Scrum Open Assessment: How to Use It for PSM I

Scrum Open Assessment: How It Works and How to Use It to Pass PSM I

Scrum Open Assessment is a completely free self-check tool to test your basic knowledge of the Scrum framework. It’s suggested that you take this assessment after reviewing the Scrum Guide. It’s recommended that once you’ve taken the assessment, you determine the reasoning of the answers you got wrong and continue to retake the assessment until you get a higher score.

Key Highlights of Scrum Open Assessment:

• The Scrum Open Assessment is a free Scrum.org self-check tool that helps learners evaluate their foundational understanding of the Scrum framework before attempting PSM I.

• It works best after reading the Scrum Guide, reviewing incorrect answers carefully, and retaking the assessment to strengthen weak concepts.

• Unlike the PSM I exam, the Scrum Open Assessment has 30 randomly selected questions, does not provide certification, and is designed as a lower-difficulty learning resource.

• Strong PSM I preparation requires more than high Scrum Open scores. Candidates should understand Scrum roles, events, artifacts, commitments, empiricism, and Scrum values.

• A consistent 95% to 100% score can indicate solid foundational knowledge, but learners should also practise scenario-based and time-bound questions for exam readiness.

• Combine the Scrum Open Assessment with the Scrum Guide, error tracking, timed practice tests, and structured PSM certification training for a more complete preparation approach.

Introduction

Similar to other certifications, there’s a difference between memorizing terms and truly understanding a concept. Preparing for the Professional Scrum Master I certification requires one to understand various aspects of the Scrum framework. This includes the Scrum events, artifacts, and roles, as well as Scrum’s commitment, empiricism and philosophy, also known as the Scrum values.

The Scrum Open Assessment can help with preparation. It’s a quick and simple way to assess your knowledge. It’s an excellent resource for identifying knowledge gaps and reinforcing the terminology in the Scrum Guide. While it should not be the sole means of your preparation, it can be incorporated into your plan for preparation for the Professional Scrum certification.

For individuals considering their plan of action, Preparing for the PSM Certification training can also be beneficial as it includes teaching, and reinforcing concepts, and materials along with your personal study and preparation.

What is the Scrum Open Assessment?

Scrum.org’s Scrum Open Assessment is an online self-check tool to assess your knowledge of the basics of Scrum. The assessment helps the user identify knowledge gaps. It’s suggested that users take this assessment several times in order to reinforce the concepts of the Scrum Guide. It’s suggested that users taking this assessment strive to achieve a high score. The assessment is completely free and is offered by Scrum.org.

What Are Scrum.org Open Assessments?

Various domains of Professional Scrum knowledge are assessed in Scrum.org Open Assessments. These include the domains of Scrum, Product Owner, Scrum and agile team working, Scrum and agile development, Scrum and agile facilitation, Kanban, leadership and management, and scaled Scrum.

The way the Scrum.org Open Assessments are designed and constructed is primarily to help the learner advance in their knowledge of the assessed domains. Therefore, a user can go through an assessment, see the feedback for the answers, and view the related information.

In this light, what is more important is the result and not the score. A correct answer indicates a concept is understood. A wrong answer indicates that a concept needs to be studied and/or clarified. For repeated wrong answers, this may indicate an erroneous conceptual understanding. Achieving a 100% score is an indication to study more scenarios.

How Does It Differ From the PSM I Exam?

The PSM I exam is 60 minutes long and consists of 80 questions. The passing score is 85%. There are multiple formats including multiple choice, true or false, and multiple answers.

The Scrum Open Assessment is a complementary aid to the PSM I exam. The Open Assessment has 30 questions that are randomly selected and shown to the candidate. Questions on the Open Assessment are discussed to be of a lower level of difficulty than those on Scrum.org’s professional level assessments.

Types of Scrum.org Open Assessments

Scrum.org provides several free assessments. Each one examines a different area of Scrum or Agile knowledge.

Scrum Open

The Scrum Open is one of the most directly relevant open for scrum masters and tests your knowledge of the basics. This includes Scrum framework, Scrum Team, Scrum Accountabilities, Events and Artifacts.

The Scrum Open will test your knowledge of

• The purpose of Scrum

• 3 Scrum Accountabilities

• 5 Scrum Events

• 3 Scrum Artifacts and their commitments

• Scrum Values

• Empiricism and its three pillars (transparency, inspection and adaptation).

This is the one to prioritise if you are creating a practice routine for PSM I.

Product Owner Open

The Product Owner Open is an open for scrum org product owners. It ensures that you have basic knowledge of what a Product Owner's accountabilities are. This can help PSM I candidates by understanding that the Scrum Master needs to know the whole Scrum Team.

The scrum product owner open can help you consolidate your knowledge of some key concepts around Product Backlog Ownership, Product Value, Working with Stakeholders and Product Goal Ownership. All of which are covered in PSM I focus areas.

However, it should be used as a secondary resource. Focus your attention on the Scrum Open, Scrum Guide and more general PSM I scenarios.

