How to become a Certified Scrum Product Owner?

By Frederik Vannieuwenhuyse

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 teamThe 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’sTreat requirements as a hypothesis, focus on learningEnsuring Product Backlog items are clearly expressedKeep slicing for value (use techniques as user story mapping)Create a shared understanding by visualizationChallenge the team by asking open questionsChallenge your stakeholders by repeatedly asking “Why?”Engaging with end-users to get feedback, treat the sprint review at the last responsible moment to get feedbackFacilitating Product Backlog Refinement (necessary to ensure items are ready to be planned in an upcoming sprint)Treat estimates as estimates, not commitments, trust the teamFeed the team with problems not only solutionsFocus on goals (long-term and short-term)Communicate uncertainty to stakeholders, as uncertaintyUnderstanding Lean Product DevelopmentDo engage in retrospectivesBe fair about what’s done and not doneSet an example, act and speak according to Scrum Values and Agile PrinciplesTips 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 minutesNumber of Questions: 80Certifications 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 OwnerYou 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 valueIn case you want to take up the role of a Product Owner, and you have not much knowledge yet, a classroom course is recommendedIn case you already are working as Product Owner, and you want to refresh your knowledge, take an updated perspective, a classroom course is recommendedPlease 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 validityCertification 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 website2. Prepare for the trainingRead and understand the Scrum GuideRead and understand the manifesto for agile software development3. 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 OwnerHere, 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.ConclusionBeing 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!

Rated 4.0/5 based on 11 customer reviews

How to become a Certified Scrum Product Owner?

by Frederik Vannieuwenhuyse
18th Dec, 2018
Last updated on 19th Jan, 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

