Advanced Professional Scrum Master (PSM-II) Certification

Scrum is a framework that highlights the problems with existing processes within an organization. It creates ample transparency so that people can Inspect and Adapt for improvements.

• How Scrum Master creates an environment where Scrum Teams thrive.
• How Scrum Master facilitates discussions with rest of the organization that do not impede the Scrum Team.
• How Scrum Master will help the organization to adopt to Scrum to deliver business impact.

Most of the Product Development happens in the complex domain. Typical, traditional, predictive management/leadership styles impede creativity of individuals which is necessary to find solutions to complex problems.

• Scrum Master’s contribution as a Servant Leader
• How to implement Scrum and empirical process to address complex problems.

Any group of people has to go through a journey before it becomes a team. Often this journey is explained using the Tuckmans model. However, when there are people with different skills, experience, opinions and backgrounds, some conflict is deemed to happen.

• The different levels of conflict
• What is the role of Scrum Master in dealing with conflicts at each level
• How can Scrum Master help team navigate through conflicts to deliver business results.

Scrum Guide states that the Scrum Master is accountable for improving the effectiveness of the Scrum Team. The Scrum Master does so by removing any impediments that hinder the growth of the team.

• What are the impediments?
• Which impediments the Scrum Master should remove and which to leave for the Scrum Team to take care.
• How not to become a bottleneck for the Scrum Team.

One important skill that the Scrum Master has to have is facilitation. There are numerous situations where team gets stuck such as business problem, technical solution or even a conflict. A Scrum Master has to help the team to get past that by effective facilitation.

• What are different facilitation techniques
• Liberating Structures

If Scrum is to be reduced to one and only one purpose then it would be to create a “Done” increment. It is not enough to have a “Done” increment every few sprints.

• What makes an increment “Done”.
• What can help teams identify their Definition of “Done”.
• How Scrum Master facilitates creation of “Done” Increments.

Often, Scrum Team members keep working on individual tasks without having any clarity “WHY” they are doing “WHAT” they are doing, throughout the Sprint.

• What Sprint Goal is?
• How is commitment associated with Sprint Goal.
• Scrum Master’s role in facilitating creation of meaningful Sprint Goals.

Every Scrum event is an opportunity to Inspect and Adapt. However, in the long run they turn out to be just motions done to meet some requirements of the framework without any real Inspection and Adaption happening.

• To bring the focus back on the purpose of event.
• Use facilitation techniques to make the events more meaningful.

Scrum Guide does not specifically calls out management or management roles within Scrum. But management is needed for an organization. So how is management handled with Scrum?

• Distribution of management in Scrum
• Self-managing team
• How Scrum Master creates an environment for self-management.

Scrum does not solve your problems, it only makes visible the current efficacy of your system. How do we ensure successful product delivery when the current system is inefficient? And what do we really mean by successful product delivery?

• What it means to deliver a successful product.
• How can Scrum Masters help Product Owners to deliver successful products.
• Helping PO and Developers to embrace complexity and uncertainty of product development.
• Facilitating the use of empirical approach for successful product delivery.

What gets measured can be improved. However, not everything that can be measured, matters. As a Scrum Masters, knowing what metrics and measurements makes sense to growth of team is really important.

• Measuring the success of Scrum
• Outcomes vs Outputs
• Focus on value

One service that Scrum Master provides is towards the Product Owner. Product Owners are often limited by their availability for the Scrum Team or their understanding of the empirical approach to product development.

• Helping Product Owners to embrace empirical product development
• Help Product Owner to manage Product Backlog
• Support Product Owner to deliver business value.

Management within an organization has its own challenges while adopting agile/Scrum. They often don’t see their place in any of these frameworks, which results in fear and anxiety; thus not enough support for implementing Scrum.

• To help management see their role in Scrum adoption
• Understand their needs, challenges and pains
• Help them understand which parts of their role can be shared within the Scrum Team accountabilities.

One important aspect of Scrum Master role is to be the torch bearer for change within an organization. Scrum Master has to inculcate habits and behaviors that would enable the organization to thrive in a complex environment.

• How to promote a Scrum-friendly culture
• Levels of impediments and removing impediments in the way of change.
• Different levels where Scrum Master can operate as a change agent.