What Topics Are Covered in the SAFe Scrum Master (SSM) Certification?

The SAFe® 6 Scrum Master (SSM) Certification is a comprehensive training and certification program designed for Scrum Masters and Team Coaches, focusing on enabling agile teams to deliver value efficiently.

Here is an outline of the SAFe® 6 Scrum Master (SSM) Certification curriculum:

The SSM program consists of six lessons, spanning approximately 16 hours of instruction.

Lesson 1: Introducing Scrum in SAFe

• Basic Agile development concepts, Agile Manifesto and principles, and early value delivery
• Scrum fundamentals, understanding basic terms and approaches, and mapping Scrum terms to SAFe Scrum terms
• The Agile Team in a SAFe Enterprise, including an overview of the Agile Release Train (ART), integration of Agile teams in a SAFe context, and the roles of SAFe Scrum Masters/Team Coaches and Product Owners

Lesson 2: Characterizing the Role of the Scrum Master

• The Scrum Master/Team Coach role as a servant leader, enabling value delivery by developing people and teams
• Responsibilities and characteristics of an effective SAFe Scrum Master/Team Coach
• Building high-performing teams, facilitating team events, and using powerful questions to coach Agile teams
• Collaboration with other Agile teams on ART and resolution of team conflicts for optimal performance

Lesson 3: Experiencing PI Planning

• The importance of PI Planning in SAFe, where Agile teams regularly plan their goals for the upcoming PI duration
• The Scrum Master’s critical role in facilitating PI Planning meetings and breakout sessions, and collaborating with other Scrum Masters and Release Train Engineers
• Topics covered include PI Planning introduction, developing draft and final plans, working with Business Owners on business value, conducting final plan reviews and PI objectives, and facilitating PI Planning

Lesson 4: Facilitating Iteration Execution

• The Scrum Master/Team Coach’s role as a facilitator for various team-level events
• Topics covered include mentoring and facilitating iteration planning, ensuring feedback and transparency, coaching Product Owners and teams to refine backlogs, facilitating iteration reviews, relentless improvement, and supporting DevOps and Release on Demand

Lesson 5: Finishing the PI

• The role of the Scrum Master/Team Coach in the Planning and Innovation Iteration, ensuring preparation for upcoming PI and fostering innovation, improvements, and learning
• Topics covered include coaching the IP Iteration and preparing the team for the Inspect & Adapt event

Lesson 6: Practicing SAFe

Introduction to resources available on SAFe Studio to support the SAFe Scrum Master/Team Coach role

Join our upcoming SAFe Scrum Master (SSM) session to learn these topics and become certified by Scaled Agile as a SAFe 6 Scrum Master (SSM).