How do I prepare for PSM III

5 min readFeb 25, 2020

Edit: this post is from February 2020, circumstances changed shortly after this and I decided to not attempt PSM III as for now. Even so, I still believe that you’ll find here really comprehensive resources on Scrum and agility.

I’ve been most of my life in IT and software development. After passing PSM II now it’s the time for PSM III. Here’s how I’m preparing for this.

PS: if you are curious you can read here How I prepared for PSM I (and PSM II)

PSM III format

Basic information on the exam:

Fee: $500 USD
Passing score: 85%
Time limit: 120 minutes
Format: Combination of 34 Multiple Choice and essay
Difficulty: Expert
Language: English only
Prerequisites: passed PSM I and PSM II

Here’s all info on Scrum.org.

I read. A lot.

I believe that agility and Scrum is not something you can just memorize. It’s something you almost need to feel. You need to understand the very core of it. The Why of it.

Here’s a list of guides, articles, resources and books that may be helpful in passing PSM III. Keep in mind that some of things in the internet could be inaccurate, so always refer to the newest version of Scrum Guide.

Foundation, I believe that’s the minimum, the must:

Should:

Could:

I practice. A lot.

For the PSM I and II there’s a lot of training resources as those are easier and close-ended. PSM III consists of some essay questions so you need to clearly and concisely write answers in English, with Scrum in mind.

Here’s some online practice tests, keep taking them until you’ll score 100% almost every time:

Try to write max. 2–3 paragraphs answer on sample questions:

Watch out for the traps

Every exam question could be somehow tricky, remember to:

read every question and really understand the wording. Sometimes it will be should/could difference, other time Sprint Backlog will become Product Backlog — it’s really easy to fall in such traps;
be flexible and agile; answers that’re very strict probably aren’t good ones
make sure to mark as many answers as it’s stated in the question (sometimes it will be best answer, sometime two or three best answer)
usually you’ll have to choose best answer, not the ideal or perfect one
Every question might have several sub-questions. Count a number of question marks and make sure you answered all the questions.

Also, let’s clarify some common Scrum facts:

there’s no such thing as Sprint 0 or hardening sprint
Scrum Master can remove members of development team
self-organizing team still work within boundaries of organisation
Scrum Master doesn’t have to be present during Daily Scrum
During the sprint no changes are made that would endanger the Sprint Goal
Scrum does not mandate any additional formats and techniques like User Stories, Planning Poker, Burnup, Burndowns, Architectural spikes
A Scrum Master does not solve any problems that the team can solve itself
Every Sprint always produces a “done increment”
Scrum Team cannot change the fundamentals of Scrum in the name of improvement
remember all the Scrum values: Focus, Openness, Courage, Commitment, Respect
Using team velocity is optional in Scrum

The hardest part for me would be essay questions as I’m non-native English speaker. Having that in mind it’s important to really understand the difference between words like:

should, could, must, may, would, will be
help, facilitate
transparency, openness, visibility, accessibility
cross-functional, Multi-disciplinary
self-organisation, self-management
participate, attend
…

Preparation

Before the exam you need to be in your best shape, so sleep well, eat well, exercise to get this oxygen flowing.

Prepare some materials:

print out Scrum Guide and mark important parts of it
print out cheat sheet from Road to Mastery
create some notes on values, pillars, roles, events and artifacts, prepare everything that could help you in the heat of the fight

Preparation right before exam:

have some water beside you
pen for taking notes will be helpful
turn off notifications
close the door :)

The Exam

The exam is 120 minutes and 34 questions, giving you 3 minutes and 31 seconds per question. That doesn’t seem to be much. Almost every PSM III taker says that the time is really tight.

During the exam:

read the question twice
keep it to the point; in essay type write 2, max. 3 paragraphs answers and focus on the key issue(s)
even if you are unsure, answer the question and note its number — you’ll revise it a the end if you’ll have spare time; if not — you’ll have some answer anyway
keep track of your time, after an hour you should be on 18th question

Summary

After taking the exam you have to wait for the final score of your essay answers. I wish you the 100% :)

I wrote all above before taking an PSM III exam as my personal preparation checklist, let me know if it helped you somehow on the road to being certified Scrum Master.

Good luck!