The product owner role is a dynamic and collaborative role within a scrum environment. You will find that you are learning every single day and the interactions and engagements you have with others will inform how you develop in your career.
From a progression perspective, there are 3 primary ways to grow as a product owner.
Training
The Certified Scrum Product Owner is the entry-level course and certification for product owners. In the CSPO course you will learn about scrum, the events, the artefacts, and the roles within a scrum team.
You will also learn about how to create a product vision, how to create a backlog of workable items for your development team, and how to create and nurture a product roadmap.
You will learn how to interact and engage with your development team, scrum masters, product stakeholders and customers.
You will learn how to articulate your ideas as well as communicate the vision for what is being created and why.
After about a year in the role of a product owner and upon completion of the Certified Scrum Product Owner course, you can enroll on the Advanced Certified Scrum Product Owner course.
The A-CSPO course is designed to build on your foundation knowledge and skillset with more advanced and complex techniques, tools, models, and frameworks.
You’ll learn about advanced product management, product backlog management, how to work with multiple scrum teams and how to engage both customers as well as stakeholders at the next level.
The Advanced Certified Scrum Product Owner course prepares you for the professional level of product ownership and helps you progress toward the Certified Scrum Professional Product Owner course.
After completion of the A-CSPO course and approximately a year of working as an Advanced Certified Scrum Product Owner, you’ll be invited to enroll on the Certified Scrum Professional Scrum Product Owner course.
It’s an intensive course that helps you progress to a professional level of product ownership and straddle the lines between practitioner and coach.
You’ll be learning how to work with multiple stakeholders across all levels of the organisation. You would be capable of managing a global product backlog for a multi-national organisation and have the capability to innovate in product development environments.
After the CSP-PO course, you have a choice of progression into Agile coaching as a Certified Team Coach or Certified Enterprise Agile Coach with a primary focus on Product Ownership. You could also choose to progress as a professional practitioner and practice Product Ownership at the global level.
Learning
Another opportunity for on-the-job growth and development is to invest in books, seminars, and online resources to help grow your knowledge and skillset.
We provide our students with an intermediate and advanced recommended reading list for product owners that allows you to invest in the quality of books that we know are going to make a significant difference in your personal growth and development.
There is also a wealth of online resources such as video channels, podcasts, blogs, etc. from people who are the top of their product ownership game and sharing what they have learned along their journey.
Agile Centre will also be launching a product owner alumni group online that will help connect you with mentors, other aspiring product owners, and a group of highly influential product owners that can help take your learning and personal development to the next level.
Coaching
Contracting a personal coach to help coach you toward professional growth and personal development is an awesome way to grow your knowledge and skillset.
Coaching can take the form of one-to-one sessions with a product owner coach or as part of a small cohort in a coaching relationship over a period of months to years.
A great coach acts as both a mentor as well as a teacher and can help you develop your decision-making capabilities at the local and enterprise level.
Agile Centre have an Agile Coaching Academy as well as an Agile Entrepreneurship Academy to help develop the next generation of great Product Owners and Scrum Masters.
Coaching is a great way to ensure continuous improvement and development on your path to Product Ownership mastery.
If you are thinking of becoming a product owner, visit our Certified Scrum Product Owner course page as well as our Advanced Certified Scrum Product Owner course page.
Frequently Asked Product Ownership Questions
- What is the difference between a Product Owner and a Project Manager?
- How is a product owner different to a product manager?
- Is a product owner a member of the development team?
- Do you need project management experience to be a Product Owner?
- How does a Product Owner integrate into a Scrum Team?
- Do project managers traditionally make great product owners?
- Is the product owner role a great fit for people in creative industries?
- Is there different levels of seniority for product owners?
- What are career opportunities for a Product Owner?
- What do Product Owners do?
- Do you need to be a developer to be a product owner for a software company?
- Can you create a Product Ownership role in a company that doesn’t do Scrum?
- What are some great traits of a product owner?
- How will I know if a product owner role is a great fit for me?
- Do product owners attend daily scrums?
- Do product owners interact and engage with project stakeholders?
- How does a product owner integrate into a marketing team?
- Do entrepreneurs make great product owners?
Frequently Asked Product Owner Training Questions
- What is a Certified Scrum Product Owner?
- Will I be able to lead product development after doing a CSPO course?
- What will you learn on a CSPO course?
- How well recognised and respected is the CSPO course?
- What do you need to know to sign up for the CSPO course?
- How well does a CSPO course prepare you to be a product owner?
- Do I get textbooks and course materials as part of my CSPO course?
- What would be a good certification path for a Product Owner?
- Are there different CSPO certifications and how do they differ?
- How long is the CSPO course and how is it configured?
- Is the CSPO course theoretical or practical?
- Do companies invest in CSPO courses or is it primarily individuals?
- How do I progress as a Product Owner?
- Would you recommend the CSPO course for entrepreneurs?