Professional Scrum Master I (PSM I) study plan

Define each Scrum Team accountability (Product Owner, Scrum Master, Developers) in your own words and list two behaviors that do and do not belong to each

Map the three accountabilities onto a single product scenario and write out who decides what for five sample decisions

Explain why the Scrum Team is one self-managing unit with no sub-teams or hierarchies, citing at least three consequences for how work is assigned

Distinguish the Product Owner's authority over Product Backlog ordering from the Developers' authority over how to do the work

Describe the ideal size and composition of a Scrum Team and justify the trade-offs of being too small or too large

Connect each of the three empirical pillars (transparency, inspection, adaptation) to a concrete Scrum Team behavior that supports or undermines it

Explain the five Scrum values and give one observable team behavior that demonstrates each

Identify three anti-patterns where a role is diluted or outsourced (e.g., proxy Product Owner, part-time Scrum Master) and state the empirical cost of each

Sequence the five Scrum events and state for each its purpose, timebox, participants, and the artifact or commitment it serves

Compute correct timeboxes for a one-month Sprint and for a shortened two-week Sprint

Explain the Sprint as a container for the other four events and list what may and may not change during a Sprint

Describe how Sprint Planning produces a Sprint Goal and how Daily Scrum serves the Developers' plan for the next 24 hours

Distinguish Sprint Review (product inspection, stakeholder collaboration) from Sprint Retrospective (process and people improvement) with two concrete agenda items each

Explain how each event creates inspect-and-adapt opportunities and what breaks empirically when an event is skipped or merged

Justify the Daily Scrum as a Developers' event, not a status report to the Scrum Master or Product Owner

Describe how the Sprint Retrospective leads to at least one concrete improvement acted on in the next Sprint

Correct five common event anti-patterns (e.g., cancelling the Retrospective, using the Review as a demo-only session) and state the replacement behavior

State the purpose of each artifact (Product Backlog, Sprint Backlog, Increment) and the single commitment attached to each

Explain why the Product Goal, Sprint Goal, and Definition of Done are commitments rather than optional add-ons

Describe the Definition of Done as a commitment to quality and explain what happens to an Increment that does not meet it

Explain why the Product Backlog is emergent and how refinement keeps it ready without turning it into a fixed contract

Identify which artifact or commitment a given scenario violates and name the repair

Trace how information flows between artifacts and events across one full Sprint, from Product Goal to Increment

Explain the Increment as a stepping stone toward the Product Goal and why multiple Increments may exist within one Sprint

Describe what it means for Scrum to be lightweight, simple to understand, and difficult to master, using two examples of each

Explain why Scrum is intentionally incomplete and how the organization's context shapes its application without changing the rules

Identify organizational impediments (e.g., mandated processes conflicting with Scrum) and describe the Scrum Master's role in removing them

Apply the Scrum rules to five ambiguous situations (mid-Sprint scope change, Sprint cancellation, unfinished work, a team member added mid-Sprint) and state the rule-based answer

Explain why Sprint cancellation is rare and who alone holds that authority, and what happens to completed work when a Sprint is cancelled

Distinguish empiricism from waterfall and gate-based planning using a single product example carried through both

Identify at least three ways organizations misuse Scrum while keeping the ceremony names, and name the empirical consequence of each

Explain how the Scrum Master serves the Scrum Team, the Product Owner, and the organization differently

Recite from memory the purpose, timebox, participants, artifacts, and commitments for all five events and three artifacts

Complete two full-length timed practice exams and log every miss by domain

Re-study only the two weakest domains identified by the practice-exam log

Explain every wrong answer in your own words without referring to the original question wording

Simulate exam conditions once end to end within the time limit