Developer, Kanban and Agile Leadership Opens

The Scrum Developer Open will teach you about various tools and techniques. These are useful in software development using Scrum. The Scrum with Kanban Open will show you how Scrum Teams can use Kanban to increase a team’s focus and flow of value.

The Agile Leadership Open will teach you about Agile leadership techniques and how they can help create the right environment to bring about successful change. Scrum.org also offer a number of assessments around Nexus, Evidence Based Management, Facilitation and Product Owner and Scrum Master related to AI.

These are not required for PSM I but will give you a better understanding once you are confident with the core of Scrum.

How to Use the Scrum Open Assessment to Prepare for PSM I?

Approach the Scrum Open Assessment using the following flow:

• Read about one area of Scrum.

• Complete the assessment.

• Look at the questions you got wrong.

• Go back to the Scrum Guide.

• Try to explain what these concepts mean.

• Then take the assessment again.

• This makes the Scrum Open Assessment a valuable learning tool.

Read through the Scrum Guide

Start by reading the official Scrum Guide. This resource tells you everything you need to know about what Scrum is and how the framework works. It details the Accountabilities, Events, Artifacts, Commitments and Values.

There is also an official English version that is available now, the November 2020 Scrum Guide.

Don’t just try to learn answers to Scrum Org open assessment questions. This will help with practice scores, but won’t help with understanding how to answer scenario based questions on the PSM I.

Instead, actively read through the Scrum Guide. After every section take note of:

• What problem does this part solve?

• Who has accountability?

• Why do we have this Event/Artifact?

• What could happen if the team doesn’t follow this or make changes?

Don’t just learn that the Daily Scrum is a 15 minute event. Try to understand what the purpose of the Daily Scrum is. Why do we have it? The purpose is to allow Developers to inspect their progress towards the Sprint Goal and adapt their Sprint Backlog.

Aim for Consistent Perfect Scores

A lot of candidates will try to get a perfect mark in the Scrum Open first which can be a good goal, but consistency is key.

Consistently getting a 95% or higher shows that you know many of the basics of Scrum. However it is important to note that the Open Assessments aren’t anywhere near as hard as professional level assessments.

A realistic goal is:

• Attempt to get between 95%-100%.

• Try doing it at different times of the day.

• Don’t use notes in further attempts.

• Answer the questions within a reasonable time frame.

• Fully explain your answers.

If you got a perfect score however you can’t explain why the other answers are incorrect then your understanding might not be solid.

Review Every Wrong Answer

Practice Questions

Don’t look for ‘leaked’ questions or cheat sheets. Instead practise and become familiar with the themes of the exam. The PSM I exam tests your understanding of Scrum, Scrum Master responsibilities and how to apply Scrum.

Common themes include:

• Understanding the purpose and limits of each Scrum event.
• Scrum Team responsibilities and self-managing.

• Ordering and transparency of the Product Backlog.

• Sprint Goal and Product Goal.

• Understanding the Definition of Done and quality of the Increment.

• Empirical and Scrum values.

• Coaching, facilitating and removing impediments.

• Collaborating with stakeholders and delivering value to the product.
• Forecasting and commitment.

• Adapting to change.

There may be scenarios given relating to a team and you will be asked what would be the best action to take to support Scrum. You can use a methodical approach when answering these questions.

Look at what Scrum role, event or artefact relates to the question.

• Recall what the purpose of this is in the Scrum Guide.
• Eliminate any answers that introduce extra roles, events or control.

• Select the answer that best fits with transparency, inspection, adaptation and self-managing.

This is a much better approach than approaching the scrum test like a vocabulary test.

Scrum Open Assessment Score: What It Means

Passing Mark vs Readiness

The Scrum Open Assessment doesn't have a certification pass mark. It's free, it doesn't give you a credential of any kind and it's essentially a basic knowledge assessment.

The PSM I exam on the other hand requires an 85% pass mark. It's 80 questions in 60 minutes.

A 100% Scrum Open score just means you've got your question pool. It in no way guarantees you're ready for the PSM I exam.

A stronger readiness signal includes all of the following:

• Consistently 95% to 100% on the Scrum Open.
• Ability to explain the Scrum framework without referring to any notes.
• Strong understanding of why the wrong choices are at odds with Scrum.
• Practice with scenario based and time bound questions.
• Familiarity with all the terms in the Scrum Guide.
• Confidence across the Scrum roles, the Scrum events, the Scrum artifacts and the Scrum values.

Use an Agile and Scrum practice test to add some variety beyond just one free question pool. The more varied your practice, the less likely you are to be fooling yourself into thinking you understand something just because you can recall it.

Common Mistakes When Using Open Assessments

The Scrum Open can be of use, provided you're aware of the various study pitfalls.

Ignoring Time Pressure

The Scrum Open has far fewer questions and isn't quite as high pressure so people tend to take their time with it. That's perfectly acceptable when you're just getting started but as you progress you should be practising with a timer.

