CSM-001 Exam Information and Outline
Certified Scrum Master
CSM-001 Exam Syllabus & Study Guide
Before you start practicing with our exam simulator, it is essential to understand the official CSM-001 exam objectives. This course outline serves as your roadmap, breaking down exactly which technical domains and skills will be tested. By reviewing the syllabus, you can identify your strengths and focus your study time on the areas where you need the most improvement.
The information below reflects the latest 2026 course contents as defined by GAQM. We provide this detailed breakdown to help you align your preparation with the actual exam format, ensuring there are no surprises on test day. Use this outline as a checklist to track your progress as you move through our practice question banks.
Below are complete topics detail with latest syllabus and course outline, that will help you good knowledge about exam objectives and topics that you have to prepare. These contents are covered in questions and answers pool of exam.
Exam Code: CSM-001
Exam Name: GAQM Certified Scrum Master
Number of Questions: 100 multiple-choice questions
Passing Score: 75% (you must correctly answer at least 75 out of 100 questions)
Time Allotted: 120 minutes (2 hours)
Exam Format: Online proctored or at a testing center (depending on registration)
- Definition of Scrum: Agile framework for complex product development.
- Pillars of Scrum: Transparency- Inspection- Adaptation.
- Values of Scrum: Commitment- Courage- Focus- Openness- Respect.
- Empirical Process Control: Based on observation and experimentation (vs. predictive methods).
- Sprint: Time-boxed iteration (usually 2-4 weeks).
- Increment: Sum of completed Product Backlog items in a Sprint.
- Definition of Done (DoD): Criteria ensuring work is complete.
- Scrum Master
- Primary Responsibilities:
- Servant leader for the Scrum Team.
- Removes impediments.
- Ensures Scrum is understood and enacted.
- Facilitates Scrum events.
- Key Skills: Coaching- facilitation- conflict resolution.
- Product Owner (PO)
- Primary Responsibilities:
- Manages the Product Backlog.
- Defines product vision and priorities.
- Ensures value maximization.
- User Stories: Short requirements written from the user’s perspective.
- Acceptance Criteria: Conditions to meet for a story to be "Done."
- Development Team
- Self-organizing and cross-functional.
- Delivers a potentially shippable increment each Sprint.
- Cross-functionality: Team has all skills needed (no silos).
- Optimal Team Size: 3-9 members.
- Sprint Planning
- Objective: Plan work for the Sprint.
- Participants: Scrum Team.
- Outputs: Sprint Goal- Sprint Backlog.
- Daily Scrum (Stand-up)
- Objective: 15-minute sync for Developers.
- Three Questions:
- What did I do yesterday?
- What will I do today?
- Are there any impediments?
- Sprint Review
- Objective: Inspect the Increment and adapt the Product Backlog.
- Participants: Scrum Team + Stakeholders.
- Sprint Retrospective
- Objective: Improve processes for the next Sprint.
- Key Techniques: Start/Stop/Continue- Mad/Sad/Glad.
- Backlog Refinement (Grooming)
- Objective: Ensure backlog items are ready for future Sprints.
- Product Backlog
- Definition: Ordered list of features- bugs- and technical work.
- Prioritization Techniques: MoSCoW (Must- Should- Could- Won’t)- WSJF (Weighted Shortest Job First).
- Sprint Backlog
- Definition: Selected Product Backlog items + plan for delivering them.
- Increment
- Definition: Sum of all completed Product Backlog items in a Sprint.
- Burn-down/Burn-up Charts
- Purpose: Track progress visually.
- Agile Estimation & Planning
- Relative Estimation: Story Points (Fibonacci sequence: 1- 2- 3- 5- 8- 13).
- Planning Poker: Consensus-based estimation technique.
- Velocity: Average work completed per Sprint (measured in story points).
- Impediments & Continuous Improvement
- Impediment Removal: Scrum Master’s duty to unblock the team.
- Kaizen: Continuous improvement mindset.
- Inspect & Adapt: Core principle of Scrum.
- Scaling Scrum
- Scrum of Scrums: Technique for scaling Scrum across multiple teams.
- Nexus- LeSS- SAFe: Popular scaling frameworks.
- Common Scrum Pitfalls & Anti-Patterns
- Sprint Anti-Patterns:
- Extending Sprints.
- Changing Sprint scope mid-Sprint.
- Role Confusion:
- Scrum Master acting as a project manager.
- Product Owner not engaging with stakeholders.
- Misuse of Artifacts:
- Treating the Sprint Backlog as a fixed plan.
- Time-boxing Fixing duration for Scrum events.
- Empiricism Process control based on observation.
- Sprint Zero (Controversial) Pre-Sprint setup phase.
- Spike Time-boxed research task.
- Velocity Team’s average output per Sprint.
- Impediment Blockers affecting progress.
- Technical Debt Poor code quality requiring future fixes.