Before understanding who or what a Scrum Product Owner CSPO is, we need to understand Scrum. What is Scrum? Scrum is a framework that makes it easy for teams to work together. Scrum is so popular that Software Development Teams use it, and its ideas and reading can be applied to all kinds of communities.
Ken Schwaber and Jeff Sutherland, the two scrum co-creators, have written “THE SCRUM GUIDE” and defined Scrum as “ a framework within which people can address complex adaptive problems while productively and creatively delivering products of the highest possible value.” Scrum framework has three roles:
A. Product Owner
B. Scrum Master
C. Development Team
Among these three roles, Product Owner (PO), is one of the most important roles in the Scrum Team.
Who is a Scrum Product Owner?
The Product Owner is the person who maintains the Product Backlog and is the link between the customer and the Development Team.
In a way, the Scrum Product Owner is the product’s face and voice. The job of the Product Owner is to enhance the profitability of a company’s business by creating a positive perception of the Product in the market so that it sells profitably.
Process To Become a Certified CSPO
To become a Certified Scrum Product Owner, one has to train from a Certified Scrum Trainer (CST) for 14 hours live- online or 16 hours in-person or receive private coaching from a Certified Agile Coach (CAC) for 25 hours face-to-face. After completing the course successfully, he/she will need to accept the License Agreement with Scrum Alliance and complete his/her profile, following which the Certified Scrum Product Owner certification will be awarded to the person.
Steps To Attain CSPO Certification
Step 1- First, you have to choose a training partner such as Spoclearn, which delivers CSPO Certification Training for individuals and enterprise teams worldwide.
Step 2- To know and understand the concepts of scrum, one should go through the Scrum Guide and Agile Manifesto and prepare for the training.
Step 3– The Certified Scrum Trainer (CST) will provide a 2-day course.
Step 4- The certified Scrum Trainer (CST) will update your details on the Scrum Alliance website after completing the course.
Step 5- You will receive a welcome email to log in to your Scrum Alliance account and will be asked to accept your CSPO license.
Step 6- Complete your Scrum Alliance membership profile and log in to accept your license.
Step 7- You accept your license and download your CSPO certificate.
To earn the CSPO certification, no exam will be held from the Scrum Alliance.
The validity of the CSPO certificate is for 2 years. You can renew your certificate after 2 years or directly go for the next level, i.e. A-CSPO Certification Training, which will automatically renew your CSPO.
Learnings After CSPO Certification
After completing the CSPO Workshop successfully, he/she will be able to:
1. Know the importance of the Product Owner Role while engaged in working with the stakeholders and the development teams.
2. Fix the product policy and create a prioritized product roadmap and release planning.
3. Examine customer research and product delivery.
4. Reflect on the chance to test the assumptions during product discovery, product development, and delivery.
5. Understand and maximize the value between the outcome and output with the Product Owner’s responsibility.
6. Improve and measure your velocity.
7. Manage stakeholders and risk.
Apart from these, he/she can be the right person to aspire to achieve a certified scrum product owner (CSPO) Certification, if he/she is interested in the business side of an organization.
Conclusion
To become a Certified Scrum Product Owner, all one needs is the zeal to become one. It is a relatively advanced level of certification. Therefore a little exposure to the Scrum framework, say a prior experience of working for 6 months to 1 year in a Scrum Team, is helpful to the trainee, although there are no prerequisites regarding prior Scrum certifications for someone to take training for Certified Scrum Product Owner.
However, it is commonly seen that the main aspirants for a Certified Scrum Product Owner Certification are usually the Software Developers, Project Managers, Software Architects, Product Managers, and Scrum Team Members, who are usually well versed in the Scrum Methodology. So, to be a Certified Scrum Product Owner, it is advisable to accustom yourself to Scrum, either through self-study or foundation-level certifications, so that you can climb smoothly up the ladder, by the time you decide to be a CSPO.