Step by step process to become CSPO

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.
Stakeholder Management

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

Blog Author

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

Join the Discussion

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Suggested Blogs

New Ideas For Scrum Master Day To Day Activities

By KnowledgeHut Editor

Large swathes of IT organizations are embracing Agile. This is both a good and bad news. Good news, for the many boons of Agile and Scrum known to all. Bad news, because you are no longer enjoying the benefits alone. Every day, every hour, more number of functional IT teams are making Agile work for them. Each in their own unique ways. So what is the only way to not lag behind in the Agile race? Always welcoming brand new ideas! Just like always, the beginning has to be done with the mainstay of the Agile team- The Scrum Master! If you are aware of the daily life of a Scrum Master, you already have the best of Agile cards to lay your hands on. The first and the best card is to relook and rethink the daily activities of a Scrum Master. Crossing this milestone will give you an idea of a few new entries in the existing Scrum Master’s checklist. The Scrum team consists of three roles- Product Owner, Scrum Master, and Team members. Everyone thinks that a team member who develops the software all day and a Product Owner who shapes the product all day, have full-time jobs. But based on assumptions, being a Scrum Master does not always mean having a full-time job. In any case, the role of the Scrum Master is highly important, as he/she manages the Scrum operations of the entire team. "A Day in the Life of a Scrum Master" https://t.co/IVoiKxEAfF by @Barryovereem on @LinkedIn — Jacek Durlik (@jacek_durlik) September 4, 2017 Let us take a look at a day in the life of a Scrum Master: Start the day with a ‘free and open mind’ Can ask a good question like “How can I facilitate creativity for the Scrum team to improve their lives?” Attend the Daily Scrum as a facilitator- You just need to listen to what things are being discussed in the meeting by team members. Consider some of the questions that are mentioned earlier. Based on the surveillance, you execute your next step. This might be coaching, facilitating, managing, problem-solving, conflict resolving, etc. Getting too busy and not noticing the concerned things is an activity which should not happen to a Scrum Master. The above-mentioned tasks should be the Scrum Master’s daily checklist. Collated below are some new ideas for Scrum Master day to day activities that can help improve your Agile practices. 1) Play dual roles: Scrum team members should always keep changing their area of expertise. Sometimes they should be able to choose a work which is outside their comfort zone. For example- If you are a User Interface developer (where you know all the secrets of the domain) then you can try to work on the data access code too. How to implement- Let us go with the above example. To enforce data access code, more than one team member has to work on a user story. Secondly, confine the user stories which are under ‘task in progress’, that is one user story should be smaller than the team size. Also, it can be implemented performing pair programming. Takeaways- Enforcing the thing which is out-of-the-box can help expand your knowledge. More people will come to know about all the aspects of the software (how a software works, what are the resources needed, etc.). This will increase the courage of the team member. The courage to venture beyond their boundaries. They can gradually perform tasks that are outside their expertise, lowering risks of failure, and enhancing team spirit. 2. Ask to check commit review: Whenever a developer writes code and wants to check-in that code, test, and document to the version control system, he/she asks a co-developer to review the changes first. The developer can implement this by adding ‘commit reviews’ to the ‘definition of done’. Also, they can refuse the user stories for which commit reviews are not mentioned (can be viewed as a version control system). Takeaways- At least one person has been aware of the changes, this means he/she may continue working on this particular topic if the situation demands. It increases ‘know-how transfer’. It will help increase the overall quality, as the peer developer can challenge the decision made by the prior developer. This leads to better and painless solutions. The original developer will go through the changes and explain them to this peer, which will definitely help both enhance their knowledge and skills. It increases understandability to reply to the queries of the peer developer. 3. Give awards and celebrate the victory: Being a Scrum Master, you can introduce the culture of celebrating a victory. For example- you may give little presents to the team (whole team, not only for the individuals) for achieving a Sprint goal. This will increase the motivation of the whole team. 4. Managing test-driven development: You can introduce test-driven development for developing the software. Takeaways- A team can work in parallel with the use of mock objects, with no need to wait for the availability of real dependencies. A team can refactor the code to initiate new functionality without changing the already existed functionality. Defect count will get reduced due to the double check done by the developers. 5. Arrange workshops on coding guidelines, designs, tools and different engineering practices: Arrange workshop for the team members where you can discuss or try a new tool, current architecture, latest technology, build process and many more. This can be implemented by reserving time for the workshop and organizing an arbitrator (can be from the team). Takeaways- Built team spirit, where a team can perform their own way. All team members will commence working in a team way rather than individual way, which will enhance team-wide consistency. Team can stay committed to each topic. 6. Coding DOJOS: In a Coding Dojo, the entire team gathers together in a discussion room. Two developers from the team perform pair programming at a computer which is connected to a projector for other team members. The pair is whirled every 15 minutes. In this way, team solves each other’s queries to develop engineering skills. This can be implemented by reserving time for the event (coding Dojo) and arranging a moderator. Takeaways- The team will get an idea about how to develop a software. Know-how transfer can be achieved on all topics related to software creation. 