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Suggested Reading: Professional Agile Leadership

Delivering products is complex work and for more than 20 years, people have been using Scrum to do so, and leaders are increasingly focused on how they can help their organizations become more agile.  Here are some resources for learning more about Professional Agile Leadership and preparing for the Professional Agile Leadership I (PAL I) certification assessment.

PAL I Assessment Subject Areas

Why Scrum Questions in this category evaluate your knowledge of the reasoning behind employing Agile and the Scrum Framework to address complex software development problems using an empirical process for Agile product development. 
Understanding People & Teams Questions in this category evaluate your knowledge of what Agile leaders must do to create conditions that enable people to do their best work collaborating with others in teams.
The Scrum Framework Questions in this category evaluate your knowledge of the Scrum Framework including the three roles, five events, and three artifacts, as well as additional related concepts described in the Scrum Guide.
Scaling Questions in this category evaluate your knowledge of using agile practices across an organization, reducing cross-team dependencies while also growing agile values.
Professional Software Development Questions in this category evaluate your knowledge of core concepts for developing software in a professional way, which emphasizes transparency, quality, and collaboration.
Planning & Delivery Questions in this category evaluate your knowledge of planning and delivery in an Agile/Scrum environment.  It covers topics such as how to estimate, plan, and deliver products in an iterative and incremental way in order to more effectively manage complexity and change. 
Organization Questions in this category evaluate your knowledge of concepts for enabling business agility and Scrum in organizations to promote iterative and incremental value-focused change. This includes understanding and evolving culture, and addressing processes and structures in the organization.
Growing People & Teams Questions in this category evaluate your knowledge of concepts for helping individuals and teams to learn and evolve their mindset, knowledge, and skills. This growth helps people and teams push their own limits, challenge the status quo, and collaborate more effectively in order to produce more valuable outcomes and adapt quickly and effectively in complex and unpredictable situations.
Agile Product Management Questions in this category evaluate your knowledge of the intersection of product management and Scrum product ownership. It addresses ways to define, deliver, and measure value in order to enable greater business agility.

 

Preparing for PAL I

Courses:

  • Professional Agile Leadership Essentials training

Blogs and Articles:

Videos and Podcasts:

Books:

Scrum resources:

 

Additional Reading Material for Agile Leaders

Blogs and Articles:

Books:

Practice

Build your Scrum muscle memory by engaging in discussions and practicing Scrum fundamentals with your team.

  • Practice Assessments
    • Take the Scrum Open Assessment until you are comfortable with the content. This assessment is much simpler than the PSM I assessment, but it will familiarize you with the types of questions asked on our other assessments. The Scrum Open assessment is a learning tool, and thus feedback is provided during the test.
    • If you are a developer, also take the Scrum Developer Open Assessment. This assessment looks at a number of software development practices and techniques that support building high-quality and high-value products in a Scrum Team. 
    • If you are responsible for maximizing the value of a product, take the Product Owner Open Assessment. This assessment helps strengthen knowledge on the role of the Product Owner in Scrum.
  • Apply Scrum in your workplace. As you do, stop to reflect on whether you’re taking advantage of all of the opportunities that the Scrum framework offers, or if you’re using ScrumBut.
  • Be conscious of your decisions as you adapt and evolve with projects complexity and team member's old habits. Think about why Scrum is structured the way it is, and how the Scrum framework differs from traditional management practices.

Assess

All Scrum.org assessments use the most recent version of the English Scrum Guide as the source for questions regarding the rules, artifacts, events, and roles of Scrum. However, reading the Scrum Guide alone is not enough for someone to pass a Professional Scrum Assessment. Questions often ask test-takers to interpret information and apply it to challenging situations, so knowledge gained from personal experience and other sources is typically needed.

Once you have solidified your Scrum knowledge and understanding, you're ready to validate it with an Assessment!

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