Advanced Certified Scrum Product Owner

Build on the CSPO and Take it to the Next Level

Advanced Certified Scrum Product Owner Logo

The Advanced Certified Scrum Product Owner (A-CSPO) builds on the CSPO and helps experienced practitioners grow their ability to establish and communicate an actionable vision, rapidly test hypotheses, work effectively with stakeholders, and manage the backlog using a host of advanced techniques.

Unlike most of the sessions offered by others, our A-CSPO is 100% live, completely interactive and slide-free. It is delivered online using the tools Mural and Mentimeter. We explore topics through exercises that drive deep discussion and you will learn from the industry’s most experienced CSP-PO Trainer, Arlen Bankston, as well as other advanced attendees. You leave ready to implement techniques the next day.


Your trainer, Arlen Bankston, was one of the first trainers to ever delivery the CSPO, and also one of the first to deliver the A-CSPO. Utilizing his extensive graphic and instructional design background he creates a uniquely entertaining and practical experience. The course uses tools like Mural and Mentimeter in unique ways that many students have commented is interesting in its own respect and keeps them fully engaged from beginning to end.

Arlen’s lengthy career as a founding executive in one of the earliest agile consultancies and the fact that he has filled multiple roles over his training and coaching career means that you’ll enjoy a consistently fresh and open-minded approach to agility that leans on real experience and anecdotes. Finally, Arlen goes to great lengths to help students share with one another, a benefit unique to these most advanced classes.

Student & Company Testimonials

Vetted reviews from class attendees

4.89 - 206 reviews
5.00 - 71 reviews
4.90 - 449 reviews

Arlen Bankston's Testimonials

Key Details

A unique A-CSPO course taught by a highly engaging agile product management expert

Live and Interactive

This live online workshop is based on two and a half decades of lean and agile experience by a lauded entrepreneur and presenter with deep user experience and product management experience.

  • You utilize a variety of custom-built tools and techniques while learning about the mechanisms behind each.
  • You leave ready to use these tools in your own environment.

Engaging and Practical

  • Explore real-world scenarios and case studies
  • Participate in deep simulation and engaging games
  • Hear stories from the instructor’s agile consulting and leadership experience
  • See how tools like the ones used in class can also be used in product development to both create and communicate a vision and the details to get there
  • Leave ready to advance your product development through pragmatic tips and stories from the instructor’s 25 years consulting experience, as well as learning from often equally experienced fellow students.

Deep and Customized

The result is like a private consulting experience, just more fun.

We assesses personal situations and dynamically reorient towards creating practical paths forward for each participant. As such, to get maximum benefit and to receive the certification you should have a minimum of one year’s experience in a product role.

Arlen Bankston

CST | CSP-SM | CSP-PO | CAL | A-CSM | CSM | A-CSPO | CSPO | LSS MB | SAFe SPC5

Arlen Bankston, a pioneering figure in the agile movement, was one of the first to integrate lean systems thinking and user experience practices with agile software development methodologies. His innovative approach has left a lasting impact on the field.

Currently, Arlen is a sought-after coach and trainer, specializing in advanced courses such as the Advanced CSPO, Certified Scrum Professional PO, Certified Scrum Professional - ScrumMaster, Certified Agile Leadership Essentials and Team, as well as custom sessions including the Grow-Lean Remote and Hybrid Work. His expertise extends beyond the realm of software, exploring Lean, Six Sigma, BPM and other process management and systems thinking approaches to provide organizations with a comprehensive perspective.

Arlen's journey in the agile world began with his early involvement in the Scrum Alliance (member number 41) and as one of the first Certified Scrum Trainers . He further expanded his knowledge by becoming a Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt during his six-year tenure leading a Lean-Agile practice. His entrepreneurial spirit led him to co-found the consultancy LitheSpeed, which he successfully led for fifteen years before joining Grow-Lean.

Known for his thought leadership and dynamic, entertaining, and practical training style, Arlen has trained and mentored thousands of ScrumMasters, Product Owners, team members and executives. He designed the Agile Leadership Academy to address the leadership and structural challenges that many successful companies still face.

Arlen's client list spans across every industry and includes notable names such as RBC, Monster, Marriott, NBC Universal, CNBC, NGA, Capital One, T. Rowe Price, Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae and the Armed Forces Benefits Association. His book “HR and the Agile Organization” provides valuable insights on how human resources departments can adapt to support organizations striving for adaptability while enhancing employee engagement and retention.