7. Testing day: When there is a lack of testers in the team, you can introduce ‘Testing day’ in the organization. Let each team member test the application and as a compensation for that work, that team member is freed from all coding tasks. Takeaways- Complete focus will be on testing. No task switching is allowed to get more efficient testing output and increased quality. As entire team participates in testing, they can share individual responsibility for the quality. 8. Urgent call for Scrum meeting: Involve team members whenever there is an emergency to mitigate the risks which are inhibiting the Sprint goal. In that case, all the team members have to drop the current task and join the meeting. Takeaways- Big errors can be taken care of quickly. All the team members will get convinced that they are not alone. 9. Introduce WIP (Work-In-Progress) Limits on the Scrum Board: When there forms a stack of the user stories on the Scrum Board, you can put forward WIP limits on the boards. These limits will compel you to take care of the user stories that might block a flow. E.g. Developers may assist the testers by writing automated tests on the scenarios that have to be tested. This can be enforced by- Writing the limits on the Scrum board Calling an emergency Scrum meeting whenever a limit is violated Takeaway- The status of more user stories will be ‘done’, removing them from the ‘to-be-done tasks’ list. 10. Kanban Scrum hybrid: Rate the team capacity (in %) for working on user stories. So the PO can make use of this rating for the unplanned items that need to be finished early without delaying or canceling a Sprint. Once the current task is over, team members are compelled to take an item from the fast-lane (till the reserved time is utilized), before working on the regular Sprint backlog items. If the reserved time is not sufficient to end the backlog items, then the PO can either wait for the next sprint or cancel the sprint. FYI- Kanban is a tool which organizes work efficiently. This tool breaks work to a small chunks and uses a Kanban Board (similar to Scrum Board) to represent the progress of the work. Takeaways- Can earn benefits from the Sprint planning and release planning. The team can stay focused on a Sprint goal. 11. Manage time boxes of Spikes: Make sure that the time boxes set for Spikes are taken care by the team members. Also, ensure that the user stories are prioritized. Try to show the results to the team members during each retrospective. Takeaways- Transparency in the team’s work. If the user stories are prioritized then it will not only maximize the value of the product at the end of each Sprint but also minimize a list of the pending tasks. Following the time-boxes not only helps in planning the future spikes but also holding a Sprint goal. 12. Fixing bugs before working on user story task: Initially, all the team members need to fix the bugs before working on a user story. Takeaways- Bugs are not piled up on the Scrum Board. Motivation will be high. Quality will be better if the defects are zero. 13. Vertical User stories + Specialist → Pair Programming: While working on a user story, if one domain expert shares his/her knowledge with another domain expert, then the knowledge transfer can be easy to the other team members. The user stories and specialist forms pair programming. At the Scrum meeting, you can decide the pairs and their respective tasks. Takeaways- Knowledge can be transferred from the specialist of the team. The whole user story can be implemented consistently due to the pair programming concept. 14. Personal Sprint goals: Every team member selects personal Sprint goals, once the retrospective is over. Typically, personal goals are related to the improvement in the engineering skills or new tools. Achieving these goals makes the team members more efficient. Some of the primary goals are- Learning Visual Studio Learning Resharper tool Providing good method/variable/tests, for each Sprint Preparing small methods, for each Sprint Takeaways- Every team member can learn something from each small Sprint also. Increased motivation of the team members. 15. Know the difference between Spikes and User Stories: You should always remember that Spikes have a fix time-box and an estimated result, whereas, User stories have a fixed result and an estimated time. So you can use User stories when you know what you want and Spikes when you want to plan the unknown. Takeaways- Spikes allow you to plan a Sprint. Work hours will not be wasted. Better focus due to fixing functionalities It allows more disciplined manner of working (i.e team members can either get the functionality fast or get an information within the defined time limit). Do’s and Don’ts for the Scrum Master- DO,S Don'ts Facilitate the PO to maintain and prioritize the backlog iteams. Own the decisions on product backlog on behalf of product Owner. Facilitate team member if any additional training required. Making estimates on behalf of the team. Make sure that team delivers the true value to the business. Assigning the task to the team member. Inspires the team member to execute the tasks responsibly. Trying to direct the team. Assist team member in making decisions. Making changes to the team in the middle of a sprint. Remove any impediments restricting the team to achieve their goals. Accept backlog changes in the middle of sprint. Helps team to become self-organised. Make commitments on team's behalf. Protects team from external interference. Let the team succumb to performance issues due to external problems. Acts as a servant-leader Only lead and instruct Always willing to imrove continuously. Not learn new ways to enhance performance. Handles only one team. Handles multiple teams. Concluding Thoughts- The role of the Scrum Master is still shrouded in a mystery. It is said that the Scrum Masters are the voice of the Scrum framework at the team level. Scrum is indeed all about continuous improvement and learning. It is also about adding new hacks to the working culture. When it comes to Agile and Scrum, you definitely cannot achieve everything overnight. All you need is to get laser-focused on the newly incorporated Scrum practices and think of innovative ways to spearhead your team to greater altitudes. It’s time to get started with the new!

