How to pass Professional Scrum Master I(PSM I)Certification

One of the most sought certifications in the Agile industry for Scrum Masters is Professional Scrum Master I (PSM I). The certification is offered by Scrum.org — The Home of Scrum. A foundational certification in the field of Scrum Mastery.

There are three levels of Professional Scrum Master Certifications Scrum.org offers. The other two are Advanced (PSM-II) and Distinguished (PSM-III) level certifications. There is no definitive order that you have to go. One can directly appear for PSM-III if they have a deep understanding of Scrum.

As the name suggests, “Professional” — One must exhibit a high standard of understanding in Scrum to gain this certification. PSM I demand an understanding of Scrum, as mentioned in the PSM training online Guide and it tests the consistency in using Scrum.

In this blog, I am going to cover the

·       Ways to get Professional Scrum Master Certified

·       Assessment areas

·       Learning references

·       Tips to crack the exam

Ways to get Professional Scrum Master I (PSM I) Certified

Scrum org offers two paths to PSM I Certification — Training with exam & Exam (Direct).

Training

Training for PSM I are offered

·       By Professional Scrum Trainers accredited by Scrum dot org after a rigorous assessment of depth in Scrum knowledge and Scrum Mastery experience.

·       By Professional Training Networks (PTN) — Recognised training partners of Scrum dot org in collaboration with Professional Scrum Trainers.

As part of the training, a candidate gets two attempts at PSM I exam.

Note: Beware of the bait that few people in the industry claim to take Scrum workshops to help get PSM. Go with Authenticity.

Direct Exam

One can directly buy a password from the Scrum dot org store by paying $150. The password is valid for only one attempt.

PSM I Assessment Areas

The foundational level, Professional Scrum Master (PSM I), assess a candidate’s basic understanding of the below areas.

Scrum Framework Understanding & its Application

·       Empiricism

·       Scrum Values

·       Scrum Team

·       Events

·       Artifacts

·       Done

Enabling Teams

·       Self-managed teams

·       Facilitation

·       Coaching & Mentoring

Agility in Product using Scrum

·       Product Value

·       Product Backlog Management

·       Stakeholders & Customers

·       Forecasting & Release Planning

Learning References

In my humble opinion, attending a Professional Scrum Master Workshop gives one well-rounded knowledge in all the above areas.

Apart from the class, use the below references.

·       Reading & the Scrum Guide is of utmost importance. Do not stop just by reading it. Use your learning preference to annotate it or digest it.

·       Finish the learning path for Scrum Master in the Scrum dot org

·       Reading references in Scrum dot org

·       Scrum Framework Foundational videos

·       Scrum Myths busted

·       True Leader

·       Whitepaper — Scrum Master Stages

·       Forever Scrum Master

·       Scrum Master & Product Owner — Same Person?

·       Product Goal — A commitment

·       A-Z with Scrum

Tips to crack the exam

Let us start with the Assessment,

·       The assessment is of 80 Multiple Choices questions. And the time limit is 60 minutes. One has to get 68 questions right to achieve the pass percentage, 85%.

·       Bookmark questions to revisit. One may run out of time if more time is spent on a single question.

·       Utilise the Scrum Open Assessment to get yourself confident with the format of the main exam. The open assessments are free. Take it as many times as possible to get familiarised. The open assessments provide feedback for every question at the end.

·       Take the assessment in a calm place where one can have the utmost focus.

·       Be sure to have a good internet connection as well. Do not close the browser at any cost; the attempt will be lost.

·       For technical glitches, reach out to Scrum dot org support.

Learning Tips

·       Practice the usage of Scrum terminologies as in Scrum Guide. Maybe through forming peer groups or self-recordings to reflect. Like, Daily Standup →Daily Scrum; Backlog Grooming → Product Backlog Refinement.

·       Scrum demands Empiricism, Self-management and Product thinking. Understand the why’s behind Scrum carefully and be mindful to choose answers adhering to it.

·       Watch out for universal statements in the exam. It may trap you to choose the wrong answer. Learn to differentiate the mandatory and non-mandatory elements in Scrum.

·       If you are unsure of the answers, try to avoid bad answers to nail the correct answer.

·       Move away from the traditional phase gated approaches. Learn to differentiate Scrum from traditional thinking and practices.

·       The Exam demands the information by the books. Go by the books and authentic information. Try not to bring one’s experience with Scrum, as in practice, one may not follow Scrum by the books.

Special Note: Do not refer to any mock-ups or practice tests as those are not endorsed by Scrum dot org and may not be authentic.