For the PSM I exam you're looking at 80 questions in 60 minutes. So approximately 45 seconds per question. Some of them will obviously take longer than others.

Here’s how you can get faster without losing accuracy:

• Start with some practice runs without any concern for time at all so you can concentrate on learning.
• Next, set a time goal for yourself.
• Make a note of any concepts that you find confusing.
• Practice choosing between answers that are very similar.
• Try not to spend too long dwelling on just one question.

Don't let time pressure take the place of actual understanding. Only introduce timing when you're confident in the material.

Memorizing Instead of Understanding

Looking up answers for the Scrum Open might seem like a quick way out, but it can actually give you a false sense of confidence.

The PSM I exam is about whether you actually understand and can apply Scrum, not just about memorising the terminology. Some of the questions will be about what the Scrum concepts actually mean rather than just what they are defined as.

For every answer you get right, ask yourself:

• Why is this the best answer?
• Which Scrum principle underpins it?
• Why are the other options less appropriate?
• Could I apply that idea in a different situation?

This will help you deal with questions that are phrased in a different way. It also means you'll be able to apply your Scrum knowledge on the job rather than just for the exam.

Study Plan for PSM I Using Open Assessments

A 2 week study plan can work quite well for people who already have some Agile under their belt. If you're completely new to Scrum then you'll need to allow yourself considerably more time.

For background, this guide to the PSM certification will help you get a feel for what the certification actually covers before you go about setting your study schedule.

Week One

Focus on building conceptual clarity.

Day 1: Scrum foundations

• Just read the Scrum Guide once, without rushing.
• Learn what Scrum is designed to deal with.
• Study empiricism and the Scrum values.

Day 2: Scrum Team

• Study the Product Owner, Scrum Master, and Developers.
• Focus on accountabilities not job titles.
• Take one Scrum Open to establish a baseline.

Day 3: Scrum events

• Study the Sprint, the Sprint Planning, the Daily Scrum, the Sprint Review and the Sprint Retrospective.
• Write down the purpose of each event in your own words.
• Review all the Scrum Open questions that you've missed.

Day 4: Scrum artifacts

• Look at the Product Backlog, the Sprint Backlog and the Increment.
• Learn the Product Goal, Sprint Goal and Definition of Done.
• Take another Scrum Open.

Day 5: Scrum Master accountability

• Study facilitation, coaching, removing impediments and enabling the effective delivery of the Scrum events.
• Focus on servant leadership and helping the team to become more effective.
• Review your error log.

Day 6 and Day 7: Consolidation

• Re-read the Scrum Guide.
• Retake the Scrum Open.
• Explain the key concepts out loud without looking at your notes.
• Use a PSM 1 practice test for wider exposure.

Week Two

Focus on the application, the recall and exam readiness.

Day 8: Scenario thinking

• Practice working out which Scrum Guide principle is at play in a given situation.
• Work on the questions around Scrum roles and team self-management.

Day 9: Product value

• Review Product Owner accountability.
• Take the Product Owner Open to deepen your understanding of Product Backlog and value.

Day 10: Events and artifacts

• Review questions on Sprint Goals, Definition of Done, transparency and adaptation.
• Take a timed Scrum Master practice test.

Day 11: Weak areas

• Use your error log.
• Just re-read the Scrum Guide sections on the common mistakes.
• Take the Scrum Open again.

Day 12: Full review

• Review every Scrum event, artifact, commitment, accountability and value.
• Explain each one in plain English.

Day 13: Timed practice

• Complete a timed practice session.
• Focus on careful reading (particularly with the multiple answer questions).

Day 14: Light revision

• Review your personal notes.
• Don't go overboard with new sources.
• Sleep well and get ready for the exam environment.

If you are deciding between certification paths, review CSM vs PSM. If you are considering the next level after passing, compare PSM I vs PSM II.

Exam Day Tips

The PSM I assessment is online (80 questions in 60 minutes) so calm reading and time management are key.

Use these exam-day habits:

• Read each question very carefully before looking at the answer options.
• Look out for words like 'best', 'most appropriate', 'must' and 'may'.
• Select all that apply when the format permits more than one answer.
• Don't add any practices that Scrum doesn't require.
• Use the Scrum Guide as your touchstone when the choices are very close.
• Don't let one tough question spoil the rest of the exam.
• Leave some time to go through the questions that have been flagged.

PSM I certification validates basic Scrum mastery and doesn't require you to attend a Scrum.org class (though Scrum.org very much recommend you do some training as part of your preparation).

If you're not sure whether structured learning will be of any value then read is PSM training worth it for beginners.

Conclusion

The Scrum Open Assessment is a great free practice resource for anyone preparing for the PSM I. It can be used to establish your baseline level of knowledge, identify any gaps and reinforce some of the key Scrum concepts. It should not be your sole method of preparation though.

Use the Scrum Open in conjunction with the Scrum Guide, timed practice, error reviews and scenario based thinking. It's all about understanding how Scrum actually works in practice. That's what will enable you to deal with the unfamiliar PSM I questions with confidence.