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03 May 2018

How to prepare and pass the PSM I Assessment

We, at Practice Agile frequently get this question from budding Scrum Masters, “How can we pass the PSM I assessment?” This made it imperative to jot down this blog based on the inputs we received from our students who cleared the PSM I assessment in first attempt. Hence this is tried and tested by people with diverse background and experiences.

Preparation –

  1. Read the Scrum Guide and understand 11 core elements of Scrum
  2. Read this excellent book “Scrum Insights for Practitioners” by Professional Scrum Trainer® Hiren Doshi as it has a lot of case studies based on practical experiences.
  3. Clear the Scrum.org Scrum Open assessment with 100%at least once.

Attending a PSM workshop is optional to write your assessment. In most likelihood, by following the above 3 steps you will clear your PSM I assessment. However, attending the PSM workshop is highly recommended as it provides with much needed depth of knowledge to not just clear the PSM I assessment, but it also prepares you for intermediate PSM II and expert level PSM III assessments. In addition, we have enough data to make a claim that PSM workshop has prepared our students to face tough Scrum Master interviews and have also given them enough confidence to practice Scrum at their workplace.   Also by attending it, you get 2 free attempts towards the PSM I assessment and significant discount for PSM II and PSM III assessments.

During Assessment –

  1. Ensure you have reliable and good internet connection
  2. Stay in a quiet area (undisturbed for 75 minutes)
  3. Assessment is for 60 minutes with 80 objective type questions. You need at least 68 answers correct to meet the minimum passing percent of 85%.
  4. Since this is a race against time, do not spend too much time on tricky questions as you will get conscious about the time during the assessment. If unsure about the answer, select the best option you can think of and bookmark the question to revisit later.
  5. Do not bookmark too many questions (if possible), as you may not get sufficient time to go through all of them.
  6. At the end of the assessment time-box, the answers will automatically be locked in, hence it is important to ensure you have selected the answers from your end in case you do not get time to review the questions again.

Scrum.org training

16 Apr 2017

Some feedback from my students for Scrum.org trainings (PSF / PSM)

Feedback on the Scrum.org training (PSF / PSM):

Highly Enthusiastic , with good interactive teaching style , making sure that everyone is active in the class, great way of answering questions with examples

Highly energetic with several anecdotes and practical learning shared during the session. I loved it!! All questions got answered, and plenty of insights shared. Extremely grateful to you for sharing your insights and making me unlearn & learn Scrum.

Full points for the effective teaching methods employed and your enthusiasm. The answers to the questions demonstrate your Scrum Knowledge and several examples you quote from the industry speak wide experience as a trainer.

Hiren has excellent hold on the subject and explains in such an effective manner that you get answer of further potential question.

Energy is awesome. Scrum knowledge is rated 10/10

Feedback on my book – Scrum Insights for Practitioners:

There are numerous books about Scrum – this begins where most writers stop … Here, not only the Scrum Guide Scrum Insights for Practitionersis reworded, but knowledge and experience are conveyed by one who has Scrum knowledge

Excellent. Lucid and interesting, EASY to READ and UNDERSTAND. Overall 101/100

Good List down of point and Ideas for beginners to start with . It acts as a support system for the baby who is trying and learning to walk.

Very insightful and practical. Helped me understand the spirit of scrum and how it can be practically applied.

Got 77/80 in PSM1 !!! Your book is an absolute Bible on Scrum!

20 Nov 2016

Book: “Scrum Insights For Practitioners”

I am pleased to announce my new book — “Scrum Insights for Practitioners: The Scrum Guide Companion”. Thank you all for your support and help.


The Scrum Guide holds the bare and essential rules of Scrum. It provides sufficient information to understand Scrum but leaves much open for interpretation by readers and practitioners. When individuals and organizations follow The Scrum Guide blindly, without understanding the real, deep essence of Scrum—the principles and values underpinning the framework—they likely will fail to reap all the benefits Scrum has to offer.

Scrum Insights for Practitioners fills in some gaps in the understanding of Scrum for individuals or organizations practicing Scrum. This book can be thought of as a companion to The Scrum Guide. I encourage readers to first read The Scrum Guide if you are new to Scrum before reading this book, as this will help you reap the maximum benefits.

Scrum Insights for Practitioners is a perfect companion to The Scrum Guide that helps the practitioners master the Scrum framework by gaining in-depth practical insights and helps answer questions such as these:

  • What are some common myths, mysteries, and misconceptions of Scrum?
  • The Scrum Guide recommends three to nine members in a Development Team, but we have fifteen members. Is this Scrum?
  • Can you share some tactics to do effective Sprint Planning, Daily Scrum, Sprint Review, Sprint Retrospective, and Product Backlog Refinement?
  • My designation is development manager. Does this mean I have no role in Scrum?
  • How is Scrum Empirical?
  • Can Scrum Master and Product Owner be the same person?
  • We don’t have a Scrum Master. Are we still practicing Scrum?
  • What does Self-Organization really mean?
  • How does Scrum embrace the four values and twelve principles of the Agile Manifesto?
  • Please share a case study on Scrum based product development?

Recommendations for the book from the Scrum champions

Take advantage of Hiren’s vast experience and avoid making the common errors people make as they begin their journey. This book contains a wealth of practical information that will be useful to readers as they work to implement the basic theory found in The Scrum Guide—Steve Porter, team member, Scrum.org

In his book Scrum Insights for Practitioners, Hiren has extended the core rules of The Scrum Guide with practices he has found useful. Hiren answers questions regarding Scrum that potentially remain unanswered even after one reads The Scrum Guide. Hiren dismantles common misconceptions about Scrum, regardless of the source of such misconceptions. Hiren elaborates on basic information provided in The Scrum Guide, as well as on the principles underlying Scrum—Gunther Verheyen, Author of “Scrum — A Pocket Guide, a Smart Travel Companion”

Hiren Doshi has written a fine companion to The Scrum Guide, filling in some of the intentional gaps left in the Scrum framework. Using this companion along with The Scrum Guide will undoubtedly improve the outlook for those teams that internalize its teachings.”—Charles Bradley, ScrumCrazy.com

This book will help you understand the nuances of Scrum. It takes a very practical approach toward implementing Scrum without compromising on its values and principles. A useful and handy reference for Scrum practitioners!—Gopinath R, Agile coach and practitioner

Currently the book is available as a physical copy on Amazon. The Kindle version to follow shortly.

I sincerely hope you find great value in each and every page of the book.

Enjoy Reading. Happy Scrumming.