Professional Scrum Master - Advanced

Professional Scrum Master™ - Advanced (PSM-A) course is a 2-day* advanced Scrum Master class designed to support Scrum Masters in their professional development.  (This course was previously called Professional Scrum Master II) The PSM-A course is intended for Scrum Masters with at least one year of experience who are looking to grow their knowledge and abilities as a Scrum Master. This course is one step in that journey. The course also includes a free attempt at the globally recognized Professional Scrum Master II (PSM II) certification exam.

Unlike the Professional Scrum Master (PSM) course which focuses on how to use Scrum, the Scrum framework and the role of the Scrum Master, PSM-A is an advanced course helping students to understand the stances that characterize an effective Scrum Master while diving deep into how they serve the Developers, Product Owner and organization. The course then teaches students about related practices and skills to enable them to have the right types of conversations and how to apply them to become better Scrum Masters.

What You Will Learn

Over the 2 days, students will learn about areas critical to growing as a successful Scrum Master such as how the principles and values of Scrum help guide Scrum Masters in the decisions they make and how the Scrum Master can help change the environment of Scrum Teams, creating an environment for agility to thrive. The Scrum Master accountability is complex and often, a Scrum Master must be able to apply different stances in order to be effective, such as:

• Teacher
• Coach & Mentor
• Facilitator
• Change Agent

As a Scrum Master, being able to identify, and effectively apply, which stance would benefit your team the most depending on the situation or circumstance could prove to be the key to the success of your team.

As a Scrum Master, being able to identify, and effectively apply, which stance would benefit your team the most depending on the situation or circumstance could prove to be the key to the success of your team.

As a Scrum Master, part of your role is to help management and other stakeholders across your organization understand the benefits of Scrum and Agile. Therefore, it is imperative that you have the information and background that is needed to gain credibility in order to be an effective change agent.  Throughout the class, your PST will provide stories, exercises, facilitation techniques (such as “Liberating Structures”), resources and more.

There will also be time in class for the Professional Scrum Trainer (PST) to provide coaching on challenges that you and your classmates may be experiencing today or may in the future.  

Language English, but...

The course will be delivered in English. However, if all participants speak Dutch and agree to conduct the training in Dutch, that option is also available.

Learning objectives

• What practices, tools, skills and stances make an effective Scrum Master
• How the Scrum principles and values help guide Scrum Masters in the decisions they make
• How the Scrum Master acts as a servant-leader and improve their ability in this role
• What the Scrum Master can do to support Developers and Product Owners to become more effective
• Ways that the Scrum Master can help to change the environment making it more conducive for Scrum Teams to be successful with greater agility
• Provide tips and techniques for the Scrum Master to work with the rest of the organization in support of their Scrum Teams
• Improve effects on the organization of a successful Scrum Master
• Dealing with team conflict
• Removing impediments
• Communicating the importance of a "Done" Increment
• How to support the Scrum Team
• Understanding the challenges of middle management

Who Should Attend this class?

The Professional Scrum Master - Advanced course is an advanced course specifically designed for experienced Scrum Masters who have a thorough understanding of the Scrum framework.  It is particularly beneficial for those people with at least one year of Scrum Master experience.

Professional Scrum Master Certification

All participants completing the Professional Scrum Master Advanced course will receive a password to attempt the Professional Scrum Master II (PSM II) assessment.

PSM-A class participants who attempt the PSM II assessment within 14 days of receiving their free password and do not score at least 85% will be granted a 2nd attempt at no additional cost.

Extra feedback on your first assessment

Although this training greatly aids in preparing you for the Professional Scrum Master II (PSM II) assessment, it still is possible that your score may be below 85%. If this happens, you can reach out to the trainer for additional feedback regarding the results of your first attempt, to help you study and succeed on your second attempt.

The trainer - Michel van der Meulen

Organizations hire me to help them find better ways of working that enhance business agility and increase the delivery of business value.

Before becoming a Scrum Master, I worked as a software engineer for over fifteen years, followed by more than ten years as a business analyst. During these years, I realized that we can't predict the future. We can make plans and hope that things will go as expected, but often they don't. Therefore, when making a plan, it's important to consider that everything can change and that a Sense and Respond approach is more effective and actually a natural way of working.

It is my passion to help people and organizations (re)learn this natural way of working. I achieve this by coaching people on the job and, as a Professional Scrum Trainer (PST) at Scrum.org, by teaching (aspiring) Scrum Masters how they can help others rediscover this natural way of working.

What other students say about the trainer

Read more about the trainer and the Trustpilot reviews on his Scrum.org Profile page

Venue information will be published two weeks before the training begins. The location will be easily accessible by car and public transport.