Rated 4.5/5 based on 2 customer reviews

New Ideas For Scrum Master Day To Day Activities

Blogs

846

New Ideas For Scrum Master Day To Day Activities

by KnowledgeHut Editor
20 Mar 2018

Large swathes of IT organizations are embracing Ag... Read More

Scrum Master and Product Owner: Understanding the Differences

By KnowledgeHut Editor

According to the State of Scrum report 2017-2018 based on the data collection initiated in 2013. This survey represents the real world implementations of Scrum. Agile methodology imparts the easy and convenient path to work. Scrum is one of the renowned Agile methodologies. The agile methodology consists of 4 main roles, viz. Product Owner, Scrum Master, Scrum team and Stakeholder. Each role has its share of responsibilities. These roles are all about commitment. Scrum Master and the Product Owner are the two vital roles in the Scrum software development methodology. Since they both are working on different areas of the project, they are indispensable for the project. Scrum Master is a mediator between the Product Owner (PO) and the Development Team. Let’s see how a Scrum Master is different from a Product Owner. Difference between the Product Owner and Scrum Master- Though the Product Owner and the Scrum master vary in their roles, they complement each other. Scrum master should support the Product Owner in every step possible. There should be an amicable relationship between the Product Owner and the Scrum master. Disputes may happen between them if the roles are not clarified. Let us have a look at the differences in roles between the Product Owner and the Scrum Master. The Scrum Master concentrates on the project success, by assisting the product owner and the team is using the right process for creating a successful target and establishing the Agile principles. Skills of the Scrum Master (SM): Removes the impediments and keep the team on track The Scrum Master helps the team to strictly adhere to the Scrum practices and helps them in reaching the target. The Scrum Master find out the distractions that are hindering the team from delivering the product quality. The distractions include unwanted meetings, complexity in the procedure, work environment etc. Encourages Collaboration The Scrum Master notices the daily activities of the team members. Also, the SM share his/her experiences with the team members via meetings, conferences, and seminars. The Scrum Master encourages the collaboration through the stand-up meetings, the release of planning sessions, iteration planning, and demo sessions. Good listening and Communication power The Scrum Master should have good communication skills in order to discuss the ideas and plan with the team. Good communication helps to deliver messages to customers, teams, and target audiences. Also, listening to the team members will help them share their ideas with the Scrum Master. So, Scrum Master should be a good listener also. Mentors the team as a Coach A successful Scrum Master understands the importance of the team working in collaboration. He/She mentors the team members as a Coach to implement the Scrum practices. Flexibility for adopting the change The Scrum Master should be flexible for adopting any change. While implementing the Agile methodology, the team members may face the problems. So, the Scrum Master should be able to help the team members to adopt the changes. The Scrum Master facilitates the daily Scrum meetings for the team members to discuss their issues that are hindering the project growth. Partnership with the Product Owner Scrum consists of three roles – Product Owner, Scrum Team and Scrum Master. The Scrum Master acts as a mediator between the development team and the Product Owner. The two roles- Product Owner and Scrum Master are valuable for the team, as they build a perfect relation with the team and thereby delivering the best results. Servant Leadership quality The Scrum Master provides collaboration. Scrum Master is also known as a Servant Leader. He/She guides the team members on how to follow the Scrum approach to motivate the team members to deliver the best. Responsibilities of the Scrum Master: Scrum Master facilitates team for better vision and always tries to improve the efficiency of the teams. Scrum Master manages Scrum processes coordinating with the Scrum team in the Agile methodology. Scrum Master removes impediments for the Scrum team. Scrum Master arranges daily quick stand-up meetings to ensure quick inspection and proper use of adaptation processes. Scrum Master helps Product Owner to shape the product backlog and make it ready for the next sprint. Conducting retrospective meetings. Scrum Master organizes and facilitates the sprint planning meeting. Most importantly, the Scrum Master removes the impediments that hindering the project success. Scrum Master keeps the team away from the distractions. The Product Owner’s responsibility is to focus on product success, to build a product which works better for the users and the customers and to create a product which meets business requirements. The Product Owner can interact with the users and customers, Stakeholders, the Development team and the Scrum Master. Skills of the Product Owner (PO): Product Owner should have an idea about the business value of the product and the customers’ demands. Certified Scrum Product Owner Certification (CSPO) will be beneficial for the sales team. The development team consults the Product Owner, so he should always be available for them to implement the features correctly. Product Owner should understand the program from the end-user point of view. Marketing is discussed on the sales level in most of the Organizations. So it is the Product Owner’s duty to guide the marketing persons to achieve the goals successfully. Product Owner is responsible for the product and the ways to flourish a business. Product Owner has to focus on the proper production and ROI as well. Product Owner should be able to solve the problems, completing trade-off analysis and making decisions about business deliverables. After Certified Scrum Product Owner course, Product Owner can work with the project managers and the technical leads to prioritize the scope for product development. Sometimes Product Owner and the Customers are same, sometimes Customers are thousands or millions of people. Some other skills are as follows: 1.Communication Skills Communication is the key factor for any team member to be successful. The team should be open to working together to achieve a common project target. It is very important that everyone on the team should communicate effectively. Most probably, the Product Owner should possess good communication skills. As the Product Owner needs to work with the customers’ to understand their needs and conveying that to the development team to bring it to reality. If they could not able to communicate effectively, it may affect the organization value. 2.Commitment The Product Owner should be committed to the project target, product vision, team, and the business. They have to attend all the meetings and work with all the team members. So, it is very important for them to collaborate with everyone. Furthermore, the Product Owner must be accountable for the process and be committed to the success of the project 3. Vision The Product Owner should be able to clearly communicate the product vision between the backlog items and the large project goals. They check whether the product vision is aligned with the company’s vision and needs. 4.Curious about what they work Concerning that “bad product owner” is so often the excuse for bad product. I coach towards product leadership and team ownership. My worst case is product owner telling the team exactly what to build, and team not taking ownership of the outcome. That’s what “bad” looks like. https://t.co/Um4rgvJ7yk — Jeff Patton (@jeffpatton) April 4, 2018 The Product Owner (PO) need to be curious always to ask ‘Why’ from the client (about his/her requirements) and ‘How(to the development team). But before asking the questions to the team, they should understand the rules and able to create a clear vision of the final product. Responsibilities of the Product Owner: Product Owner has to attend the daily sprint planning meetings. Product Owner prioritizes the product features, so the development team can clearly understand them. Product Owner decides the deadlines for the project. Product Owner determines the release date and contents. Product Owner manages and creates the product backlog for implementation, which is nothing but the prioritized backlog of user stories. Product Owner defines user stories to the development team. Spending some time to prioritize the user stories with a few team members. The Product Owner and Scrum Master Relation This question is highly debatable in an Agile world. Many say that there needs to be a clear contrast between these the Scrum Master and Product Owner and therefore needs two individuals to manage these two roles. The Product Owner should have an overall vision of the client’s requirements. Due to this reason, the Scrum Master needs the Product Owner. Whereas the project team requires the Scrum Master to work maintaining the velocity and capacity of the team. Choosing the best The Product Owner has to get involved in grabbing the project details. But, along with that, the Product Owners expect an experienced Scrum Master should work and guide his/her team members to work efficiently yielding good results. The Scrum Master and the Product Owner have mostly overlapping roles and responsibilities and skills as well. Every one of them requires an alternate level of communication and mindset.

