PSM III : 5 pratical tests for Professional Scrum Master 3

You want to prepare and give yourself the best chance of passing the Professional Scrum Master 3 certification  (PSM III), look no further, this course is for you !

What is Professional Scrum Master 3 certification ?

The Professional Scrum Master 3 certification, commonly known as PSM III, is considered Scrum . org’s most elite certification. Those awarded with it are certified :

• a distinguished level of Scrum Mastery,

• a deep understanding of Scrum,

• the ability to apply Scrum in complex team and organizational situations.

Through practical exercises you will learn more about :

• Empiricism

• Scrum Values

• Scrum Events

• Self-Management

• Definition of Done

• Product Goal

• Sprint Goal

• Artifacts

This course includes :

• 90 questions similar to the real PSM III exam that require you to think deeply about your understanding and knowledge of Scrum. Many of them ask you to reflect on or interpret the meaning of the Scrum Guide, the Scrum glossary, and essential resources published by scrum . org.

• 1 practical exercise consisting of 30 questions requiring one or more answers

• 3 practical exercises each consisting of +20 essay questions. These practical exercises do not allow you to write a long answer. You will therefore discover the questions allowing you to train in real conditions. The answers are available with each question and give you the main elements expected by the examiners.

It is strongly advised to read the Standard of conduct published by scrum . org for more information.

February updates :

8 new essay questions similar to the real PSPO III exam to complete the 2nd and 3rd pratice test.

About the Professional Scrum Master 3 (PSM III) Exam :

• Difficulty : Expert

• Cost : $500 USD per attempt

• Scoring: Pass/Did Not Pass. Responses are scored by a team of Scrum experts using a common grading guide. Each response is evaluated to determine if it meets, exceeds, or does not meet the grading expectations. After all questions are scored, the entire test is reviewed to determine whether a passing score was earned

• Time limit : 150 minutes

• Number of Questions : 24

• Format : Essay questions only. All responses must be typed - no pasting of prepared responses.

• Grading takes approximately 4 weeks, and the score is emailed as soon as grading is complete.

• Language: English only. The use of a Translate plugin is allowed

How to prepare for PSM III :

In my experience as someone who has taken all of the scrum . org exams, PSM III is by far the hardest to pass and the hardest to prepare for. Unlike all PSM I and PSM II exams, there is no official scrum . org course dedicated to preparing you for the PSM III exam. That's why I've designed this course to help you prepare through self-organized study and curated resources.

As most of the PSM III exam is essay based, your exam will be graded manually by a PST, which means it can take several weeks until you know your final score and whether or not you have passed. The grading is based upon multiple factors, among others:

• Your language must be similar to that of the Scrum Guide. For example, referring in an answer to the Daily Scrum as “Daily Stand-Up” or explaining concept of self-management without using the Scrum Guide term “self-management” might cost you points.

• All of Scrum is essentially just a construct to foster empiricism, therefore you should try to refer back to empiricism whenever possible.

• If possible, go beyond the pure theory and share examples from your own past to illustrate points.

There are a number of topics that I like to describe as “core subjects”, all of which need to be understood to the point that they can be explained completely, correctly, and concisely. These are :

• Empiricism : Why do we need to work empirically ? How does empiricism relate to complexity ? What does empiricism mean in theory and practice ?

• Scrum Values : What are the Scrum Values ? How do they relate to empiricism? How do they manifest in the work of the Scrum Team and in the Scrum Events in particular ?

• Scrum Events : What is the purpose of each ? What are the inputs and outcomes of each ? How does each relate to empiricism ?

• Self-Management : What are the criteria for a self-managing team ? What are the limits to self-management ? What is the stance of the Scrum Master within a self-managing team ? How does self-management relate to empiricism ?

• Definition of Done : How does it relate to empiricism ?

• Technical Debt : What is it ? How does it relate to empiricism ? How does it relate to the team’s velocity ?

• Product Goal : What uses does it bring within the team and towards outsiders ? How does it relate to empiricism ?

• Sprint Goal : Why is it useful ? How does it relate to empiricism ?

• Artifacts : What is the purpose of each ? Why is their transparency important ? How do the Scrum Values relate to their transparency ? How does each relate to empiricism ?

• Forecasts, commitments, plans : How do you plan in an environment that works empirically ? What effects does this have on the team? What effect on those outside the team ?

You can of course deepen these notions by carefully reading the Scrum Guide 2020. I also advise you to take the time to take an interest in the resources available on scrum . org and which deals with :

• Scrum Values

• Scrum Events

• Roles in Scrum

• The 8 stances of a Scrum Master

• A day in the life of a Scrum Master

• Evolution of the Product Owner

• Evolution of the Scrum Master

• Evolution of the Development Team

Although there is no explicit preparation literature for the PSM III, there are books that can be helpful when preparing for the PSM III exam. These include :

• "Scrum Insights for Practitioners" by Hiren Doshi :  a powerful book for PSM I preparation but, if read very carefully, also a powerful preparation for PSM III. Particularly the Scrum Events are presented very well in terms of their inputs, outputs and outcomes.

• "Scrum: A Pocket Guide" by Gunther Verheyen : while I personally did not like the writing style, some people swear by the book and many who have passed their PSM III cite it as a good source.

• "The Scrum Guide Explained" by Moritz Knueppel. Even though the book discusses the 2017 Scrum guide, many of the basic concepts explained are still valid. As Dave West, CEO of scrum . org said, "Scrum is still Scrum." For those who want to understand the interplay of self-management (in the book titled self-organization), Scrum values, Scrum events, and empiricism, the book may be useful.

Perhaps the biggest challenge in the PSM III exam is explaining the concepts in a limited amount of time, so that's what you should practice ! As strange as it may sound, a good exercise is to write down concepts as if you were explaining them to someone else. That's how I prepared and it eventually became my first class. Changing the perspective of a reader to a trainer, to an explainer, is something necessary for PSM III, because in the exam, it is not enough to know things, but also to be able to explain them !

While it may be risky, a good way to test if you are ready is to simply take the PSM III exam. Unlike the PSM I and PSM II exams, where you get an automated evaluation, the PSM III evaluation provides you with very useful feedback. The PST grading your exam will give you pointers which concepts you might want to research more. In a sense, it can be seen as an empirical approach : the only way to know if something is ready is to test it under real-world conditions !

Disclaimer :   

All questions have been designed based on real life scenarios, experience and the latest version of the Scrum guide as well as the Scrum skills expected on the PSM III exam. All rights reserved by the instructor.

Please note that this course and practice exams are neither endorsed by, nor in partnership, nor affiliated with scrum . org or any other institutions. The terms Professional Scrum™, Professional Scrum Master™, PSM I, PSM II, PSM III, etc. are the protected brand of Scrum . Org.