Product Owner Course

With our course for Product Owners, we focus on complexity and on the strategic aspect of how to find the optimal use of our resources. The Product Owner is a central figure in every organization that wants to use Scrum. In this course, we train people in the time span of two days to assume and fill out the role of Product Owner in their projects. Upon completion, the new Product Owners will have learned enough tools to be ready to embark on a journey toward great results.

Steve Denning of Forbes Magazine is quoted to have said that Scrum is ‘a major management discovery’. Scrum makes it possible to create solutions even though we find ourselves in complex situations. This is achieved by introducing boundaries or constraints such as working in iterations, clear and distinct roles with precise responsibility, regular meetings, and total clarity and transparency in the process. The result is a culture in the organization capable of reacting positively towards change and new challenges – the focal point is constant improvement. The Scrum method implicitly creates an increase in job satisfaction and creativity.

The Scrum Product Owner is the person, who takes responsibility for the business value of the project and the work, He prioritizes constantly and conveys the specifications for the solution. This practical, interactive course teaches the participants core skills to assume the responsibility of the Product Owner with confidence. The theoretical material is taught using creative and practical exercises throughout the course. Participants will attain a new perspective and approach to project management, estimation, improving visibility and much more. The course also offers a thorough survey of the advantages the Scrum method produces, seen from a businesslike point of view.

• Overview and details of the Scrum method
• The historical and theoretical foundation for Scrum
• How to effectively lead, prioritize, and analyze the value
• Visibility by means of backlogs, burn-down charts, etc.
• How to keep stakeholders happy
• How to work as a Product Owner using the backlog and the specification
• The collaboration between the Product Owner and the rest of the organization
• Estimation, planning, risk analysis, and prioritizing

Impact Estimation – the 4 Ws of Product leadership

The cornerstone of product leadership is the ability to create a common understanding in this complex world among the involved parties of the 4 Ws of any initiative:

• Why – The objectives and values that are desirable, the negatives that need to be stopped or dampened, and the risks that need to be mitigated.
• Who – The stakeholders in this initiative. Who needs to be satisfied or consulted? How do the different stakeholders view the different objectives? Who values what? Do any stakeholders have “must-have” (or “must-not-have” requirements on objectives or strategies?
• What – The strategies or avenues of intervention that are possible to deploy or implement, based on the resources available, money, competencies, raw materials, facilities, time, etc.
• When – Time based constraints, deadlines that have to be met, delivery-out or -in milestones or milestones defined for synchronization purposes.

It is the Product Owner’s job to understand, what is valuable to whom, and what is not, in collaboration with the Team to develop an overview of what can be done. Based on that, then to be able to prioritize for maximum return on investment (ROI), step by step, iteration by iteration, constant learning. Plan-Do-Study-Act.

Sometimes a fifth “W” is included, the “Where“. If the team working on this initiative cannot solve all the problems or deliver all the deliverables that are believed to be beneficial, where can it be done? Which other person, Team, or Supplier can this deliverable be delegated to?

Developing this understanding, visualizing it, presenting it to all stakeholders and constantly refining it as circumstances unfold is the core of Product Leadership and the cornerstone of this course. A very useful visual collaboration tool is the so-called Impact Table or Impact Matrix.

Upon successful completion of this course, each participant will have a two-year membership of the Agile Lean Leadership Network, where additional material and information about Agile, Lean, and Scrum is available. Attendees are required to take an online test after the training course to be approved as Product Owners by ALL. Attendees will receive training materials and electronic copies of presentations, videos, and materials produced during the course.

Who should attend? Product Owners, Product Managers or anyone interested in Agile work and getting the most out of your efforts. No prior knowledge of Scrum or Agile methods is required although some prior reading is recommended. We will send information to all participants approximately one week in advance.

Agenda Day 1

• Warming up
• An exercise in constant improvement and more
• Why Agile, Lean, and Scrum, adapting to complexity
• The Scrum framework as a fairy tale, the big picture
• Scrum Roles and responsibility
• Scrum Events and Artifacts
• A bit about Kanban and its use
• Raising common understanding and estimating
• Questions & Answers, Finalizing

Agenda Day 2

• Opening Gambit – Transparency
• Backlog and Backlog Items
• Product Goal and Vision
• The Scrum Framework revisited
• The Product Owner in detail
• The Vanilla Scrum Artifacts
• Impact and value estimation
• Advanced Backlog topics
• Deep Dive Questions & Answers

Physical courses start at 09:00 and end at approximately 17:00 each day.

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Prices and Conditions for Courses

• Each public Agile Lean Leadership one-day course is offered at an Early-Bird price of EUR 680, NOK/SEK 7,100, or DKK 5,100 when registering more than a month before the course date, after that the prices are EUR 760, NOK/SEK 7,900 or DKK 5,700.
• Each public Agile Lean Leadership two-day Course (ALLSM or ALLPO) is offered at an Early-Bird price of EUR 1,300, NOK/SEK  14,300, or DKK 9,700 when registering more than a month before the course date, after that the price is EUR 1,460, NOK/SEK 15,900 or DKK 10,800.
• All Prices are excl. VAT.
• Courses are delivered in Danish in Denmark and Norwegian in Norway unless there are participants that require English, then we will switch to English, which is the default language in all other territories.
• Courses include meals, course materials, a certificate of participation, access to online resources, a free online Retrospective 2-3 weeks after the course and free participation in follow-up events for two years.
• Participants can choose to sit an extra examination after each course. This consists of handing in a written assignment for review and assessment by the instructor and an independent instructor. The students will receive comments and a passed/failed note, grades are not given. The examination costs EUR 180, NOK/SEK 1.900 or DKK 1,350.
• Registration is via email at info@agileleanhouse.com and invoices are sent out from the organization arranging the training course. Payment has to be received before the start of the course.
• Cancellation policy: Registration can be canceled up until one month before the start of the course without any fees. Cancellation between one month and two weeks before the course starts is charged with 50% of the course fee. Cancellation within the last two weeks before the course starts will be charged fully. Transfer to a later course can be negotiated, in case unforeseen circumstances appear.
• For free events, we kindly ask participants to register via email at info@agileleanhouse.com. Registration can be canceled up to 24 hours before the event FOC. After that, a no-show fee of EUR 60, NOK/SEK 650 or DKK 450 will be invoiced.
• The courses are also offered as internal, on-site courses for organizations and companies. A minimum of 10 participants are normally required. If you are interested, please contact us for further information, via email here… or find the right contact person here…