Professional Scrum Master™ - Advanced Training
An Advanced Scrum Master Class
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.
Course Overview
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 role is complex and often, a Scrum Master must be able to apply different stances in order to be effective, such as:
- The Scrum Master as a Teacher
- The Scrum Master as a Coach & Mentor
- The Scrum Master as a Facilitator
- The Scrum Master as a 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, 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.
View the different Focus Areas covered within this class and others.
* When offered in-person, this course is generally delivered over two consecutive days. When offered as a Live Virtual Class, the course may be broken up into more, shorter days.
Course 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 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 II 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.
You are also entitled to a 40% discount on the PSM III assessment. These industry-recognized PSM certifications require a minimum passing score.
Take a Professional Scrum Class
Everyone has different needs when it comes to finding a training course, whether you are looking for something introductory, specific to your role or a more advanced topic, we invite you to explore and find a class that fits your professional needs or the needs of your team or organization. Whether you prefer to learn in person, virtually, or in a private setting with others from your organization, there are multiple options for attending Scrum.org training classes. Explore these options and learn the differences.
Search the schedule of upcoming classes to find the perfect one to meets your needs or search our list of Professional Scrum Trainers to schedule a private class for your team or organization.
What Professional Scrum Master - Advanced Students Say
You can also read more about our PSM-A student surveys and their feedback.
Why Scrum.org
Scrum.org training provides a hands-on, activity-based learning experience using a consistent set of materials around the world no matter which of our Professional Scrum Trainers (PSTs) is teaching the course. Each course explores real-world challenges to help students apply what they learn in their roles once back at work.
The maintenance of Scrum.org courseware is based on feedback from the overall PST community who are delivering each class. They all teach from the same content, bringing great consistency, but also feedback from the real-world to drive incremental improvements and high quality.
On their path to becoming a PST, they must have several years of Scrum experience. Once PST candidates apply, they then go through an extensive process that includes: interviews, validation of knowledge, training, peer reviews and more.
PSTs bring their own style and experiences with a consistent delivery of Scrum.org training around the world, so you know each course we teach is aligned with Professional Scrum, and all of your teammates are learning from the same course materials.
Find out more about what makes Scrum.org different.
PMI PDU Credits
Students of Scrum.org courses are able to claim Project Management Institute (PMI) PDU credit: 14 PDUs after attending a two-day Professional Scrum Master - Advanced (PSM-A) course. Please note that PMI PDUs are earned for course attendance and not for passing a Scrum.org assessment. Students can claim PDUs under PMI's "Education courses provided by other third party providers” category. You can claim your PDUs online at https://ccrs.pmi.org. Find instructions here.
Download Information
You can download the datasheet about the Professional Scrum Master - Advanced course to learn more and share with others.