The Professional Scrum Master II (PSM II) certification is an advanced level for Scrum practitioners, requiring a solid theoretical foundation and practical expertise. Preparing for the PSM II exam demands not only an understanding of Scrum principles but also the ability to apply them in real-world scenarios. Here’s a guide to materials that will help you gain deeper insights into key topics and prepare effectively for the exam.
Agile Manifesto
The Agile Manifesto is the foundation of the Agile approach. It outlines four key values:
- Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
- Working software over comprehensive documentation
- Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
- Responding to change over following a plan
Additionally, the Agile Manifesto is complemented by twelve principles focused on delivering customer value, continuous quality improvement, and adaptability to change. The Manifesto promotes a mindset where teams can quickly respond to evolving requirements and create high-value products.
Liberating Structures
Liberating Structures is a collection of simple yet powerful facilitation techniques that enhance the engagement of all participants in meetings and workshops. It comprises over 30 methods, such as "1-2-4-All" or "Nine Whys", designed to foster collaboration, innovative thinking, and decision-making. Each structure is based on specific principles and microstructures, making them applicable in various contexts, from team meetings to strategic planning. These tools help participants become more active and engaged, leading to better outcomes and improved team efficiency.
Retrospective Wiki
The Retrospective Wiki website is a resource dedicated to planning retrospectives for Agile teams. It provides a wide range of ideas, techniques, and retrospective plans that can be tailored to different team needs and situations. The purpose of retrospectives is to reflect on the previous work cycle, identify successes, challenges, and opportunities for improvement. This site offers inspiration for Scrum Masters and team leaders, helping them run effective retrospective meetings that promote continuous process and collaboration improvement.
Retromat
The Retromat website is an online tool designed to create inspiring and varied retrospective plans for Agile teams. Retromat helps Scrum Masters and team leaders select activities tailored to the unique needs and goals of the team. The site divides the retrospective process into five key phases:
- Setting the Stage – Activities to set the mood and create an open, safe atmosphere.
- Gathering Data – Techniques to collect information about the last work cycle, identifying what worked and what needs improvement.
- Generating Insights – Methods to understand root causes and discover deeper insights.
- Deciding What to Do – Tools to help the team decide on actionable steps for improvement.
- Closing the Retrospective – Activities to summarize and conclude the retrospective positively.
Retromat offers hundreds of ready-made ideas for each phase, enabling flexible and creative retrospective planning. This helps teams avoid monotony and consistently enrich their retrospectives, fostering engagement and continuous process improvement.
Bridging the Management Gap
The article "Bridging the Management Gap" on InfoQ explores resistance from management when adopting Agile at scale. Author Tiago Garcez describes the "management gap"—a situation where organizations adopt Agile practices in IT but fail to change management methods or implement deeper reforms. Garcez traces the roots of this issue to industrial-era concepts of centralized control. He suggests that successful Agile implementation requires thoughtful engagement and organizational-level commitment from management to enable meaningful change.
The Cost of Fear in Organizational Change
The article "The Cost of Fear in Organizational Change" on InfoQ examines how fear of change affects organizations and their ability to adapt. Author Oana Juncu highlights that while people are curious about new ideas, change is often perceived as a threat. Organizations frequently compensate for this fear with excessive planning and risk management, which provide only an illusion of control and lead to costs associated with overprotection. The article suggests that fostering employees' psychological safety can reduce the "cost of fear" and enable a more flexible approach to change.
How Do You Estimate Agile Projects?
The document "How Do You Estimate Agile Projects?" serves as a guide to various approaches to estimation in Agile projects, particularly in technology environments. The eBook covers:
- The importance of estimation – Why estimation is crucial for project planning and resource management.
- Diverse estimation techniques – From Story Points to advanced methods like Group Estimation.
- Factors influencing estimation accuracy – How variables like uncertainty, team size, and requirement volatility affect outcomes.
- Principles and pitfalls of estimation – Tips for avoiding common errors and improving prediction precision.
The document emphasizes that the purpose of estimation is not to achieve exact forecasts but to gain a better understanding of project scope and associated risks.
Illustrations of ScrumAnd
The article "Illustrations of ScrumAnd" by Gunther Verheyen explores the concept of ScrumAnd, where organizations adopt Scrum but add extra practices or roles that impact its effectiveness. Verheyen notes that Scrum, as a framework, is intentionally incomplete, allowing for contextual adaptation. The author discusses how additions to Scrum, such as changes to the Product Owner role or the definition of "Done," can enrich processes if applied thoughtfully. These examples show that well-considered Scrum extensions can improve team collaboration and workflow efficiency.
