Certified Scrum Product Owner®
Don’t Just Get Certified. Learn to Be an Effective Product Owner.
Getting a Scrum Product Owner certification is easy.
Learning how to make good product decisions and work effectively with stakeholders is not.
Mountain Goat Software’s Certified Scrum Product Owner® course is designed for people who want to understand the Product Owner role deeply and perform it well in practice.
If you’re looking for more than a credential, you’re in the right place.
Chosen by Product Owners in SaaS, Healthcare, Government, Consulting, Financial Services, Retail, Energy, Aerospace and more.
Taught by People Who Helped Shape Scrum
Mountain Goat Software was co-founded by Mike Cohn, a co-founder of both the Scrum Alliance and the Agile Alliance, and author of some of the most influential books in Agile software development, including User Stories Applied, Agile Estimating & Planning, and Succeeding with Agile.
For more than 25 years, Mountain Goat Software has helped teams and organizations adopt Scrum in ways that actually work—across industries, team types, and organizational cultures.
When you train with Mountain Goat, you’re learning from people who have:
- Helped define modern Agile practice
- Guided thousands of teams
- Seen what works, and what doesn’t, over decades
What This Certified Scrum Product Owner Course Focuses On
We focus on helping you make better product decisions, especially when things aren’t clear or easy.
You’ll see how to:
- Decide what to build next when everything feels important
- Balance stakeholder needs without becoming a bottleneck
- Write and manage a Product Backlog that truly drives value
- Collaborate effectively with Developers and Scrum Masters
- Act as a Product Owner in imperfect, constrained environments
Josue Cedeno
John Buckner
Honestly, this is the best scrum course I've taken hands down! Julie was fantastic and it was a great cohort in class. I'll definitely look to Mountain Goat for courses in the future.
Cassie E
Here is not only an opportunity to become a Certified Scrum Product Owner, but to learn and interface with a Scrum pioneer in Mike Cohn! The overall experience of this course - from the pre-course materials to the live sessions - were exceptional, engaging and exceeded my expectations.
Mike Maddaloni
After the class, so many. userful materials we can use - which is amazing!
Marko
Mike Cohn and his team at Mountain Goat Software have a highly refined training system that is absolutely first rate. The CSPO virtual training course pushed me beyond theory and equipped me with practical concepts that I can immediately put to work. The quality technical administration along with the ir talented team of facilitators made for an excellent training experience.
Oksana Cyrwus
I am in Learning & Development, and the interactive piece of this class has been amazing! Please pass on my compliments! I am a learning designer and this is the best class accompany tool I've ever ran across. This class has been fantastic.
Amanda Koski
How We Approach Teaching Scrum (and Why)
We Prioritize
Effectiveness Over Speed
Some courses rush through the learning material. With us, you have time to ask questions and practice applying ideas.
We Emphasize
Real-World Application
We focus on helping you apply Scrum in situations that don’t fit neatly into a textbook example.
We Value
Interaction Over Lecture
While some instruction is necessary, most learning happens through discussion and guided practice.
We Teach
Principles, Not Just Rules
Understanding why Scrum works leads to better decisions than memorizing mechanics alone.
A Unique, Interactive Learning Experience
Team Home is a collaboration platform that we designed for our courses. It is optimized for live, online training. Participants benefit by collaborating in ways beyond what is possible with generic whiteboard software such as Mural or Miro. Instructors can observe activity across all rooms, improving the effectiveness and efficiency of exercise debriefs.
Tools and Resources You’ll Continue Using
Your registration includes access to tools that support your work as a Scrum Master beyond the class:
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MGS AI Toolkit for coaching, story-splitting and backlog items
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Planning Poker® for collaborative estimation
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Elements of Agile™ assessment to help teams identify improvement opportunities
What You'll Be Able to Do
Create and manage a Product Backlog that drives learning and value
Make confident prioritization decisions
Collaborate effectively with stakeholders, Developers and Scrum Masters
Apply Scrum in complex, real-world product environments
Your Mountain Goat Instructors
Mountain Goat has handpicked instructors that share our training values. These are people with deep experience, who are leading teams with agile today and can give you real-world answers about what does and doesn’t work.
Mike Cohn
With 20+ years of agile training experience, Mike has honed a talent for explaining agile concepts with clear illustrations and real-life examples. Participants enjoy his passion for teaching the agile methodologies in a relatable and digestible way.
Read more...Mike is CEO of Mountain Goat Software, and one of the industry’s most well-respected Certified Scrum Trainers. He is the author of User Stories Applied for Agile Software Development, Agile Estimating and Planning, and Succeeding with Agile. He is a co-founder and former board member of the Scrum Alliance, and a co-founder of the non-profit Agile Alliance, home of the Agile Manifesto.
