 60 minutes
- Number of Questions: 80
Certifications issued by scrum.org do not expire. Of course, to test and validate your knowledge, having a decent understanding of the product owner role is mandatory, therefore preparation and study are key. Participating in training to learn, and to experience what Scrum is about, is always highly recommended. You can study the PSPO Subject Areas.
Importance of the CSPO® certification for an individual to boost his/her career as a successful Product Owner
You need to decide for yourself if you think certifications are an added value. Eventually, it’s about a hands-on experience in the role. I do think that classroom course offers an added value
- In case you want to take up the role of a Product Owner, and you have not much knowledge yet, a classroom course is recommended
- In case you already are working as Product Owner, and you want to refresh your knowledge, take an updated perspective, a classroom course is recommended
Please bear in mind that the certification is proof of classroom attendance and passing an online test. It’s the start of one’s career as a Product Owner. Next, you can advance your career and take part in advanced training.
CSPO® certification validity
Certification gives you access to a renewable, two-year membership with Scrum Alliance. The certification is 2 years valid. You can read here how it works to renew your certification.
Step-by-step process to become a CSPO®
1. Find a Certified Scrum Product Owner course on the Scrum Alliance website
2. Prepare for the training
Read and understand the Scrum Guide
Read and understand the manifesto for agile software development
3. Attend the 2-day course. Enjoy!
4. Complete the online CSPO® exam, the fee is included in the course price.
After completing the course, your Scrum Trainer will upload your user information into the system of Scrum Alliance, next you’ll receive an invite to do the online exam.
Salary and career growth of Certified Scrum Product Owner vs Non-certified Scrum Product Owner
Here, you can see an overview of the certifications path offered by the Scrum Alliance and Scrum.org. According to the 12th state of the Agile report by VersionOne, the chapter is about “Agile Methods and Practices”, having a dedicated customer or product owner is a technique indicated by 63% of the respondents.
In the 2017 State of Scrum report (by Scrum Alliance), 40% of certifications are Certified Scrum Product Owner. 81% agree that certification improves practice.
Conclusion
Being a product owner is a satisfying job! If you get a certification it will add an extra line on your curriculum which will catch the eye of recruiters. Besides that, it’s a learning journey and you’ll only understand the traits of the job by experience. Get your CSPO® certification today.
Have a successful career ahead!
Frederik Vannieuwenhuyse
Frederik is an experienced consultant, professional facilitator, coach and trainer. Frederik is constantly looking to help organisation to gain more agility and to create happy workplaces
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He works very closely with the Scrum Team and coordinates their activities throughout the project.Responsibilities of a Product Owner:A Product Owner has several responsibilities:Communicates with the stakeholders (customers, marketing, etc.) and discusses the required functionality. These are then filtered and prioritized before being handed over to the team.He is the only person who is allowed to manage the Scrum Product Backlog and keep it in the order of the priority.Responsible for making it to the project goal, hence creating and maintaining the release plan.Make sure that all members of the team understand what is required of the project.The team reports the results to the Product Owner during the sprint review.He makes the schedule, scope and trade-off decisions.Responsible for the ROI of the product.Scrum Events (Ceremonies)To create regularity and to minimize the need for undefined meetings in Scrum, there are a few prescribed events in Scrum. 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The necessary inputs for Sprint Planning are:Product BacklogConstraintsSprint GoalTeam capabilitiesDaily Scrum Meeting: A daily scrum meeting is commonly termed as a daily stand-up meeting, where all team members meet to discuss their progress since the last stand-up meet. It is a time-boxed meeting of 15 minutes.The main objective of this meeting is to discuss:Work in progressCreate a plan for the next 24 hours.Sprint backlogs, if anyAny new informationSprint Review: After the end of each Sprint, the development team along with the stakeholders hold a session to discuss the updates of the backlog items and receive feedback for the same. This session is known as the Sprint Review.The possible outcomes of the Sprint Review are:Demonstrate the results of the sprintsRevised Product BacklogCancel any further development, if neededRespond to questionsReceive feedbackResolve the impedimentsThe final result of the Sprint Review is the revised Product Backlog, which acts as the Product Backlog for the upcoming sprint.Sprint Retrospective: The Sprint Retrospective is a technique which is used for continuous improvement. It is conducted after the Sprint Review, preceding the upcoming Sprint Planning. In this meet, the Scrum Team examines the previous sprint and creates a plan for enhancement which can be put into action in the upcoming sprint. The Development Team, Product Owner and Scrum Master