How to Become a Certified Scrum Product Owner?

Scrum is quickly becoming the most preferred choice of framework for teams interested in adopting an agile philosophy. Given the growth in the fame of the Scrum Framework, it should come as no surprise that this growth is also fueling an unprecedented demand for Scrum Certification Training. In this article, let’s check out how to become a Certified Scrum Product Owner.

The topics covered in this article are:

• Scrum Roles: The Anatomy of a Scrum Team
• Who is a Scrum Product Owner?
• Why become a CSPO?
• Requirements to Become a CSPO
• Who can take up CSPO Certification?

Scrum Roles: The Anatomy of a Scrum Team

According to Scrum Guide, Scrum is “A framework within which people can address complex adaptive problems, while productively and creatively delivering products of the highest possible value.”

In other words, scrum is a lightweight agile project management framework that can be used to manage iterative and incremental projects of all types. Scrum framework is defined by three roles:

• Product Owner
• Scrum Master
• Development Team

From a business standpoint, one of the most vital roles of any Scrum team is the Product Owner (PO). It is a challenging role, one that requires the PO to make important business decisions about the product. Sounds interesting? Let’s explore more. 

Who is a Scrum Product Owner?

As described in the Scrum Guide, a Scrum Product Owner is responsible for maximizing the value of the product resulting from the work of the Development Team. However, how the Product Owner accomplishes this can vary widely depending on many factors, including the team, the business stakeholders, and the development processes of the organization.

The job description of a product owner is fairly straightforward. Their job is to act as the proxy of the customer, prioritize the backlog, answer or get answers to the team’s queries and accept/reject the work that the team generates. A Product Owner’s typical responsibilities include:

• Managing the product backlog & making sure that it is visible, transparent, and clear
• Guiding the team to achieve the best goals and missions in a desirable time
• Progressing the value of the work done and making rational decisions
• Collaborating with the development team and stakeholders
• Managing team economics and actively participate in meetings
• Ensure transparency into the upcoming work of the product development team

To fulfill all these responsibilities, the product owner needs skills such as facilitation, conflict management, creative thinking, and the ability to influence the team and other stakeholders. From a business point of view, the role of the Product Owner is a very important and challenging role. If such a role appeals to you, then you are ready to become a Certified Scrum Product Owner(CSPO).

Why Become a Certified Scrum Product Owner?

Well, with agile quickly becoming the standard practice and scrum framework being most popular and widely followed Agile methodology worldwide, demand for product owners is skyrocketing. According to Glassdoor, the national average salary for a Certified Product Owner is ₹20,31,986 in India. Check out the salary range of scum product owner in India.

Also, the demand for CSPO professionals continues to increase and Fortune 500 companies like SAP, Amdocs, Cisco, Dell, HP, etc are continually hiring CSPO professionals. Well, that sounds appealing, right? So, how do you become a certified scrum product owner? 

Requirements to Become a CSPO

There is no eligibility criteria as such to become a certified scrum product owner. For professionals interested in getting Certified as Product Owners, it is mandatory to take a 2-day course taught by a Certified Scrum Trainer® (CST®).

The procedure to become a certified scrum product owner is as follows:

Step1: Attend a 2-day course taught by a Certified Scrum Trainer^® (CST^®).

Step2: Read Agile Manifesto, Scrum Guide and also go through CSPO Learning Objectives.

Step3: After successfully completing the course, you will be asked to accept the CSPO License Agreement.

Step4: Complete your Scrum Alliance membership profile.

Step4: No test is required to become a CSPO. Scrum Alliance will email you the link to download the CSPO certificate.

Step5: Maintain your CSPO certification by earning Scrum Education Units^® (SEUs) and renewing your certification every two years for a fee of $100.

Note: There is no exam from the Scrum Alliance to earn the CSPO^® certification.

To develop your skills further, you can also become an Advanced Certified Scrum Product Owner or a Certified Scrum Professional Product Owner.

Who can take up CSPO Certification?

Taking the Certified Scrum Product Owner(CSPO) training and obtaining the certification can be particularly useful for:

• Members of Scrum teams such as developers and product owners
• Business Analyst/Senior Business Analyst
• Quality Assurance professional
• Product Manager/Product Owner
• Software Developers and Coders
• Team Leads
• System Architects

Apart from anyone who is interested in the “business side” of projects, is probably the right person to aspire to achieve a Certified Scrum Product Owner^® (CSPO^®) certification.

In conclusion, being a great Product Owner is not so easy- it is important for one to understand the requirements of the role before actually assuming it. However, a Product Owner is an integral part of Agile projects and will go a long way in accelerating the velocity of the project and achieving the goals well within the deadlines.

This brings us to the end of this ‘How to Become a Certified Scrum Product Owner?’ article. I have covered all the basics that you should be aware of if you are planning to become a product owner. Hope you are clear with all that has been shared with you in this article.

Make sure you are well versed with the Scrum terminology before you start using it.

Got a question for us? Please mention it in the comments section of this “How to Become a Certified Scrum Product Owner?” article and we will get back to you as soon as possible.