As we move through the disciplines promoted by Scrum you will gain a comprehensive understanding of this agile product development methodology while specifically reviewing the behaviors expected of a Product Owner. While many of us may be accustomed to the practice of establishing value and priority across projects, the Product Owner needs to consider value and priority across the features of a single project.

After successfully completing this class, participants will be registered with the Scrum Alliance as Certified Scrum Product Owners (CSPO), and will have on-line access to the class training materials and any updates for one year. PMPs can also claim 14 PDU's with the PMI.

Technical professionals associated with the specification, design, development and testing of products will benefit from this two-day program. Some of the professionals this will benefit include:

• Product Managers/Business Analysts
• Functional/Operational Managers/Directors
• Project Sponsors
• IT Leadership (Managers/Directors/VPs/CIOs/CTOs)
• Anyone interested in learning the benefits of Scrum for Product Management

This class is suitable for those who are responsible for setting product direction on a Scrum project. While current Certified ScrumMasters are welcome to attend, this class should not be considered as a next step after taking the CSM Class, but instead should be viewed as an alternative to the CSM Class.

Short exercises and case studies will be scattered throughout the two-day session. Longer exercises are detailed below. Time spent on each topic will vary depending on the composition of the class and the interest in particular areas.

Day 1

In order for us to understand the benefits of Scrum and the nuances behind its framework, we begin with the history of agile methods and how relatively new thoughts in software development have brought us to Scrum.

• How manufacturing has influenced software development
• The origins of agile thinking
• The Agile Manifesto
• The complexity of projects
• Theoretical Vs. Empirical processes overview
• The "Iron Triangle" of Project Management

Exercise: The "Art of the Possible." This is an opportunity to understand how small changes in behavior can have a large impact on productivity. This also turns our thinking towards new ideas and a willingness to change for the better.

Exercise: The Ball Point Game", courtesy of Boris Gloger. Project simulation is designed to expose different agile concepts in practice, allowing participants to experience work in an iterative, self-managed environment.

Here we'll ensure that we are all working from the same foundational concepts that make up the Scrum Framework.

• The different Scrum roles
• Chickens and Pigs
• Iterative Development vs. Waterfall
• Self Management concepts
• Full disclosure and visibility
• The Scrum Framework Overview

Exercise: The 59-minute Scrum Simulation. This popular exposure to Scrum asks us to work on a short project that lasts for just 59 minutes! We'll actually take more time than that as we walk through all of the key steps under the Scrum framework, work in project teams to deliver a new product.

Who are the different players in the Scrum game? We'll review checklists of role expectations and discuss some difficult situations that we might encounter.

• The Team Member
• The Product Owner
• The Scrum Master

Exercise: This is a long-running exercise that carries through into our remaining sections that follow where we will discuss and practice various aspects of product and project planning in an agile Scrum environment.

Day 2

The Scrum Team must have an understanding of our Product Vision so they can make good decisions. The Product Backlog is a reflection of that vision, and we'll practice developing its content.

• Defining the Product Vision
• The Contents of The Product Backlog
• Prioritizing our Time Spent on the Product Backlog
• Using User Stories
• Bill Wake's INVEST Model
• Product Backlog Granularity

Since a Product Owner is responsible for monitoring progress, we'll discuss and practice how to measure a Team's progress in delivering product features.

• Relative Effort
• Planning Poker and Story Points
• Ideal Team Days
• Team Capacity
• Projecting a Schedule
• Project Management Variables and Velocity

Prioritization Considerations and Methods

Prioritization is the Product Owner's number one tool for maximizing return on investment. In this section we'll review different techniques available to establish meaningful priorities.

• Bringing Prioritization Into a Project
• Themes and Relative Weighted Priority
• Prioritization Questions and Considerations
• The Value of Increasing our Understanding
• The Value of Risk Reduction

Extracting Value and the Cost of Change

This section touches on several different areas of interest that influence our ability to extract the most value from our projects.

• Fixed Date Contracts
• Product Backlog Refactoring ("Grooming")
• Release Management
• The Impact of Project Switching
• The Impact of Continuous Forced Marches
• Earned Value in an Agile Environment

Meetings and Artifacts

While most of this material was discussed in previous portions of class, more detailed documentation is included here for future reference, including sample agendas for each of the Scrum Meetings.

• A Chart of Scrum Meetings
• The Product Backlog
• Sprint Planning
• The Sprint Backlog
• The Sprint
• The Daily Scrum
• Gathering Metrics
• The Sprint Demo/Review
• Getting to "Done"
• The Retrospective
• Why Plan?

Advanced Considerations

This section is reserved for reference material. Particular interests from the class may warrant discussion during our class time together.

• Weighted Impacts
• Theme Screening
• Kano Modeling
• The Meta-Scrum
• The Scrum of Scrums
• The Integration Scrum Team
• Scaling Scrum
• Developing Architecture

Closing Topics

We'll wrap up with direction on where to go next with your Scrum experience, some recommended reading, Scrum reference materials, and our graduation ceremony.