participate in this meet.The important inputs are:Data about team performanceImprovement backlogThe focus of the teamScrum ArtifactsThe Scrum Artifacts present the development team and the stakeholders with the key information that they need to be aware of. The main objective of the Scrum Artifacts is to provide transparency and opportunities for inspection and adaptation. It reflects a team’s progress towards the sprint goal.The Scrum framework defines three artifacts:Product BacklogSprint BacklogProduct IncrementProduct Backlog: Product Backlog outlines all the requirements that are needed for a project, product or system. It can be considered as a to-do list of all the changes that are to be made to a project. The Product Owner is responsible for the Product Backlog, where he can add, change and re-prioritize the tasks as needed. It is a living artifact as the requirements never stop changing. Any changes in the business requirements, market conditions or technology may result in changes in the Product Backlog.A Product Backlog may contain functional, non-functional, infrastructural, and architectural elements. They also work on the important risks that are needed to be removed or mitigated.The Product Backlog is refined and revised periodically so that it can be helpful for the next level of planning. This is known as Product Backlog Refinement. The Development Team along with the Product Owner estimate the items in it, which includes order, description, estimate, and value.The major activities involved during the backlog refinement are:Asking questions to the product owner for precise informationCreating new user storiesDeleting stories that are no longer requiredEstimating or re-estimating the user storiesRefining stories for preparation of future sprintsRe-prioritising the storiesReviewing the highest priority storiesSprint Backlog: A Sprint Backlog is a list of items that are taken from the Product Backlog which are to be completed within a Sprint. It also contains a plan to deliver the product increment and to realize the sprint goal. The development team plans and gives a forecast about the changes or increment in the functionality that will happen during the sprint, along with the work that is required to deliver the implemented functionality.The Development Team is responsible for creating and maintaining the Sprint Backlog. As soon as new work comes in, the development team adds it to the Sprint Backlog. The team can change, add, remove or modify the tasks any time as needed. The scrum master can give advice and make suggestions about any missing task(s).The Sprint Backlog needs to be updated by the team at least once every day. A sprint starts only when all the team members agree on the fact that the Sprint Backlog is achievable.The Sprint Backlog can be monitored and the work which is remaining can be calculated. By doing this, the likelihood of successfully achieving the Sprint Goal can be concluded as well, which will help the development team to manage its progress.Product Increment: Product Increment is the most important Scrum Artifact. It is the sum of all the Product Backlog items that have been completed in the sprint along with the values of the increments produced in the previous sprints. An increment is the product of a project which is potentially shippable. It should be acceptable by the Product Owner regardless of whenever he decides to release it.Challenges faced in applying Scrum and how to overcome themMastering the rules and practices of Scrum is not that simple. It will require a lot of time and effort to do so.Scrum doesn’t promise to fix all problems, but it helps bring them out in the open. Scrum can be mastered by facing different challenges and overcoming them. Scrum will certainly not fail you in doing so as it is designed to work for you, as long as you know how to make it work.Let’s address the common challenges that teams and organisations face during the implementation of Scrum and look at the possible solutions.1. Resistance to change: Organisations are generally resistant to changes. Change can be difficult and uncomfortable, hence people generally avoid it. Scrum may prove to be challenging to deploy for established organisations. The major challenge that they face is the change from yearly or semi-annual releases to weekly iterations. For an organisation to start using Scrum, it will require a shift in the fundamental mindset which will change the old habits and bring along new, more effective ones.Get out of comfort zone: It is very important to understand what an individual’s true feelings are towards adopting Scrum and why they resist changes. Learn about them and find measures to help them overcome it.An incremental approach can be observed as well. Start small, that is, involve one team and showcase their results. Let their experience inspire others.2. Distributed team: A major issue that a distributed (Scrum) team faces is communication. Conflicting working hours and a difference in time zones may diminish the overall effectiveness of the team, making collaboration difficult in many cases. Lack of communication may cause delays or unnecessary errors, which can lead to poor sustainability, ultimately affecting productivity.Everyone should be on the same page: It is very important to be considerate of the fact that team members of different nationalities will have different traditions. Apart from this, coordination and trust are very important as well. One can also take the following practical measures:A boot camp can be conducted where the whole team can come together. These sessions can give an understanding of a customer’s requirements and goals.Designated members can be relocated to different places, where they can work with the resident team on a temporary basis.Team members working in different time zones should be provided with different facilities like video conferencing, instant messaging software, and desktop-sharing abilities.Teams can be paired across different locations. It functions in a way that when one member is clocking off for the day, his corresponding team member may be starting his day across the globe. He can take over the work and continue working.3. Handling bugs and high-priority tasks: One can receive unexpected and urgent requests from stakeholders and customers. Bugs might also arise in the process. Some of these can be added to the Backlog, though it is recommended not to add all of them. They might be needed to be taken care of as soon as possible.Assign a person for the same and allow more time for bug fixing: Assign a person from the team who will focus all of his attention on tasks like fixing bugs, responding to urgent requests, etc. Also, with the development of progress, increase the time allocated for bug fixing.Scrum Vs KanbanAgile is a set of principles and ideas while Scrum and Kanban are frameworks that help teams and organizations to put these agile principles and values into practice to get things done.Kanban and Scrum follow the same principles, while their practices differ. The main aim behind both of these frameworks is to help you build better products.Kanban in a nutshell:Kanban is a tool which is used to organize work so that efficiency can be improved. Like Scrum, Kanban breaks down its work into small chunks and makes use of a Kanban Board. The Kanban Board is used to keep track of the work as it advances through the workflow. It not only displays the workflow but also optimizes the flow of tasks within different teams. The work to be done is time-bounded in Scrum, whereas Kanban limits the amount of work to be done in a condition, that is, it limits the ongoing tasks and the to-do list. Kanban visualizes the work and limits the work in progress so that the efficiency can be improved.There are several differences in the philosophies and practical applications of Kanban and Scrum, as well as many individual differences. Let’s have a look at them.ScrumFactorKanbanThe Scrum Team consists of the Scrum Master, Product Owner, and the Development Team.Team RolesThere are no defined roles in a Kanban Team. The roles need not be cross-functional.Each sprint is estimated or planned based on the Backlog Sheet.Work BoardWorkflow/ Work Item/ Kanban Board is used to track the work.Scrum emphasises on regular, fixed sprints.ScheduleThere is no iteration or time-boxing in Kanban. It has a continuous flow.No changes are made during the Sprints.Change philosophyChanges can happen at any time during the process.Releases are made at the end of each sprint.ReleaseThere is a continuous delivery in Kanban.Best applicable for teams which have stable priorities that will not change much over time.ApplicationBest applicable for projects which have a lot of varying priorities.Productivity is measured using velocity through sprints.Productivity MeasurementMeasures productivity by measuring the amount of time that a team takes to complete a piece of the project from the starting till the end.List of Scrum certificationsScrum Master certification is one of the oldest and also the most popular certification in Agile. Certifications help and are needed because they are a confirmation on the implementation and also a verification of the knowledge gained.They validate your knowledge in Agile and Scrum.The most popular certification programs are:Certified ScrumMaster® (CSM: Scrum Alliance)Certified Scrum Product Owner® (CSPO: Scrum Alliance)Certified Scrum Professional® (CSP: Scrum Alliance)SAFe® Agilist (SA)SAFe® Program Consultant (SPC4)Professional Scrum Master™ (PSM: Scrum.org)Certified Scrum Developer® (CSD: Scrum Alliance)LeSS (Large Scale Scrum)Scrum Master Certified (SMC™)Certified Agile Leader (CAL: Scrum Alliance)SAFe® 4.0 Advanced Scrum MasterSAFe® 4.0 for TeamsProfessional Scrum Product Owner™ (PSPO: Scrum.org )SAFe® 4.0 Product Manager/Product OwnerMost of the basic certifications do not require any experience as a Scrum Master and can be taken up directly after completing training. However, the Advanced certifications require completion of basic certification and work experience ranging from a minimum of 1 to 2 years.In conclusionThe Scrum Framework is simple and easy to understand, and so are the rules, artifacts, roles, and events. Scrum doesn’t keep a count of the amount of time that you have spent working but measures the tasks that have been accomplished. It makes one more efficient with their time and work.It is ideal for complex and difficult projects as the tasks are broken down into small user stories. The transparency throughout the development cycle along with the distribution of roles and planned events are added advantages. Progress can be observed in a small amount of time which might even lead to quick releases.But, if the team is accustomed to the traditional Waterfall model, then they might feel difficulty in adopting Scrum. But the long-term benefits outweigh the problems faced in the initial learning curve, making it a cogent framework to adopt for your organization.
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5 Silent Killers Of Agility (Using Scrum) You Cannot Ignore
By Jeremy Smith
We all know that ‘agile’ is the buzz in IT and has been for at least 10 years now. The draw is the iterative delivery and the ability to adapt to change. Iterative delivery means that work can be delivered in small functional chunks sooner vs. One big giant release after months or years. Unfortunately calling yourself agile and even adopting some of the principles are not enough. Below I highlight some of the silent killers to agility. 1. Ceremonies Lack Value – In scrum the following ceremonies exist:Daily Stand-up – A 5 to 15-minute meeting, intended to be conducted standing up (to ensure the time box) where the team members answer 3 questions: What did I do yesterday? What am I doing today? Do I have any roadblocks? This meeting is intended to be highly informative.Backlog Grooming – A weekly meeting where the team reviews the backlog and ensures stories have the proper level of detail (as determined by the team) and have a story point value.Sprint Planning – A meeting that kicks off each sprint (project cycle) where the Product Owner presents the work suggested for the sprint. The team reviews discuss and agrees on a body of work commitment.Retrospectives – In traditional projects, this is called a ‘post-mortem.’ In the scrum, this is done more frequently to ensure that the team quickly adjusts to repeat positive behaviors and discontinues negative behaviors.Demonstrations – A meeting that wraps each sprint where a team member presents the work completed to the necessary stakeholdersThe problem arises when one or many of these ceremonies are seen by the team as unnecessary. I am not prescribing a strict adherence to these ceremonies, but if you deem a ceremony to be part of your process, there’s a reason. If the team doesn’t understand that reason, you need to constantly reiterate the value to your team.2. Changing resources – A common characteristic of Agile teams is that they are stable. This means that the team is staffed with stability in mind. When the team stays together, unchanged, they learn how to best work together and they grow with each other. Every time a new member is added the team has to be partially focused with onboarding new team members and it messes with the team chemistry. Additionally, the team’s velocity will need to be re-established based on the changing resources.Solution: When possible, insulate your existing team(s) from change. If needed, spin-up completely new teams, so as to avoid impacting the existing teams.3. Scrum Master to Team Ratio – The Scrum Master is the public servant for the team. Their role is to coach, mentor, remove roadblocks and protect the team. With that role and those responsibilities in mind, it’s easy to see that the Scrum Master has to be intimately involved with the team to be able to perform their function and serve the team. When a Scrum Master is spread across too many teams their effectiveness is heavily diluted. Best case is to have each Scrum Master with only 1 team. I’ve seen and functioned in environments that capped the Scrum Master to 3 teams or less. That’s a little more of a stretch, but with staggering ceremonies and sprints, it’s possible. When the Scrum Master has greater than 3 teams I’ve personally experienced (as well as observed) a decline in the ability to serve the team.Solution: Invest in more Scrum Masters. Bring on new resources or promote from within, just get that Scrum Master to team ratio down.4. The Personality of the Scrum Master – It’s very common in many organizations to convert traditional project managers to the role of Scrum Master. That can work, but it can also be problematic. The Scrum Master needs to be the right personality. A traditional Project Manager is constantly pushing the team to meet deliverable timelines within budget. A Scrum Master, while still invested in the team’s deliverables, is more interested in helping the team and the team members become successful. The Scrum Master’s role and personality are very different from a Project Manager. As mentioned in the previous point, the Scrum Master is a coach and mentor. That takes a special personality. Also, the Scrum Master needs to be fluent in ‘Agile’ practices and practical applications.Solution: Avoid the simple decision of converting Project Managers to Scrum Masters. Instead, interview for people with the right personalities and skills. Ask servant leader-centric questions when interviewing for a Scrum Master. 5. Time Off and Holidays – On my very first ‘scrum’ team we would spend a portion of our sprint planning to evaluate the calendar of the sprint. Each team member would look at their true calendars for the sprint and provide a daily capacity. That ‘true capacity’ could then be evaluated when choosing what stories and how many to bring into the sprint. Just know, it would be a disappointment for the team to fail a sprint simply because they didn’t take into account holidays or personal time off (most of which is known).Solution: Create a calendar at the beginning of each sprint and have your team provide their ‘real’ daily capacity. Publish that calendar for the entire team to see. The exercise alone gets people thinking about deliverable commitments, but publishing the calendar is a constant reminder.These silent killers in agile implementation can be silently sabotaging your teams, enterprise, or company’s implementation of agile. Also, you might see a completely different set of silent killers. It’s up to you to determine your non-negotiable practices and then work to mitigate those killers.
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- by Jeremy Smith
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We all know that ‘agile’ is the buzz in IT and... Read More
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