Resource: https://www.tryscrum.com/blogs/how-to-pass-professional-scrum-master-i-psm-i-certification/

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What is Manager’s role in Scrum?

There is one frequent question that I encounter in my workshops. There is a piece of information that is missing in the Scrum Guide. Interestingly, It is regarding the managers. Where is the role of Manager in Scrum? The missed-out information makes many organisations confused if they have a similar place and adopts Scrum or present an Agile transformation.

While there are apparent intermediate paths present for the managers and other senior leadership position holders, the unclearly defined middle managers often question the roles in official Scrum they fill. What are they? Are they product owners? Or a scrum master? Or developers?

It can be a challenging leadership problem and problematic to resolve. However, there is no direct and clear answer to the query. For clearing the dilemma, I have to recall the elementary difference between a project and a product.

Project Vs Product

As you can notice, agile product owner certification in Bangalore focuses directly on products; thus, you have a Product owner. In traditional project management, the success of the project gets measured against scope, time and cost. Thus, the process leads to lesser value management and focuses on task management.

In contrast, the product mindset gets derived from the outcome, and the project mindset is activity. In traditional management, all three variables get managed by the project manager.

In a product environment, all the variables receive collaborative management.

For example, the scope and time get handled by the Scrum team, while the cost is by the product owner. In such cases, the confusion lies in the manager’s role.

Role Mapping

Direct one-to-one mapping is the way out for most of the executives of the organisations. We are following the Agile transformation. Thus, all these people will get a role in Scrum, and the rest of the group will get another position in Scrum. Among all these, I encounter a common idealogy in one-to-one mapping: taking the project management office and turning them into scrum masters and taking the business analysts to enrol them in product ownership roles. But, as per my point of view, it is not a great solution.

Is there a superior approach?

A “try scrum” entity identifies how to determine and focus on the individual strengths of each employee. It is very crucial while undergoing an Agile transformation. If you know who will fit best for each of the roles, acquiring success gets easier. Also, considering the individual’s passion helps in redefining the new responsibilities.

Now, let me get back to the original doubt.

Where is the role of Managers in Scrum? Do we need them?

There is no direct answer to this. My answer to this question will be; it depends on the organisation. Considering my experience, managers can play enablers. Although there is no buzz about Management in Scrum, managemental aspects are present in Scrum.

According to the Scrum Guide, Scrum looks after the existing effectiveness of the management, environment, and functioning ability to improve them. In other words, it challenges the way that the Organisation works to create value.

Scrum is not a methodology. It deliberates gives the choice-making to the management. It allows the business to get structured rightly and organise itself to get better. Considering from my viewpoint, managers are certainly enablers and can perform varied responsibilities.

Leading in a Hybrid World

Every middle manager may not be suitable for the role of product owner or scrum master role. It leaves the scopes of uncertainties. But you need not worry. Despite having no role as a Scrum manager, it does not imply requiring them. Instead, it signifies that their role and responsibilities vary.

We primarily work in an environment that got created on traditional, plan-driven, and top-down principles. We are gradually transforming towards a self-organised and empirical environment. It gets designed for the complex domain. Leading an Agile team refers to making the people more successful with dynamicity. It is one of the major responsibilities of a manager. Among the many responsibilities of a manager, the following are a few significant ones:

·       Developing an environment for the growth of the Agile team

·       Work towards and organisation and scrum teams as a serving leader

·       Reconstruct the obstacles that hamper the growth

·       Proactively work on continuous improvement, self-improvement, feedback, adaptability.

·       Helping the team to succeed.

Conclusion

To conclude, Scrum does not have a role of a “manager”. It certainly does not imply we do not necessitate one. Ultimately, capitalising on individual strengths for transforming them to accomplish the new roles helps the organisation and individuals equally and leads to success.

Resource: https://www.tryscrum.com/blogs/what-is-managers-role-in-scrum/

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Biotech and Scrum: Rethinking How Biotech Innovates in the 21st Century

Scrum is commonplace in the software industry, but its ideas and principles can be applied to other domains and contexts. Can the ideas of Scrum help Biotech firms deliver more value, whilst navigating the complexities of innovation? Can Scrum work in an environment where experiments take time, failure is likely, partnerships are proliferating, and roles are highly specialized?

And will scientists actually accept this new way of working?

In this webinar Dave West CEO of Scrum.org talks to Tyson Bertmaring, MBA, Head of Partner Success at Dyno Therapeutics, and Matt Abbinanti, Ph.D., Senior Program Manager at CRISPR Therapeutics on how Scrum master course in Chennai works in Biotech.