Scrum Certifications include: CSM, CST, CSPO, A-CSM, CSP-SM, CSP-PO
Brian Milner
Starting out as a developer, Brian worked up through management layers, then transitioned to Scrum Master, then Coach and now Certified Scrum Trainer. His practical experience in both waterfall and agile organizations helps him clarify what works and what doesn’t, plus he has many years’ experience helping teams transition to agile.
Read more...Brian also brings more than 20 years of software development experience to his classes. People remark on his ability to answer even tough questions with ease, enthusiasm, and insight.
Scrum Certifications include: CSM, CST, CSPO, CAL-Educator, CAL-1, A-CSM, A-CSPO, CSP-CM, CSP-PO, Path to CSP Educator, Scrum Foundations Educator.
Lance Dacy
As a Certified Scrum Trainer, Lance has trained and coached teams through many successful Scrum implementations since 2011, from Fortune 20 companies to small start-ups. Lance is also experienced in showing agile coaches and managers how to help cross functional, self-organizing teams deliver high value for customers as early as possible by using Scrum.
Read more...Lance is a true evangelist for Scrum, having founded the successful DFW Scrum User Group in Dallas as an outlet for professional networking and a community sounding-board for Scrum. He has a fun and generous personality, and shares his passion for Scrum in every course.
Scrum Certifications include: CSM, CST, CSPO, CAL-1, A-CSM, A-CSPO, CSP-SM, CSP-PO, Path to CSP Educator, Scrum Foundations Educator.
Scott Dunn
Scott Dunn has more than 20 years of experience in management, project management (PMP), engagement management, and software development (MCSD). He’s worked in a variety of areas and industries from social media to mortgage banking, healthcare, defense, e-commerce, plus state and local government sectors.
Read more...He has helped coach and train at dozens of companies transitioning to an agile approach using Scrum. Clients have included EMC/Dell Technologies, Yahoo!, LaserFiche, Kaiser Permanente, Rovi/Tivo, eBay, and GE Healthcare.
Scott is passionate about strengths-based teams and solutions-based approaches to people and organizational issues. He is an enthusiastic and encouraging trainer.
Scrum Certifications include: CSM, CST, CSD, CSPO, CEC, Educator-CAL, CAL-1, CAL, A-CSM, A-CSD, CSP-SM, CSP-PO, CSP-D, Path to CSP Educator, CSD Educator, Scrum Foundations Educator.
Lucy O’Keefe
Lucy has been a developer, Product Owner and Scrum Master in many scrum teams during her 28 years of IT experience. This brings a valuable perspective to the Teaching Assistant role as she helps students have a great training experience.
Read more...“I just love it when I see the light bulb go off during a class and know that the student really gets it.”
Lucy also brings a rich travel experience to her role. She is originally from Brazil, lived in Italy during high school and then came to the US for college—where she lived in the same dorm as Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson! These days she resides in Charlotte, NC with her two wonderful dogs Chloe and Ollie.
Ready to Become a More Effective Product Owner?
Join thousands of Scrum Masters, agile practitioners, and leaders who have learned Scrum with Mountain Goat Software—and applied it successfully in the real world.
Course Includes:
Certification Credits
Need a Flexible Training Option?
Pre-pay for 10+ passes and you can assign seats directly to team members, or let them self-select the courses that suit their training needs and schedule.
Learn about our Flex and Select Passes »
Course Outline
Scrum Overview
- Agile
- Scrum
The Product Owner
- What Is a Product Owner?
- Characteristics
- Responsibilities
- Product Owners in Different Contexts
- Quarterly Activities
- Involvement over Time
- Asking for Clarifications, Not Changes
- Dealing with Difficult Situations
- Business Analysts & Product Managers
- Scaling the Product Owner Role
Visioning
- Specifying the Problem, Not the Solution
- Creating a Concise Vision
- Five Techniques for Communicating Vision
Customers and Users
- Validating Assumptions
- User Roles
- User Role Modeling
- Personas
- Roles vs. Personas
- Decorated Roles & Extreme Characters
The Product Backlog
- What Is a Product Backlog?
- Progressive Elaboration
- Product Backlog Refinement
- User Stories
- Adding Detail to User Stories
- Job Stories
- Technical Stories
- Themes & Epics
- Splitting Stories with the SPIDR Approach
- Who Contributes Items?
- Story Writing Workshop
- Story Mapping
Prioritizing
- Key Concepts in Prioritization
- Factors in Prioritization
- Formal Approaches
- What Different Stakeholders Value
- Collaborative Prioritization Techniques
Planning
- Accuracy and Precision
- Velocity
- Using a Velocity Range
- Fixed-Date Plans
- Fixed-Scope Plans
The Scrum Master
- Responsibilities
- Description of Role
Developers
- Responsibilities
- Component and Feature Teams
Got a Question?
What happens when you contact us?
- We’ll get back to you within a day.
- Answer your training questions and discuss any custom needs.
- Recommend the best agile training path for your teams and goals.
- Want to talk to someone? Schedule a call.