Scrum & SAFe Product Owner | Product Manager for Beginners

Name: Scrum & SAFe Product Owner | Product Manager for Beginners
Rating: 4.6 (1029 reviews)

Exploring the day-to-day of Product Owners, Business Analysts, Product Managers, incl. CPSO and POPM cert prep

Created byBrian Culp

Last updated 11/2023

English

What you'll learn

Understanding Role and Responsibilities of a modern Product Manager
How to Manage and Prioritize the Backlog
Effective Stakeholder Engagement
Next steps for those who want to become Certified Product Owners (and Project Managers)
Deeper Understanding of Agile Frameworks like Scrum and SAFe
Differentiating Between Product Owner and Product Manager Roles (and Others)

Course content

6 sections • 38 lectures • 3h 25m total length

Introduction3:07
Explore the role of product ownership within the Safe and Scrum agile framework, distinguish the product owner from job titles, and learn practical backlog management and collaboration for large organizations.
Who This Class Is For4:48
What is Product Development and Project Management?4:34
Defines product management as the what and why of solving customer problems through strategy and goals. Translates that into the how of delivering value via product development.
What's a Product Owner?5:51
Define the product owner role in Scrum and SAFe, focusing on delivering customer value, connecting with customers, gathering feedback, and prioritizing the backlog.
What's a Product Manager7:30
The product manager drives overall product success and profitability by aligning customer needs with the roadmap in a Scrum context, while the product owner executes priorities.
What's a Business Analyst5:55
What's a Project Manager5:33
Define project management through the PMI PMBoK lifecycle—initiation, planning, execution, monitoring, and closing—and recognize how scope, resources, budget, and deadlines drive project deliverables and team roles in product management.
VUCA and what makes it hard for PD and PM9:03
Discover how VUCA challenges product owners in a post-Covid, fast-moving world. Learn approaches like working agreements and tools such as roadmaps, sprint planning, user stories, and Moscow analysis.
Certifications in the POPM World (and how to get one)4:20
Explore popular product owner certifications from Scrum Alliance, Scrum.org, and Scrum Inc, including CSPO (two-day course, no exam) and SPO1 or RPO with attendance and exam requirements.

Intro - Mindset and the Awesome PO/PM10:20
Explore the agile mindset and its value for product owners and managers, including the agile values, Scrum framework, and the definition of done to deliver high-value solutions.
Agile Umbrella (Team: Scrum, Kanban, XP)2:55
Explore how agile, as an umbrella for Scrum, Kanban, and XP, builds organizational agility through mindset and problem solving, emphasizing feedback, lean waste reduction, flow, minimizing inventory, and just-in-time delivery.
Agile Mindset (Exploring the Four Agile Value Statements)3:44
Explore the agile mindset by understanding the four values of the Agile Manifesto: prioritizing individuals and interactions, working software, customer collaboration, and responding to change to deliver valuable products.
Scrum in 10 Minutes - Especially from Product Owner Perspective10:47
Explore how a product owner channels input into a single product backlog, prioritizes items into sprints with goals, and collaborates with cross-functional developers through planning, daily scrums, reviews, and retrospectives.
Definition of Done - Why it Matters2:49
Define a collaborative definition of done between product owner and developers, outlining functional, user, and integration testing, documentation, and quality criteria for every backlog item by sprint end.
Section Summary and Key Takeaways2:20

Intro - POs Are in the Problem Solving Business7:32
Product owners act as problem solvers, focusing on building the right product by identifying user pain points and needs. They use persona-driven questions to shape backlog, roadmap, and vision.
Product Vision4:29
Know Thy Customer - A Look at Personas5:18
Roadmaps and Release Plans6:18
Section Summary and Key Takeaways2:36
Product owners solve real problems by defining an inspiring product vision or north star, identifying pain points with personas, and framing a value-driven roadmap; release when value is ready.