About Our Speakers

Matt Abbinanti, Ph.D., Senior Program Manager at CRISPR Therapeutics

After a postdoc studying the electrophysiological changes in spinal neurons after spinal cord injury, Matt entered the biotech industry as a scientist for BioAxone Biosciences. Later, as Director of Research and Project Management at BioAxone, he was responsible for leading the preclinical development of small-molecule Rho kinase inhibitors from discovery stage through IND-enabling studies for the treatment of cavernous angioma, neurotrauma, and glaucoma. He made the transition to Program Management at CRISPR Therapeutics in early 2019, facilitating the installation of the Scrum framework for a high-performing research team and managing multiple alliances and research-stage programs.

Tyson Bertmaring, MBA, Head of Partner Success at Dyno Therapeutics

Tyson Bertmaring began his career as a United States Air Force officer leading teams across diverse environments, spanning from nuclear deterrence to R&D. Since departing active duty, Tyson has transitioned those experiences to serve R&D teams across both large and small biotech companies and alliances. He is passionate about experimenting with Scrum to realize the joy and achievement of others through fulfilling teamwork.  Tyson’s current experiment is enterprise wide at Dyno Therapeutics, a biotech startup.

Dave West, CEO, Scrum.org

Dave is the CEO at Scrum.org. He is a frequent keynote at major industry conferences and is a widely published author of articles and research reports, along with his acclaimed book: Head First Object-Oriented Analysis and Design, that helped define new software modeling and application development processes. He led the development of the Rational Unified Process (RUP) for IBM/Rational. After IBM/Rational, West returned to consulting and managed Ivar Jacobson Consulting for North America. Then as VP, research director Forrester research where he ran the software development and delivery practice. Prior to joining Scrum.org he was Chief Product Officer at Tasktop where he was responsible for product management, engineering and architecture.

Resource: https://www.scrum.org/resources/biotech-and-scrum-rethinking-how-biotech-innovates-21st-century

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Product Goal Is A Commitment! Learn By Agile Product Owner Certification in Bangalore

There have been a few changes in Scrum Guide 2020, and I am really excited. These changes focus on ‘Values’ within the framework of Scrum. Commitment, among all kinds of values, builds trust. Since the beginning days of my SCRUM workshops, I have been bombarded with questions, asking about commitment definition and perspectives.

I have a simple view. The entire Scrum team, with all its members, commits to embodying Scrum values. After the recent updates of Scrum Guide 2020, three distinct commitments have been attached to the artefacts. Commitment renders additional to quality to a specific artefact. It improves transparency, a significant pillar of empiricism. When there is a Product Backlog in an agile product owner certification in Bangalore, you can say that the Product Goal is the commitment.

Meaning of Product Goal

From my perspective, the product goal achieves the vision of the product, alongside meeting business objectives. Great goals must have an association with a comprehensive business strategy or a broader product. The product goal should be interpretable and actionable. It should also be achievable and easily measurable. The context of the relevant Product Backlog is rendered by Product Goal. You would know the reason why you are doing a specific activity. The Product Goal also adds more value to the customers and tells the stakeholders about its uniqueness. 

Scrum Guide is empty in a beautiful way. It never says about the Product Goal details. This allows the SCRUM team in forming the pertinently contextual goal.

Product Goal – for example

Goal: Tripling the revenue year-on-year

Metric: +$20 million revenue

Goal: High-grade Training Company

Metric: Rated as #1 on the platform of TrustPilot with a minimum of 10,000 reviews

Goal: The biggest e-commerce player

Metric: More than 1000 partners

Product Goal –illustration

Some of you might say it a broad vision, while others might term it as a goal. When you determine the Product Goal, context is practically everything.

Characteristics of Product Goal from the perspective of a SCRUM team:

Product Goal can be evolutionary alongside the Product.

It is a commitment pertaining to the Product Backlog. Product Owners get the required flexibility to operate when the particular Product gets somewhat rough. In other words, the Product goal is in the Product Backlog.

You can achieve a Product goal in either a few Sprints or numerous Sprints.

Typically Goals in Several Sprints may contribute to the Single Goal of the Product.

Product Goal creates and establishes transparency that tells about the objective of building the Product.

Sprint Review does not merely inspect specific increment, but it also monitors the progress in achieving the Product Goal.

Let us go through the Scrum Events and their relations to Product Goals.

Additional Inspection plus Adaptation Opportunities

In Craft, the strategic actions are designed by Product Goals. The structure assists you to organise and insightfully assemble the relevant strategic objectives in various containers. They can become useful guidelines for your roadmap. It would also constantly remind the team and the stakeholders about your progress.

Resource: https://tryscrum.com/2021/01/14/product-goal-is-a-commitment/

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