PECB Certified PSM Basic study plan

Explain the three pillars of empirical process control (transparency, inspection, adaptation) and give one concrete Scrum mechanism that enables each

Distinguish the five Scrum values and describe a behaviour that would violate each one in a team setting

Map the five Scrum events to the three pillars, stating which pillar each event primarily serves

Define the three accountabilities (Product Owner, Scrum Master, Developers) and write one sentence per role on what it is accountable for

Describe the purpose, timebox, and expected inputs/outputs of each of the five events

Explain how the Sprint acts as a container for the other four events and why no changes are allowed that endanger the Sprint Goal

Sequence a full Sprint from Sprint Planning to Retrospective and identify the artifact each event inspects or adapts

Identify three common event anti-patterns (e.g., cancelled retrospectives, daily scrum used for status reporting) and state the corrective action for each

Distinguish the Product Backlog, Sprint Backlog, and Increment by commitment, owner, and level of detail

Explain the Product Goal, Sprint Goal, and Definition of Done as commitments attached to each artifact

Describe how backlog refinement is handled as an ongoing activity rather than a formal event

Reproduce the Definition of Done concept and explain its role in creating a transparent Increment

Differentiate a product artifact from a project artifact and explain why Scrum favours the product view

Define servant leadership and list at least five concrete Scrum Master behaviours that demonstrate it

Explain the Scrum Master's accountabilities toward the team, the Product Owner, and the organisation separately

Describe how the Scrum Master removes impediments without taking ownership away from the Developers

Distinguish coaching, mentoring, facilitating, and teaching, and state when each is appropriate

Identify three situations where a Scrum Master should escalate rather than absorb a problem

Explain how a Scrum Master protects the team from external interruption while keeping stakeholders informed

Describe facilitation techniques for the Daily Scrum, Sprint Planning, and Retrospective that keep the team owning the conversation

Outline how to coach a Product Owner on backlog ordering and stakeholder engagement without taking over the role

Explain how the Scrum Master supports organisational change, including removing structural barriers

Draft feedback language a Scrum Master could use to challenge a behaviour without assigning blame

Apply Scrum to a fixed-deadline or fixed-scope context and explain which constraints must be renegotiated

Describe how to scale coordination across two or three teams while keeping each team's Scrum intact

Explain how to handle a distributed or hybrid team without weakening transparency

Identify metrics that support empiricism (e.g., flow, cycle time, Sprint Goal achievement) and explain why velocity alone is a poor target

Diagnose three common adoption failures (e.g., Scrum in name only, absent Product Owner) and propose a remedy for each

Revisit the theory domain and explain how each practice you learned traces back to empiricism

Resolve scenario questions that combine two domains, such as a Scrum Master facing a Product Owner who bypasses the team

Practise eliminating weak answer options by identifying answers that contradict Scrum's defined accountabilities

Build a personal list of the ten facts you are least confident about and verify each against a primary source

Complete two full timed practice exams under exam conditions and record scores by domain

Review every missed question and close each gap with a one-line rule you can recall

Recite the accountabilities, events, artifacts, and commitments from memory in under five minutes

Confirm logistics: exam format, question style, timing, and identification requirements