Intro - What's All This Backlog Business About?6:00
Initializing your Product Backlog5:23
Backlog Ordering Techniques - 20/204:31
Backlog Ordering Techniques - MSCW6:43
Apply the Moscow backlog technique to classify features as must, should, could, or won't, using a cross-functional survey to score, rank, and resolve ties for MVP and compliance priorities.
Backlog Ordering Techniques - WSJF3:42
Apply the weighted shortest job first backlog technique (WSJF) to order work by value divided by size, using user value, urgency, and risk reduction to target high-value, low-effort items.
Product Backlog Refinement3:02
Refine the backlog by breaking features into epics and items, collaborating with developers to add just-enough detail and ready criteria for pulling into sprints, two sprints worth of backlog items.
User Stories4:35
Learn how user stories replace heavy requirements by capturing just enough information to deliver value faster, with a two-part format: description and acceptance criteria for sprint-ready backlog items.
Section Summary and Key Takeaways2:18

Intro - Transitioning Your Backlog to Increments of Value3:46
The PO During Sprint Planning11:09
Explore how the product owner leads sprint planning with a collaborative backlog review and a clear sprint goal, guiding developers through tasking and refinement.
PO Responsibilities During the Sprint4:36
As a product owner, lead the sprint by supporting the team daily, accepting work iteratively, and refining the backlog for future sprints to ensure a value-driven increment.
Sprint Challenges for the PO7:28
Learn to navigate sprint challenges by validating changes against the sprint goal, using an interrupt buffer for urgent work, and preventing rollover through daily scrums.
Sprint Review - PO Best Practices6:09
Invite the right stakeholders for a collaborative sprint review to evaluate the increment, gather honest feedback, and confirm problem solution fit, using realistic data and cross-functional discussion.
Program Increment (PI) Planning10:40
The Product Owner at Scale7:44
Section Summary and Key Takeaways2:19
Collaborate with product owners and developers to plan sprints, define the sprint backlog by why, what, and how, and balance now work with backlog refinement and stakeholder feedback.

What To Do To Get Certified (recap CSPO vs PSPO vs SAFe PO/PM)3:52
Compare major product owner certifications—from the Scrum Alliance CSPO to Scrum.org's SPO levels and SAFe PO/PM—covering costs, course formats, and entry-level recommendations for beginners.
Next Steps - Creating Your Action Plan1:33
Explore practical next steps for Scrum and SAFe, from beginner groundwork to backlog management and story practices, with case studies and anti-patterns to guide your agile journey.

Requirements

No prior project or product management experience required.
Seriously, no prereqs. We've designed this course for people new to IT and Scrum and SAFe, and who don't know a Product Owner from the Owner of a Football Team.

Description

The Scrum & SAFe Product Owner | Product Manager for Beginners course explores the intricate world of the Product Owner and Product Manager roles within the Scrum and SAFe Agile frameworks, and is designed as a launching pad for newcomers to this field.

Join industry professionals Brian Culp (CPSO, SAFe SA) and Steve Martin (CPSO, CST) for this tour of the Product Onwer job function. Brian and Steve draw on a combined 40 years of real-world experience leading and coaching scrum teams, making this course a perfect fit for those who are complete noobs to the Product Owner world.

Here's what you'll learn:

Define the role of the Product Manager. The course begins with an overview of the Product Manager role, and especially focuses on what can be expected from a PM in a typical company/department with a focus on Information Technology.

Manage and Prioritize the Product Backlog. Spoiler alert! One of your most essential duties as a Product Manager will be to manage the team's Backlog. The course explores several real-world methods to help you align the teams work with the demands of customers and the business. You'll learn practical techniques for stakeholder management, backlog grooming, prioritization, and more.

Understanding Product Manager duties at Scale. The course then tackles the question of how Product Managment responsibilities tend to operate in large organizations.

Along the way, you'll also be developing a deeper understanding of Agile principles and practices, while also enhancing your understanding of the Scrum framework.

Enroll now, and be better prepared to navigate the sometimes rocky terrain of a career in Product Management. See you in class!

Who this course is for:

Aspiring Product Owners (or Business Analysts or Program Managers)
Scrum Masters (who want to have a better work relationship with POs on their team)
Software Developers and Engineers (who want to collaborate more effectively with their Scrum peers)
Project Managers and Team Leads
Product Directors and Managers (who want to better lead their team of POs and BAs)

Scrum & SAFe Product Owner | Product Manager for Beginners

What you'll learn

Explore related topics

Course content

Intro - What is a Product Owner Anyway?9 lectures • 51min

Overview of the Agile Framework and Mindset6 lectures • 33min

Understanding Your Product and Your Customers5 lectures • 26min

Product Backlogs & Backlog Management8 lectures • 36min

Making the Product Right - Manage and Prioritize the Backlog8 lectures • 54min

Next Steps in the PO/PM Journey2 lectures • 5min

Requirements

Description

Who this course is for: