A Certified Scrum Product Owner® (CSPO®) certification is valid for two years. After those two years, you must renew your certification with the Scrum Alliance if you want to keep it active. To renew, you’ll need to submit information to log that you have earned the required minimum number of Scrum Education Units (SEUs) and pay a renewal fee. SEUs are earned by participating in activities that help you learn and grow in the world of Agile and Scrum, and we offer many options for this on our website under the “Resources” tab.

It’s important to understand and remember that, while there are many benefits to a CSPO certification, the true value comes from continued education and evolution as a product owner. Yes, it’s important to renew your CSPO certification to keep it in active status, but it’s far more necessary to stay engaged and learn new skills to be effective.

Your CSPO certification is just the start of the journey. Being a standout CSPO involves ongoing commitment to the responsibilities of the role.

Learn Through Experience

Nothing beats hands-on experience. The confidence and ability to navigate challenges, tackle uncertainties, and adapt Agile principles based on real situations comes from getting your hands dirty. In our Certified Scrum Product Owner training workshops, we simulate real-life scenarios so you gain that experience right out of the gate, which is different from the approach taken by many trainers who simply teach the theory. Theory might get you a certificate, but knowledge and understanding, gained from your experience or, if you’re lucky, from the experience of others, will gain you a successful career. This is why Mark Levison is the preferred Scrum training provider for many government branches and large institutions – his experience actually practicing Scrum, rather than just teaching it, shines through and is invaluable to those learning as it is far more relatable and useful in a practical way.

Continuous Improvement

It’s the goal for your product and team, and it should be the goal for yourself as well. Regularly looking at your methods, seeking input, and refining your approach are all part of growing.

Beyond technical know-how, your ability to continually sharpening your soft skills—like communicating well, being empathetic, and showing leadership—plays a huge role in successful CSPO work. These skills often set you apart in terms of effective teamwork and positive outcomes.

Scrum Community

As part of what we offer to our Certified Scrum Product Owner training attendees, Mark, along with fellow Certified Scrum Trainers Anil Jaising and Bernie Maloney, have built an online community called “Three Percent Better”. This space is loaded with extra learning materials and is a safe zone for your questions. Bring your challenges to the community, and they’ll give you suggestions for tackling them.

Additional Resources for Scrum Product Owners

We already mentioned the free opportunities under the Resources tab of this website, to earn Scrum Education Units to keep your CSPO certification active. We also just let you in on the secret of the “Three Percent Better” online community to get real life answers, based on experience, for real-life work challenges. But wait, there’s more. We also have what is believed to be the world’s largest online Agile reference library and glossary. If you hit a roadblock, we’ve got nearly two hundred entries chock-full of explanations and links to other articles for deeper dives.

Getting the CSPO certification sets the stage for the Product Owner role, but excelling as a CSPO is a multifaceted endeavor that requires hands-on practice, continuous learning, and skill development. While the certification is a big deal, the real value of being a CSPO shines in your ability to navigate complexities, foster collaboration, and achieve meaningful results in the ever-evolving landscape of Agile product development.