Session Schedule

Advanced Certified Scrum Product Owner (A-CSPO)

Two 8-hour sessions - Live Online
Trainer: Arlen Bankston

Mon
25
Sep
Tue
26
Sep
USD 1,295
8:00 AM - 4:00 PM (EDT)
USD 895
Live Online / Virtual
valid till 22 Sep
Arlen Bankston
$75 a month
8:00 AM (EDT)
4:00 PM (EDT)
USD 1,295 USD 895
valid till 22 Sep
Two 8-hour sessions - Amsterdam
Trainer: Arlen Bankston

Thu
5
Oct
Fri
6
Oct
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM (CET)
USD 1,675
In-Person
valid till 5 Oct
Arlen Bankston
$140 a month
9:00 AM (CET)
5:00 PM (CET)
€ 1675 EU
valid till 5 Oct
Two 8-hour sessions - Live Online
Trainer: Arlen Bankston

Mon
16
Oct
Tue
17
Oct
USD 1,295
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM (EDT)
USD 895
Live Online / Virtual
valid till 22 Sep
Arlen Bankston
$75 a month
9:00 AM (EDT)
5:00 PM (EDT)
USD 1,295 USD 895
valid till 22 Sep
Three 5-hour sessions - Live Online
Trainer: Arlen Bankston

Mon
23
Oct
Wed
25
Oct
USD 1,295
8:00 AM - 1:00 PM (EDT)
USD 895
Live Online / Virtual
valid till 22 Sep
Arlen Bankston
$75 a month
8:00 AM (EDT)
1:00 PM (EDT)
USD 1,295 USD 895
valid till 22 Sep
Three 5.5-hour sessions - Live Online
Trainer: David Bulkin

Mon
8
Jan
Wed
10
Jan
USD 1,295
12:00 PM - 5:30 PM (EDT)
USD 895
Live Online / Virtual
valid till 7 Oct
David Bulkin
$75 a month
12:00 PM (EDT)
5:30 PM (EDT)
USD 1,295 USD 895
valid till 7 Oct
Want to bring a training to your team or organization?
Contact us to discuss options for private workshops.

Training Discounts

A variety of discounts to fit your situation.

Request your Grow-Lean discount on the class you want. If more than one discount applies explain in your comments.

For Grow-Lean Alumni, log in or use your account email when registering, and receive an automatic discount. If you also qualify for another discount, request it, and as long as your email matches we know you are an alumni.

You can pay in up to 12 installments by choosing Splitit at checkout.

After entering your request you may email us at Grow-Lean-Training@Grow-Lean.Com or call us +1.609.975.9294 for questions.

If you have a Visa or Mastercard credit card you can pay in up to 12 monthly installments. There are no fees or interest if you pay on time! Your available credit must be enough to cover the full cost and there is a hold on your credit card for the amount that you have not paid.

For example, if your final fee is $1,000 and you chose 10 installments:

  • You would pay $100 today and have a $900 hold placed on your credit card.
  • The following month your credit card would be charged another $100 and the hold would be reduced to $800.
  • Each month you pay $100 and each month the hold is reduced by $100.

If you are not familiar with the term "hold" this is similar to what hotels do when you check in, to cover extra expenses you may incur including the mini bar.

The benefit to you is that you do not pay any interest or fees if all payments are on time.

Find Session

Find the session you want on the class list, then click "Discounts" link. Early-bird discounts do not need to be requested.

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Select Discount

Choose the appropriate discount then click the link for it. Not all discounts are available for all sessions.

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Provide the requested information then click "Submit".

Early Bird
Early Bird

Combines With: Everything

Able to register in advance?

Out of Pocket
Out of Pocket

Combines With: Alumni, Early Bird

Paying yourself and won't be reimbursed?

Group
Group

Combines With: Early Bird

Bringing friends or colleagues to one or more sessions?

Alumni
Alumni

Combines With: Early Bird, Hardship, Out of Pocket, Student, Veteran

Get 5% off for each public session, over $500, you took with us, up to 25%.

Hardship
Hardship

Combines With: Early Bird, Alumni

Suffering an economic hardship and able to provide an unemployment notice or separation agreement?

Student
Student

Combines With: Early Bird

Are you a full-time student or educator, with a .edu email address?

Military / Veteran
Military / Veteran

Combines With: Early Bird

Are you active duty military or a veteran?

Have a Visa or Mastercard Credit Card?
Pay in up to 12 installments by choosing Splitit at checkout.
You pay zero interest!

What You Learn

Key learning areas in the Advanced-CSPO

Elevating the PO Role
Make the case for a strong PO with an appropriate amount of authority and autonomy
Engaging Stakeholders
Bringing stakeholders with divergent interests and strong personalities together and helping them align
Scaling Teams and the Product Owner Role
Find effective ways to set up, align and synchronize between teams from a product perspective
Moving Beyond Scrum
Applying ideas and techniques from Lean Startup, Kanban and DevOps
Finding Value
Discovering true needs and testing potentially risky assumptions
Aligning with Legacy
Working with legacy systems and waterfall teams
Applying DevOps
Applying CI/CD to get to market frequently and drive learning loops
Dealing with Change
Working efficiently with frequent priority changes by businesses and stakeholders
Roadmapping with Agility
Planning out several years into the future while remaining agile
Measuring and Reporting
Creating transparency into progress with minimal overhead in an engaging fashion
Executing with Excellence
Designing and facilitating more effective Scrum events and activities like planning, reviews and backlog refinement
Using Collaborative Modeling
Increase trust, speed and product quality with collaborative modeling
Don't let your voice get drowned-out in a large 50 person class.
Choose Grow-Lean for a small class, personal experience, where you voice is heard?

