10 Tips for Passing the New PSPO II Certification Exam from Scrum.org

Back in November 2019 Scrum.org launched a new certification exam for PSPO II, with the previously-existing PSPO II being migrated to PSPO III – you can read more about the migration by visiting this page. The new PSPO II certification exam is less difficult than PSPO III, but certainly more challenging than PSPO I.

I recently passed the PSPO II exam from Scrum.org, and then I started to get more and more inquiries about tips and tricks on how to pass the exam – preferably with a high score 🙂

Mikhail suggested that I put together a list of resources that helped me study, hoping to make it easier for others to prep for the exam.

Here is the result – my 10 tips for How to Pass the Professional Scrum Product Owner II certification exam.

Tip #1 – Start with the basics: get familiar with the certification requirements

If you are interested in taking the PSPO II exam it means that you’ve already passed the PSPO I exam and are familiar with Scrum.org and the exam conditions. All you need to know now are the specifics of the PSPO II exam.

Similar to the PSPO I, in order to pass you need a minimum score of 85%. The difference is that for PSPO II you only get 40 questions in 1 hour. That’s almost 1.5 minutes per question, which is double compared to the PSPO I exam. Don’t get too excited about all that extra time, because the questions are quite difficult and challenging if you have little or no experience in working as a Product Owner. So use the time you have to carefully read the questions and pick the correct answer. If one questions seems too difficult to answer on the spot, just write down the question number and get back to it later. Make sure not to leave questions unanswered when the time expires, and foremost: pay attention to the ‘select all that apply’ kind of questions as they are quite tricky.

Tip #2 – It’s about more than just the Scrum Guide

Scrum.org has plenty of useful resources and guides that were put together to help you prepare for the PSPO II certification. You’ve probably already read the Scrum Guide and the Nexus Guide during your preparation for the PSPO I exam. Re-read them carefully. Understand the concept of Scaling Scrum and how the Nexus Guide can help you.

The Evidence-Based Management Guide is also a very good resource that will help you understand how a Product Owner measures business value and uses empiricism to make decisions.

Last but not least, read the Kanban Guide for Scrum Teams. It provides insights on how to use Kanban practices in addition to the implementation of the Scrum Framework to achieve better results in product development.

Tip #3 – Check out the Product Owner learning path from Scrum.org

Re-read the resources that are listed in the Product Owner Learning Path which you already went through during your preparation for the PSPO I exam. This time make sure to focus on the two competencies that are emphasized in the PSPO II: Managing Products with Agility and Evolving the Agile Organization.

Tip #4 – Keep calm and read on

As I mentioned previously, the PSPO II exam questions are more difficult than the PSPO I exam and you will need a solid preparation in order to pass. I highly recommend The Professional Scrum Product Owner by Don McGreal and Ralph Jocham as it is an excellent reading not only for those who are interested in passing the exam but also for people who are just looking to improve their understanding and practice skills of Product Ownership.

Here is the list of suggested books that helped me throughout my preparation journey:

• The Professional Scrum Product Owner, by Don McGreal and Ralph Jocham – I cannot stress what a great reading this is. It’s full of real-world examples provided by the authors so you can better understand the concepts from the book. Definitely a must read!
• Scrum – A Pocket Guide: A Smart Travel Companion, by Gunther Verheyen – I first read this book while preparing for the PSM II exam. I went through it again when studying for the PSPO II and still found that I had previously skipped on multiple nuances because of the change in perspective. Reading it from a Product Owner perspective is not the same as reading from the Scrum Master perspective. As the name suggests (‘a pocket guide’) it’s a quick reading but also a valuable resource.
• Nexus Framework for Scaling Scrum, by Kurt Bittner – my go-to for a better understanding of the concept and the Product Owner’s role in Scaled Scrum.

Tip #5 – There’s more to a Product Owner Role than the basic definition from the Scrum Guide

Source: The Professional Scrum Product Owner by Don McGreal and Ralph Jocham

Don McGreal and Ralph Jocham have put it very nicely in The Professional Scrum Product Owner:

“The world of product management is a lot bigger than Scrum […] A Product Owner is one of the three Scrum Roles. Although most product management activities are not part of the Scrum Framework […] a good Product Owner will take them on […].”

