Professional Scrum Product Backlog Management Skills™
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Professional Scrum Product Backlog Management Skills™
This course is part of Professional Scrum Product Ownership Specialization
Instructor: Scrum.org
Included with
Recommended experience
Recommended experience
What you'll learn
Students develop and improve their methods for managing a Product Backlog
Students will get hands-on experience with refinement techniques such as decomposing and slicing Product Backlog items
Identify how to use AI to assist Product Backlog management
Skills you'll gain
- Product Management
- Business Priorities
- Scrum (Software Development)
- Business Planning
- Business Analysis
- Stakeholder Communications
- Business Requirements
- Stakeholder Engagement
- Backlogs
- Prioritization
- Agile Product Development
- Agile Methodology
- Agile Project Management
- Customer Insights
- Agile Software Development
- User Story
- Stakeholder Management
- AI Enablement
- Critical Thinking and Problem Solving
Tools you'll learn
Details to know
May 2026
5 assignments
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There are 5 modules in this course
Developed by Scrum.org, the self-paced Professional Scrum Product Backlog Management Skills™ interactive course is designed for Product Owners, Scrum Masters, product managers, and business analysts looking to sharpen their ability to manage an effective Product Backlog. This course provides practical techniques and methods for creating, refining, and ordering a Product Backlog that makes transparent what is most valuable for the Scrum Team to work on.
Through an optimized mix of reading, videos, quizzes, and interactive activities, students will develop hands-on experience with refinement techniques such as decomposing and slicing Product Backlog items. Participants will learn how to connect Product Goals to the work being done, engage stakeholders effectively, and use empiricism as a competitive advantage. The course also explores how AI can complement modern Product Backlog management practices. This course is an invaluable resource for preparing for the Professional Scrum Product Backlog Management Skills™ certification and serves as excellent pre-learning for more advanced courses, making it a highly practical step in your professional development.
In this module, you will be introduced to foundational knowledge about the Product Backlog. You will also learn about the Product Owner’s accountability to the Product Backlog within the Scrum framework and how the Product Backlog supports empiricism.
What's included
6 readings1 assignment
6 readings•Total 21 minutes
- What is a Product Backlog?•5 minutes
- The Product Goal•5 minutes
- Product Backlog Items•4 minutes
- The Product Owner's Accountability•4 minutes
- A Dynamic Backlog Supports Empiricism•2 minutes
- Module 1 Resources•1 minute
1 assignment•Total 10 minutes
- Module 1 Checkpoint•10 minutes
In this module, you will dive into how both the Product Goal and Product Backlog items must be transparent and how they are critical to creating and maintaining an effective Product Backlog.
What's included
1 video8 readings1 assignment
1 video•Total 4 minutes
- Expressing Product Backlog Items as Problems to Be Solved•4 minutes
8 readings•Total 56 minutes
- Effective Product Goals•10 minutes
- Effective Product Goal Templates•5 minutes
- Product Backlog Items as Units of Value•5 minutes
- Product Backlog Item Attributes (Includes Exercise)•10 minutes
- Product Backlog Item Templates•10 minutes
- Critiquing a Product Backlog Exercise•10 minutes
- Tips for Forming the Product Backlog•3 minutes
- Module 2 Final Thoughts and Resources•3 minutes
1 assignment•Total 10 minutes
- Module 2 Checkpoint•10 minutes
The act of improving and further defining Product Backlogs items is called refinement. In this module, you will explore different Product Backlog refinement techniques like sizing and splitting items to help you manage your Product Backlog.
What's included
18 readings2 assignments
18 readings•Total 77 minutes
- Product Backlog Refinement•10 minutes
- Product Backlog Items Will Evolve•5 minutes
- Splitting Product Backlog Items•3 minutes
- Splitting by Acceptance Criteria•3 minutes
- Splitting by User•2 minutes
- Splitting by User Steps•3 minutes
- Splitting by Business Rules•2 minutes
- Other Splitting Strategies•1 minute
- Levels of Decomposition•7 minutes
- Sizing Product Backlog Items•4 minutes
- Sizing Collaboratively•7 minutes
- Product Backlog Ordering•1 minute
- Introduction to Product Backlog Ordering Techniques•2 minutes
- Evaluate Competing Items with Thirty-Five•5 minutes
- Evaluate Customer Expectations with the Kano Model (Includes Exercise)•12 minutes
- Consider Value and Risk (Includes Exercise)•5 minutes
- Create and Evaluate Product Backlog Items with INVEST•2 minutes
- Module 3 Final Thoughts and Resources•3 minutes
2 assignments•Total 12 minutes
- Module 3 Checkpoint•10 minutes
- Which way to split? •2 minutes
In this module, we build on the foundation of Product Backlog transparency to explore what it takes to make collaboration between the Scrum Team and its stakeholders truly effective. Stakeholder collaboration can be challenging for many reasons, such as conflicting priorities, unclear expectations, and limited engagement. Successful stakeholder collaboration occurs when there is effective communication between the Scrum Team and its stakeholders, allowing stakeholders to provide their input, expectations, and concerns. Regular and open interactions help foster a transparent environment and minimize surprises and interruptions. While ideal, this is easier said than done.
What's included
2 videos10 readings1 assignment
2 videos•Total 4 minutes
- What is a Stakeholder•2 minutes
- Overcoming Four Common Challenges with Stakeholders•3 minutes
10 readings•Total 55 minutes
- Collaborating with Stakeholders•5 minutes
- Stakeholder Mapping•10 minutes
- Engaging Stakeholders Exercise•4 minutes
- Creating Transparency with the Product Backlog (Video and Exercise)•12 minutes
- Roadmapping (Includes Exercise)•5 minutes
- Forecasting•4 minutes
- Unmanageable Product Backlogs•5 minutes
- Tying it Back to Value Exercise•4 minutes
- Questions to Keep the Product Backlog Transparent•3 minutes
- Module 4 Final Thoughts and Resources•3 minutes
1 assignment•Total 10 minutes
- Module 4 Checkpoint•10 minutes
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is transforming the way people work, make decisions, and manage complex processes. In this module, we introduce areas in Product Backlog management where you can experiment with AI to complement the techniques we have already covered in the course. This includes examples, sample prompts, tips, and things to avoid. This “bonus” module is different from the previous ones in this course. To make the most of your learning, you will need to access and use an AI tool (there are many freely available that you can research and try), so that you can test the concepts we share.
What's included
7 readings
7 readings•Total 78 minutes
- Exercise: Create and Refine Product Goals Based on a Product Vision with AI•15 minutes
- Exercise: Create Product Backlog Items for a Product Goal with AI•15 minutes
- Exercise: Order the Product Backlog with AI•15 minutes
- Exercise: Split Product Backlog items with AI•15 minutes
- Exercise: Create Transparency for Stakeholders with AI•15 minutes
- Final Thoughts about AI: The Importance of the Human Element•2 minutes
- Moving Forward•1 minute
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