Rated 4.0/5 based on 1 customer reviews

Scrum Master and Product Owner: Understanding the Differences

Blogs

6175

Scrum Master and Product Owner: Understanding the ...

by KnowledgeHut Editor
30 May 2017
5 mins read

According to the State of Scrum report 2017-2018 b... Read More

4 Tips To Become A Better Scrum Product Owner

By KnowledgeHut Editor

A Scrum Product Owner is a person whose role in the project is to coordinate between the customer and the development team in the company. He/she needs to ensure that all the requirements mentioned by the stakeholder are implemented in the final product. An efficient Scrum Product Owner may or may not be proficient in the business aspects of the project but, he/she will be an expert in the various techniques of Agile methodology. There are various methods by which you can become efficient in Scrum Product Owner. They are: 1) Be available to the team A Scrum Product Owner needs to be available to his/her team as and when required. Since the Product Owner is the person who knows the requirements of the stakeholder inside out, they need to be available to the development team in order to clear their queries about the product. You also need to tread cautiously in certain cases. At times, the team becomes entirely dependent on the Scrum Product Owner. This can be dangerous as the team becomes incapable of carrying out even minute tasks in the absence of the Product Owner. Hence, ensure that you are available to your team within reason and do not spoon-feed them at all times. Ensure that you keep your team motivated and encourage them to take up new tasks. 2) Vision for the Product By being prepared, you have won half the battle. A Scrum Product Owner needs to have a clear vision on the various aspects of the product. They play a pivotal role in building the structure of the product. This includes preparing the various modules of the product, understanding the region where the product will be used, requirements of the customer. If these requirements are planned in the beginning of the project, it could save a lot of time in the later stage and ensure that the project takes the required form towards the final stages of the project. Any Product Owner worth his salt will know the entire project inside out. Apart from the requirements of customers, this also includes the business side of things such as the knowledge about the market for the product. This will ensure that they are in a position to give an informed feedback about any query about the product that the development team might have. 3) Augment Business value One of the main roles of a Scrum Product Owner is to define the value for a particular product. The definition should signify what value it gives to the stakeholders and other parties involved. Once the value of the product is defined, the Product Owner needs to identify the features of the product that will give the maximum value. This task becomes easier if the product owner has a thorough knowledge of the market and the needs of a customer. After assessing all these factors involved, the Scrum Product Owner should be able to convert the value of each feature into a monetary value. This practice has many advantages such as – the team will be able to understand how their contribution to the project is going to have an impact on the business, the top brass of the organisation will be contented knowing that the teams are giving more importance to tasks that provide maximum value to their business and the stakeholders will also be supportive of the decisions taken by the Product Owner as they are aware of values and constraints involved. 4) Tolerant Individual A good Scrum Product Owner understands the various processes involved in product development. They understand that the entire process cannot be completed in a day’s time and each process can be completed in the duration it is assigned. They also work together with the teams in order to make major changes to the product. One of the most important characteristics of the Scrum Product Owner is that they keep their cool when they encounter a problem they knew they could have avoided altogether. This is primarily because they are prepared to tackle that issue. He/she also holds sprint sessions as per the schedule in order to track progress and to maintain a good communication with the team. If you feel the need of a formal CSPO training in order to improve your skills as a Scrum Product Owner, join a certified Scrum product owner certification online or a certified Scrum product owner training classroom course of your liking. A CSPO certification could also lead to better opportunities at reputed organizations.

Rated 4.0/5 based on 20 customer reviews

4 Tips To Become A Better Scrum Product Owner

Blogs

690

4 Tips To Become A Better Scrum Product Owner

by KnowledgeHut Editor
07 Nov 2016

A Scrum Product Owner is a person whose role in th... Read More

Search