Certified Scrum Product Owner: What To Know And Who Can Become?

Scrum is known as a framework for agile project management that allows individuals to deal with complex adaptive challenges and guarantee the delivery of high-quality products in a productive and creative manner. Many teams around the world are adopting this framework due to the various benefits that it offers. Some of the most important roles in the Scrum framework are the development team, scrum product owner, and scrum master.

Who is a Scrum Product Owner?

Before taking a look at the certifications for a Scrum Product Owner, it is crucial to understand what this professional does. Typically, a Scrum Product Owner is an expert who is saddled with the responsibility of maximizing a product’s value. This professional cooperates with the Development Team to make sure that they deliver products that are of the highest quality. However, the name “Scrum Product Owner” makes it seem as if the person owns the product; they are not the owner. They are just an employee whose job is to serve as the customer’s proxy.

The major task of a Scrum Product Owner is accomplished in different ways, such as:

• Directing the development team to make sure their missions and goals are attained without wasting time.
• Properly managing the backlog of the product and ensuring its clarity, transparency, and visibility.
• Following the progress of the current value of the product and deciding important things to do based on the information they have.
• Managing the economics of the development team.
• Working along with the development team.
• Keeping the stakeholders informed about the progress of the team.
• Participating in various meetings with stakeholders and the development team.
• Guaranteeing the transparency of the work that is being done.

What are the skills required to be a Scrum Product Owner?

If you want to perform well as a Scrum Product Owner, there are some important soft skills that you need to have. These skills include:

• Ability to use the right authority to make decisions quickly.
• Communication skills to keep both external and internal stakeholders abreast of the work.
• Leadership skills to guide the development team on the product to build, the steps to take, the needs of the customers, and the existing market gaps. The leadership skills should also extend to providing the development teams with distinctive and actionable feedback.
• Ability to delegate works to the appropriate persons through identifications of the particular skills of each person. The Scrum Product Owner will also give the oversight and essential resources needed by each person to do the job.
• Understanding of the needs of the customer and the market. This is to help them make informed decisions concerning marketing strategies, features, sales forecasts, pricing, and so on.
• Ability to manage the stakeholders. This will include letting them know the milestones and expectations of the product. They must also ensure frequent communications.
• Conflict resolution skills that allow them to handle various disagreements or disputes that may come up during the project. Finding solutions to the disputes and knowing when to deal with them is also essential.
• Tactical skills are also required for proper management of work daily.
• Ability and experience in product development. Although being an experienced software engineer or developer is not a prerequisite to becoming a Scrum Product Owner, knowing the fundamental steps involved in software development is necessary. This knowledge will help them have realistic expectations, workflows, and schedules.

What a Certified Scrum Product Owner course can you take?

To become a certified Scrum Product Owner, you have to take a course, get the pass mark and obtain a certification. This certification is meant to show that you are dedicated to improving your career and becoming one of the best in the field. Also, it increases the value that you are capable of offering to your team and gives you a competitive edge over other job applicants.

It should be noted that there are various types of CSPO Certification that are offered by different organizations. One of the best you can get is the Certified Scrum Product Owner® Certification that is provided by Scrum Alliance. Before getting the certification, you will be taught the skills needed to be a Certified Scrum Product Owner. Also, you will learn about risk management, improvement of Scrum functionality, planning, improvement of ROI, and lots more.

Important steps to becoming a Certified Scrum Product Owner

If you are determined to become a Certified Scrum Product Owner, follow these steps:

1. Join a reputable institution that has been accredited by Scrum Alliance. The accredited institutes are called Registered Education Providers (REPs).
2. Learn the basic concepts and terminology of Scrum. The Agile Manifesto and Scrum Guide can play a pivotal role in your preparation.
3. Be a part of a 2-day CSPO course. Notably, the instructor must be a Certified Scrum Trainer. It is important to note that you must attend this course in person.
4. Upon completion of the program, your details will be uploaded on the official website of Scrum Alliance by your instructor.
5. You will receive a welcome email from Scrum Alliance. Log into your account on the website of Scrum Alliance. On the website, obtain your CSPO license.
6. To finally accept the certificate, you need to download it online. You will get instructions on how to do it.

Voila, you are now a Certified Scrum Product Owner!

It is worthwhile to understand that every Certified Scrum Product Owner needs to maintain its CSPO certification. This maintenance is done through paying for the certification renewal and getting the required Scrum Education Units (SEUs).

Who can become a Certified Scrum Product Owner?

Those that can become a Certified Scrum Product Owner include:

• Project managers
• Software testers
• Product owners
• System architects
• Product managers
• Soft developers and coders
• Manager-software developers
• Team leads
• Senior business analysts/business analysts

In general, as long as you are a member of a Scrum team, you can take the course and become a Certified Scrum Product Owner.

With the information above, you now know the right steps to take to become a Certified Scrum Product Owner.