There’s Value in the Scrum Values
The article "There’s Value in the Scrum Values" by Gunther Verheyen analyzes the importance of the five Scrum values: Commitment, Focus, Openness, Respect, and Courage. Verheyen explains that these values form the ethical and social foundation of Scrum, influencing team decisions, actions, and behaviors. Rather than viewing Scrum as a rigid methodology, the author emphasizes the role of values in shaping team dynamics and supporting effective collaboration. These values enable Scrum teams to achieve goals while continuously improving product work.
Everyday Kanban
The Everyday Kanban website describes Kanban as a system for organizing work by optimizing value flow and introducing change incrementally. Kanban emphasizes workflow management, process visualization, and limiting work in progress (WIP). The key principles of Kanban are:
- Start with the current process.
- Pursue incremental changes.
- Respect existing roles and processes.
- Encourage leadership at all levels.
Core components include visualizing workflow, limiting WIP, managing flow, defining process policies, and continuous improvement. Kanban fosters an evolutionary approach to improving work organization and efficiency.
What is Extreme Programming?
The Extreme Programming (XP) method focuses on five core values: Simplicity, Communication, Feedback, Courage, and Respect. XP emphasizes team collaboration, including the regular involvement of a business representative to define requirements and priorities. Key XP practices include:
- The Planning Game – Iterative planning and forecasting.
- Pair Programming – Two developers coding together to ensure higher quality.
- Test-Driven Development (TDD) – Creating code based on automated tests.
- Continuous Integration – Regularly merging and testing code.
These practices enable teams to deliver working software quickly while adapting to changing requirements.
Disciplined Agile
The Disciplined Agile (DA) framework supports organizations in achieving business agility by flexibly adapting processes. DA is a set of practices and tools that combine Agile and Lean principles with goal-oriented, process-tailored approaches. It offers teams the flexibility to choose the most suitable Way of Working (WoW) for their business context. DA applies to various scales, from single teams to entire enterprises, and encourages continuous process improvement and optimization.
User Story Mapping
The User Story Mapping technique helps teams better understand system functionality and user needs. User Story Mapping visualizes the backlog as a model, showcasing user processes and context in an intuitive way. This tool identifies gaps in the backlog and facilitates effective release planning, helping to deliver business and user value. The method supports teams in discussing product goals and understanding the full lifecycle of the system.
Impact Mapping
The Impact Mapping technique supports strategic planning by visualizing connections between team activities and business objectives. Impact Mapping helps avoid unnecessary features, simplifies prioritization, and facilitates decision-making at a strategic level. Impact maps create a "big-picture view" for teams and stakeholders, enhancing transparency and allowing dynamic adjustments to plans based on changing market needs. This approach helps organizations achieve real outcomes beyond just delivering software.
Semantic Versioning
The Semantic Versioning (SemVer) site defines software versioning standards using the format MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH. According to SemVer:
- MAJOR – Increases when introducing changes incompatible with the previous API.
- MINOR – Increases when adding new functionality compatible with the previous API.
- PATCH – Increases for bug fixes compatible with the API.
SemVer promotes consistency in versioning, reducing compatibility issues in large projects with dependencies.
Scrum and XP from the Trenches - 2nd Edition
The book "Scrum and XP from the Trenches - 2nd Edition" by Henrik Kniberg provides a practical guide to implementing Scrum and Extreme Programming (XP) in real-world settings. It details how a team of about 40 people in a Swedish company experimented with various Agile elements, such as team size, sprint length, testing strategies, and XP practices, to continuously improve processes. The book includes advice, common pitfalls, and tips on scaling and multi-team collaboration, making it a valuable resource for those adopting Scrum and XP.
Scaling Scrum with Nexus
The Scaling Scrum with Nexus framework addresses the challenge of coordinating multiple teams working on a single product. Nexus builds on Scrum principles and roles, adding minimal additional elements to manage inter-team dependencies and integration. Key practices include regular integrations and Agile dependency management, which enhance transparency and accelerate value delivery.
Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe)
The Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) provides a comprehensive approach to scaling Agile in large organizations. SAFe combines Agile, Lean, and DevOps principles to effectively manage multiple teams working on complex projects. The framework offers various configurations tailored to organizational needs, ranging from small teams to full portfolios. Core elements include team synchronization, portfolio strategy, value stream management, and an emphasis on continuous improvement and flexible strategy adjustments.
Large Scale Scrum (LeSS)
The Large Scale Scrum (LeSS) framework scales Scrum across large organizations involving multiple teams working on a single product. LeSS retains simplicity and focuses on core Scrum principles, adding minimal rules, roles, and structures to support effective large-scale collaboration. The framework includes two configurations: standard LeSS for smaller groups of teams and LeSS Huge for larger organizations with more teams. LeSS emphasizes values like transparency, efficiency, and technical excellence, providing a flexible approach to scaling Agile.
