SAFe® Product Owner/Product Manager (POPM) – Including Exam

Who Is This Certification For?

The SAFe Product Owner/Product Manager (POPM) certification course is for anyone involved in defining, delivering, or managing products in a SAFe environment. If you’re responsible for setting product direction, prioritizing features, or working with agile teams to bring customer-focused solutions to life, this course will give you the skills and structure for success in a SAFe organization.

Project Managers

Scrum Masters

Business Analysts

Product Owners

Product Managers

Program Managers

What You Will Learn:

• Role & Responsibilities for Product Owners & Product Managers - Learn how to complete the day-to-day responsibilities of a SAFe Product Owner or Product Manager, including backlog ownership, forecasting, and management of risks and dependencies.
• Product Delivery - Use lean-agile thinking and customer-centricity to define, prioritize, and deliver features and stories that can be built, tested, and delivered quickly.
• Lead and Support PI Planning - Understand how to prepare for and lead PI planning, aligning vision and roadmaps with business goals while working with teams to establish clear PI objectives.
• AI Skills for Modern Product Roles - Learn practical techniques to apply AI in backlog refinement, prioritization, feature discovery, and customer connection while using responsible AI practices.

Module 1: Exploring Product Owner and Product Management Roles and Responsibilities

• Introducing SAFe® for Product Owners and Product Management.
  • Product Owner (PO) Areas of Responsibility.
  • Product Management Areas of Responsibility.
• Lean-Agile Mindset.
  • Embrace the Lean-Agile Mindset.
  • Agile Manifesto Principles.
  • SAFe®Lean-Agile Principles.
• Value Streams.
  • What is a Value Stream?
  • Operational Value Streams.
  • Development Value Streams.
  • What is a Solution?
  • Operational Value Streams for TTC.
  • What is an Agile Release Train (ART)?
  • What is an Agile Team?
  • Areas of Responsibility of the Agile Team.
• Responsibilities of Product Owners and Product Management.
  • Product Management, PO, and Agile Team Partner.
  • PO Areas of Responsibility.
  • Connecting with the Customer.
  • Contributing to the Vision and Roadmap.
  • Managing and Prioritising Team Backlog.
  • Supporting the Team in Value Delivery.
  • Getting and Applying Feedback.

Module 2: Preparing for PI Planning

• PI Planning.
  • What is a Planning Interval (PI)?
  • What is PI Planning?
  • POs and Product Management are Essential to PI Planning.
  • Benefits of PI Planning.
• Solution Vision.
  • What is a Solution Vision?
  • Influence of Strategic Themes.
  • Express the Future State as a Vision.
• Solution and PI Roadmaps.
  • Market Dynamics Influence Solution and PI Roadmaps.
  • Market Rhythms are Cyclical and Predictable.
• Customer-Centric Features.
  • Summary of SAFe®Requirements.
  • Creating Epics to Fulfil the Vision.
  • Personas Help Understand Customers.
  • Relative Estimating.
  • Features are Implemented by Stories.
• ART Backlog and Kanban.
  • Features are Managed Through the ART Backlog.
  • Partner with System Architects.
  • Capacity Allocation.
  • Kanban Summarised.
  • Prioritise Features for Optimal ROI.
  • Prioritisation Anti-Patterns.
  • Components of Cost of Delay.
  • Calculate WSJF with Relative Estimating.

Module 3: Leading PI Planning

• Communicate the Vision.
  • What POs and Product Management Do During PI Planning?
  • Communicate the Vision.
  • Communicate the PI Roadmap.
  • PI Roadmap for the TTC Van Program.
  • Support Team Breakouts.
• Establish PI Objectives.
  • PI Objectives.
  • Why Do We Use PI Objectives?
  • Distinguish Features from PI Objectives.
  • Tips for Writing Effective Team PI Objectives.
  • Create Alignment with PI Objectives.
  • Maintain Predictability with Uncommitted Objectives.
  • Considerations When Assigning Business Value.
• Manage Dependencies.
  • Using an ART Planning Board to Visualise Work.
  • Strategies for Managing Dependencies.
  • PI Planning Can Reveal Opportunities to Release Value Sooner.
• Manage Risks.
  • Types of Risks.
  • Building the Final Plan.
  • Addressing ART PI Risks.
  • Confidence Vote.

Module 4: Executing Iterations

• Stories and Story Maps.
  • Features are Split into Stories.
  • What are Stories?
  • When is a Story Complete?
  • Use Story Maps to Capture Workflows.
  • Integrating User Experience and Interface Design.
• Iteration Planning.
  • Product Owners Lead Iteration Planning.
  • Sequencing Stories.
  • Iteration Planning Agenda.
  • Establishing Capacity.
  • Capacity Allocation for a Healthy Balance.
  • Using Velocity to Establish Capacity.
  • Estimate Stories with Relative Story Points.
  • Iteration Goals.
  • Tips for Effective Iteration Planning.
• Team Kanban.
  • Team Kanban Promotes Collaboration and Facilitates Flow.
  • POs and the Team Sync.
  • Backlog Refinement.
• Tips for Effective Backlog Refinement.
• Iteration Review and Iteration Retrospective.
  • Iteration Review.
  • Iteration Review guidelines.
  • Scalable Definition of Done.
  • Relentless Improvement.
  • Iteration Retrospective.
• DevOps and Release on Demand.
  • Building the Continuous Delivery Pipeline with DevOps.
  • Continuous Exploration (CE) – Understand Customer Needs.
  • Continuous Integration (CI) – A Critical Technical Practice of the ART.
  • Continuous Deployment (CD) – Getting to Production Early.
  • Decouple Release Elements from the Total Solution.

Module 5: Executing the PI

• Product Owner (PO) Sync.
  • PO Sync helps ARTs Respond to Change.
• System Demo.
• Innovation and Planning Iteration.
  • SAFe®Core Values.
  • Innovation and Planning (IP) Iteration.
  • IP Iteration.
  • Organise a Hackathon.
  • Organise a Supplier Showcase.
  • Spikes.
• Inspect and Adapt.
  • Improve Results.
  • PI System Demo.
  • Review Relevant Metrics.
  • Competency Assessments.
  • Flow Metrics.
  • Eight Flow Accelerators.
  • Program Performance Reporting.
  • Measure ART Predictability.
  • Team Performance Assessment.
  • Program Performance Metrics.

Module 6: Practicing SAFe®

• SAFe® Toolkits.
• Community Video Hub.
• Online Learning Resources.
• SAFe® Collaborate.
• SAFe® Assessments.
• SAFe® Forums.

All are welcome to attend the course, regardless of experience. However, the following prerequisites are highly recommended:

• Attend a Leading SAFe® course
• Experience working in a SAFe environment
• Experience with Lean, Agile, or other relevant certifications

After completing the course, you’ll be eligible to take the SAFe Product Owner/Product Manager exam. Passing the exam earns you a recognized certification and shows that you’re ready to support value delivery at scale as a PO or PM in a SAFe organization.

Certification Process Includes:

• Perpetual access to course workbook and online learning platform for additional preparation.
• An unlimited attempt practice test with question-level feedback and coaching report that acts as a simulation and study tool.
• Customer support for learning and certification questions.
• A timed, multiple-choice, 45-question exam with a coaching report.