Let me translate that, in case it’s not clear: go beyond how the Scrum Guide describes the Product Owner Role and understand the multiple product management activities that a Product Owner should take on in order to increase the chances of delivering a valuable product to the customers. Below is just a sneak peek.

Source: The Professional Scrum Product Owner by Don McGreal and Ralph Jocham

Tip #6 – Understand the stances of a Product Owner: preferred or misunderstood

Scrum.org contributors published a series of blog posts describing the multiple stances of a Product Owner with emphasis on the preferred and the misunderstood ones. In summary, they’ve interviewed a lot of Product Owners and came up with a list of behaviors that most of them shared. See the full list below.

The Preferred Product Owner Stances

• The Visionary
• The Customer Representative
• The Decision Maker
• The Collaborator
• The Influencer
• The Experimenter

The Misunderstood Product Owner Stances

• The Story Writer
• The Subject Matter Expert
• The Gatekeeper
• The Project Manager
• The Manager
• The Clerk

The PSPO II exam will test your understanding of how a Product Owner who takes on a certain stance will think and make decisions. It will not ask direct questions about a specific behavior related to one stance or the other, but will rather give you some context and then ask how you (as a Product Owner who took on one stance) will act upon a given situation. Do not learn the stances by heart, try to understand the mindset behind each one.

Tip #7 – Tips, tips and more tips

Also from the Scrum.org contributors: another great series of articles with tips for a great Product Owner. This guy wrote these articles to help you become a better Product Owner and pass the exam. It’s a quick read and my advice is to not just skim through them but rather understand the ‘why’ behind each of the tips:

• Tips for Agile Product Management
• Tips for (Product) Vision
• Tips for Value
• Tips for Stakeholder Management
• Tips for Scrum Framework
• Tips for Product Backlog Management
• Tips for Release Planning
• Tips for Agile product roadmaps

Read and understand these tips and you’ll already be able to answer some of the questions from the PSPO II exam.

Tip #8 – Practice makes it perfect

Best way to practice? By taking practice tests. Below is a list of assessments that you can take to validate your learning before going forward with taking the actual exam:

Take the Open Assessments from Scrum.org:

• Scrum Open
• Product Owner Open
• Nexus Open
• Agile Measurement Open

Take Mikhail’s preparation quizzes:

• PSM I Preparation Quiz
• PSPO I Preparation Quiz
• Scaled Scrum Preparation Quiz

Take the PSPO II Practice Assessment from TheScrumMaster.co.uk. It consists of 10 difficult questions that Simon has put together to help you prepare for the exam. Note that at the end of the assessment you do not get explanations for the correct/incorrect answers. My advice to you is to try to find the answers yourself among the resources that I’ve provided. This is the best way to learn.

Take the Practice Tests from this Udemy course. The questions are similar in difficulty to the ones from the exam and I trust will help you validate your learning.

Tip #9 – Get some training

Scrum.org has recently launched the PSPO-A class. Here you will find the description of the two-day event. I did not personally attend but I noticed that they’ve gotten great reviews from the attendees. Note that, as they also mentioned in the description page, this event alone is not enough for you to be able to pass the PSPO II exam. I hate to disappoint you but you still have to study 🙂

Tip #10 – Watch out for the terminology

I found this article which I believe can be really helpful during the preparation. There are a lot of soft nuances that you might miss while reading the questions from the exam, especially if you are not a native english speaker.

This tip is not dedicated only to non-native speakers, as the examples that are included in the article are helpful to know what to look for in questions. Some of the questions can be answered just by understanding the meaning of those terms and the differences between each pair of two.

Bonus Tip – #11 Measure your progress

I highly recommend that you start with taking the Practice Tests. Don’t look at the answers and write down your scores for each Practice Test. Then go through the study resources and then go back and take the Practice Tests again.

Write down your scores one more time and see how you are compared to the first set of scores. Then go back to studying and back to taking the Practice Tests.

I think that this approach will help you better understand what to look for during your study session. For example, if there are questions from the Agile Measurement Open Assessment that you missed the first time, I guarantee that the correct answers/information that can lead to the correct answer will catch your eye when you go through the Evidence-Based Management Guide.

These are my tips, I hope you find this post helpful for your preparation to become a certified Professional Scrum Product Owner II.

Good luck!