Roman Pichler’s Blog
Roman Pichler’s blog focuses on product management in Agile environments. As an expert in the field, Pichler shares articles on product strategy, backlog management, roadmap creation, product roles, and Scrum and Agile practices. The blog provides practical advice for Product Owners and product managers on defining product vision, managing stakeholders, and creating valuable user experiences. Pichler also offers tools and templates to support effective product strategy planning and execution.
Mountain Goat Software Blog
The Mountain Goat Software Blog, run by Mike Cohn, features numerous articles on user stories. The blog covers practical aspects of creating, managing, and prioritizing user stories in Agile contexts. Cohn discusses techniques such as INVEST (Independent, Negotiable, Valuable, Estimable, Small, Testable) and 3C (Card, Conversation, Confirmation), which help Agile teams craft precise and valuable user stories. Articles also include tips for Product Owners and stakeholder communication to better understand user needs and manage backlogs effectively.
How to Really Understand Your Customer with the Value Proposition Canvas
The article "How to Really Understand Your Customer with the Value Proposition Canvas" explains how to use the Value Proposition Canvas to gain a deeper understanding of customers and their needs. This tool helps visualize the relationship between customers' "Jobs to Be Done" and the company's products and services. The process begins with identifying customers' Pains (pain points) and Gains (benefits) and assigning corresponding solutions that either alleviate pains or create value. The example of Tesla demonstrates how well-aligned products better meet customer needs compared to misaligned products, such as those from Toyota.
An Introduction to Lean Canvas
The article "An Introduction to Lean Canvas" on Medium likely explains how Lean Canvas supports entrepreneurs and teams in developing business models. Created by Ash Maurya, Lean Canvas is a simplified version of the Business Model Canvas tailored to the needs of startups and projects driven by rapid iteration. It consists of nine key elements, such as Problem, Solution, Unique Value Proposition, Key Metrics, and Unfair Advantage. Lean Canvas enables quick hypothesis testing for business models, allowing teams to adapt strategies flexibly to changing market conditions.
The 20 Minute Business Plan: Business Model Canvas Made Easy
The guide "The 20 Minute Business Plan: Business Model Canvas Made Easy" explains how to use the Business Model Canvas (BMC) to develop a clear and concise business model. BMC includes nine essential components:
- Customer Segments
- Value Proposition
- Channels
- Customer Relationships
- Revenue Streams
- Key Resources
- Key Activities
- Key Partnerships
- Cost Structure
This tool helps entrepreneurs and teams quickly design a business model, focus on key areas of operation, and maintain flexibility in responding to market changes.
TastyCupcakes
The TastyCupcakes website is a resource for Agile Coaches and facilitators, offering a wide range of games and exercises to use in team training and workshops. These games develop collaboration skills, team building, conflict resolution, and reinforce Agile practices. Each exercise is detailed and includes instructions for implementation, making them easy to adopt. The site is a popular tool for enhancing creativity and participant engagement, enriching educational processes and Agile team retrospectives.
Audio/Video Materials
What Motivates Us (Drive)
The video "Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us" is based on Daniel Pink’s research and explains workplace motivation. Pink shows that financial incentives work only for simple, mechanical tasks, whereas for complex, creative tasks, three elements are more important:
- Autonomy – Freedom to make decisions.
- Mastery – The desire to improve skills.
- Purpose – A sense of meaningful work.
These factors foster intrinsic motivation, leading to higher performance and engagement, particularly in dynamic environments like Agile teams.
Distributed Agile
The presentation "Global Software Delivery with Distributed Agile" by Matthew Simons and Steven Boswell discusses the challenges and strategic advantages of distributed software development. They outline Agile frameworks and practices that help build a healthy, distributed work environment.
Product Owner Summary
In the video "Product Owner Summary," Henrik Kniberg discusses how a Product Owner (PO) manages the backlog, sets priorities, and collaborates with stakeholders and the development team. The PO is responsible for selecting the most valuable user stories and making difficult decisions about rejecting or deferring less critical features. A key challenge for POs is balancing stakeholder needs with the team’s capacity to deliver.
Navigating Conflict
The video "Navigating Conflict" explores conflict within Agile teams. In many teams, conflict is seen as a distraction or obstacle, but in high-performing Agile teams, conflict is viewed as a natural and valuable element that drives improvement. Lyssa Adkins presents a model to navigate conflicts, guiding teams through five levels—from "Problem to Solution" to "World War." Each level is designed to address conflict with empathy and a human-centric approach, emphasizing that Agile is fundamentally about people and interactions—especially in moments of conflict.
Reinventing Organizations
Frederic Laloux’s lecture on "Reinventing Organizations" discusses his groundbreaking research and book, which have gained global recognition. Many workers, managers, teachers, and healthcare professionals feel disillusioned with traditional management methods. Laloux’s work highlights a new wave of organizations creating profound changes and moving beyond conventional management thinking. These organizations foster strong, vibrant environments that inspire and empower their members.