Why Choose This Session?

Because you get deep, real learning in an interactive environment.

  • Get Arlen Bankston one of the longest tenured agile trainers.
  • Receive the best value in advanced Scrum Alliance training.
  • Participate in deep discussions.
  • Benefit from a 100% live session (beware of offline variants).
  • Learn from case studies and real-life examples.
  • Everything covered with no hidden cost.
  • Receive meaningful answers to questions.
  • Have fun and enjoy the session.

Why Choose Grow-Lean?

Longest tenured trainers, smaller classes and higher quality.

  • Small group of elite, experienced, practical agile trainers.
  • The highest quality for a fair price.
  • Caring customer support before and after training.
  • Interactive class experience.
  • Everything is included. No hidden fees!
  • Trainers are actual practitioners. Don't trust talking heads!
  • Unique training material, templates and approaches.
  • Small class size so you get personal attention.

What You Get

Everything you need to complete the Path to CSP-SM.

Live On-Line Training
Fully live and interactive. Many other classes use canned videos. You can use YouTube for that!
Certification Fees
All fees to get you certified are covered. There are no additional or surprise charges.
A-CSPO Certification
Advanced Certified Scrum Product Owner (A-CSPO) Certification which is good for two years.
CSPO Renewal
All of your other Scrum Alliance certs, including the CPSO are renewed for two years. No need to pay any additional fees to the Scrum Alliance and no need to collect and record SEUs.
One Free Class Retake
Hear perspectives from new classmates. Retake a A-CSPO for free within 120 days as long as we continue to deliver this session.
Two Year Scrum Alliance Membership
You receive a two-year membership with the Scrum Alliance which gives you access to member-only content and discounted access to Scrum Gathering events.
Alumni Discount
Take one training of $500 or more and get 5% off, two get 10% off, three get 15%, all the way up to 25% off.
16 PMI PDUs
Get 16 Project Management Institute (PMI) Professional Development Units (PDUs) to help meet your PMI continuing education requirements.

Earning Your Certification

The Advanced Certified Scrum Product Owner (A-CSPO)

Advanced Certified Scrum Product Owner Logo

At present there is no examination required to achieve the Advanced Certified Scrum Product Owner (A-CSPO) Certification. Taking the session earns your A-CSPO if you meet the requirements outlined below.

  • Attend at least 14 hours of class time.
  • Have a Scrum Alliance® CSPO Certification.
  • Can validate at least 12 months in the role of a Product Owner, or PO Coach over the last five years.

The advanced certification will differentiate you, but more importantly the deep learning will allow you to interview with confidence and apply advanced techniques in the work place.

The A-CSPO also allows you to pursue Certified Scrum Professional Product Owner (CSP-PO) certification, which completes the Path to CSP.

Upgrade and Expand Your Agile Toolbox

Go beyond basic and often misused agile tools.

The Product Owner role is both the most difficult and most poorly understood in the annals of agility, but there are plenty of tried-and-true ways to deal with the difficulties that you face. We have years of creative problem solving ready to bring to bear on your issues and guarantee that you will walk away with some fresh new tools and ideas.

What's most important?
What’s most important: building a new feature, making it better, or keeping your system secure?

This is a trick question. They’re all important, but for different reasons, and require different information to order properly. Making it even more difficult some items fit with, or depend on, others, making prioritization even more difficult. We’ll show you how to balance innovation, iteration and operation work at both a strategic road-map and tactical sprint level, prioritizing each using situationally specific tools.
Unplanned changes in the Sprint?

How do you deal with unplanned mid-Sprint changes?

We’ll practice several techniques from the lean and product management communities for dealing fluidly and systematically with emergency and unplanned work. We’ll also help you prepare for fixed date deliveries, ensure the team has appropriate time to deal with technical debt and process improvements, and show how to avoid both over- and under-committing within the sprint.

Is your Sprint Review a status meeting?

Does your Sprint Review fail as a true product feedback loop and put participants to sleep?

It doesn’t have to be this way. Learn some unique tricks for bringing interactivity, life and practical worth to a session that often functions as little more than a status check to turn it into a session where we align and adjust future plans. You will also learn patterns for running large-scale reviews with many interdependent teams.

Practice Quizzes?

There is no exam, but the quizzes reinforce learnings

There is no exam for your certification, but you can still get significant benefit from our practice quizzes as they help ensure you know the basics so your classroom experience can focus on the big picture.

  • The practice quizzes are active learning that increases retention.
  • They apply what cognitive science calls retrieval practice.
  • Retrieval practice makes learning challenging which helps you remember the material.

If you have time prior to the session use them as a refresher. Or perhaps, during the session you notice some weak spots and review the quizzes post class to fill in the knowledge gaps.