SAFe® Advanced Scrum Master

Summary

This two-day course prepares current Scrum Masters for their leadership role in facilitating Agile team, program, and enterprise success in a Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe®) implementation.

The course covers facilitation of cross-team interactions in support of program execution and relentless improvement. It enhances the Scrum paradigm with an introduction to scalable engineering and DevOps practices, the application of Kanban to facilitate the flow of value, and supporting interactions with architects, product management, and other critical stakeholders in the larger program and enterprise contexts. The course also offers actionable tools for building high-performing teams and explores practical ways of addressing Agile and Scrum anti-patterns in the enterprise.

Learning Goals

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To perform the role of a SAFe® Advanced Scrum Master attendees should be able to:

  1. Apply SAFe principles to facilitation, enablement, and coaching in a multi-team environment
  2. Build a high-performing team and foster relentless improvement at scale
  3. Address Agile and Scrum anti-patterns
  4. Support the adoption of engineering practices, DevOps, and Agile architecture
  5. Learn to apply Kanban eXtreme Programming (XP) frameworks to optimize flow and improve the team’s work
  6. Facilitate program planning, execution, and delivery of end-to-end systems value
  7. Support learning through participation in Communities of Practice and innovation cycles

Topics Covered

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  1. Exploring the Scrum Master role in the SAFe enterprise
  2. Applying SAFe Principles: A Scrum Master’s perspective
  3. Exploring Agile and Scrum anti-patterns
  4. Facilitating program execution
  5. Improving flow with Kanban and XP
  6. Building high-performing teams
  7. Improving program performance with Inspect and Adapt

What Attendees Get

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The class registration includes:

  1. Attendee workbook
  2. Preparation and eligibility to take the SAFe® Advanced Scrum Master (SASM) exam
  3. One-year membership to the SAFe Community Platform
  4. Course certificate of completion

Attendees must attend both days of the course in order to qualify for the exam.

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Who will benefit?

The following individuals will benefit from this course:

  1. Program or Project Manager
  2. Scrum Master
  3. Release Train Engineer
  4. Business Analyst
  5. Agile Coach
  6. SAFe Program Consultant
  7. Consultant
  8. Product Manager
  9. Product Owner
  10. Program Manager
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Prerequisites

All are welcome to attend the course, regardless of experience.

However, having one or more of the following certifications is highly recommended for those who intend to take the SAFe® Advanced Scrum Master (SASM) certification exam:

  1. SAFe® Scrum Master (SSM) certification
  2. Certified Scrum Master (CSM) certification
  3. Professional Scrum Master (PSM) certification

Professional Development Units (PDUs)
and Scrum Education Units (SEUs)

Attendees may be eligible to apply for 15 PDUs toward their continuing education requirements with the Project Management Institute (PMI) for PMP, PgMP, and PMI-ACP certifications.

Attendees may be eligible to apply for SEUs under Category C, toward earning or renewing their CSP through Scrum Alliance.

Activity Number SAFeScrumMaster Duration 2 days
PMI Certification Technical Leadership Strategic Total
PMP® 12.00 2.25 0.75 15.00
PgMP® 12.00 2.25 0.75 15.00
PMI_RMP® 0.00 2.25 0.75 3.00
PMI_SP® 0.00 2.25 0.75 3.00
PMI_ACP® 12.00 2.25 0.75 15.00
PfMP® 0.00 2.25 0.75 3.00
PMI_PBAsm 0.00 2.25 0.75 3.00
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Exam & Certification Details

Exam prerequisite skills
 Experience working in a Lean-Agile environment

Exam requirements
The first step toward becoming a Certified SAFe® Advanced Scrum Master is to attend the SAFe® Advanced Scrum Master course. This is a requirement, because attending the course provides access to all the study materials and the exam. Note that attending the course does not guarantee passing the exam.


Exam details

  1. Exam name – SAFe® Advanced Scrum Master Exam
  2. Exam format – Multiple choice; Multiple select
  3. Exam delivery – Web-based (single-browser), closed book, no outside assistance, timed
  4. Exam access – Candidates can access the exam within the SAFe Community Platform upon completion of the SAFe® Advanced Scrum Master course
  5. Exam duration – Once the exam begins, candidates have 120 minutes (2 hours) to complete the exam
  6. Number of questions – 60
  7. Passing score – SASM = 44 out of 60 (73%)
  8. Language – English
  9. Exam cost – First exam attempt is included as part of the course registration fee if the exam is taken within 30 days of course completion. Each retake attempt costs $50.
  10. Retake policy – Second attempt on exam (first retake) can be done immediately after first attempt. Third attempt requires a 10-day wait. Fourth attempt requires a 30-day wait.

Exam study materials

The exam is designed to measure knowledge and skill related to the job role. We highly recommend candidates use a variety of resources to prepare for this exam including:

  1. Course materials – The course materials are an essential artifact from the course and can be downloaded from the SAFe Community Platform. These materials can be used to refer back to the content that was presented during the class.
  2. Study guide – This comprehensive guide details the job role and all resources related to the exam, including a detailed reading list. Access is available through the Learning Plan in the SAFe Community Platform upon course completion.
  3. Practice test – The practice test is designed to be predictive of success on the certification exam,* and it has the same number of questions, level of difficulty, and time duration. It is part of the Learning Plan in the SAFe Community Platform and can be taken an unlimited number of times at no cost. *This is not the actual exam, and passing it does not guarantee success on the certification exam.
  4. Sample Questions – A web-enabled, flashcard style version of the sample questions can be found online and in the study guide.

What you get

Becoming a Certified SAFe Advanced Scrum Master requires an exceptional range of skills and is a career path for many scrum masters. Certification includes:

  1. Certified SAFe® Advanced Scrum Master PDF certificate
  2. Certified SAFe® Advanced Scrum Master digital badge to promote the accomplishment online
  3. One-year membership to the SAFe Community Platform, which includes access to the SASM Community of Practice
  4. Access to Meetup groups and events that provide connections to other Certified SAFe Professionals
  5. A variety of learning resources to support certified professionals during their SAFe journey
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