PSM I difficult for non-IT folks?

If you read the start of the Scrum Guide, it states that Scrum isn't just for IT/SW development. It can be used in all kinds of situations.

Whether or not the test is difficult depends on how much effort you're willing to put into studying and doing open assessments.

Hi Dennis

As stated in the Scrum Guide- "Scrum is a framework for developing, delivering, and sustaining complex products" so it's not only for IT folks. It can be applied anywhere where complex products are created. In fact, "IT" is not mentioned anywhere in the Scrum Guide :)

Agile is (not only) about maximizing product value through experimentation (to choose the best approach or strategy), iterative delivery and collecting feedback as often as possible to adapt (so that you're focusing on the delivery of valuable features/components and not wasting time on things that bring very little or no business value) - all of this to increase customer satisfaction, which is considered to be the primary goal for Agile teams.

Has anyone (Agile Leader, Manager, Department Director, etc.) communicated with you and other teams in the marketing department why they want to introduce Agile practices? Have they shared what benefits such transformation would bring? What do they want to achieve? Have they discussed their vision with you? Having answers to those questions would help you answer whether you need the PSM certification (once you're at least familiar with the Scrum Guide though). I've used Lean and Agile tools and techniques without any certification for many years, but I must agree that it's becoming more and more important to differentiate yourself nowadays.

In my opinion, it will be best if you read the Scrum Guide several times and think if there's anything you could apply at UBS. If there is, I would recommend going through the Scrum Master Learning Path and suggested reading here at Scrum.org before giving a shot at the PSM I assessment. You might want to attend the Scrum Master training as well. I've worked in Agile environments for several years already, so I'm not the best person to answer whether PSM I would be difficult for you or not. Generally speaking - it seems difficult due to the number of questions and short(-ish) timebox.

Also, remember that "Scrum is always Agile, but Agile is not always Scrum" 

Best,

Robert

I would encourage you to study for it and give it a try, it is absolutely possible for people outside of IT to pass the PSM. I have run a PSM course for just marketing people, and all of the students passed the PSM. There were a few concepts such as Technical Debt that they were not familiar with, but they understood the metaphor. You won't get any IT Tooling questions on the PSM. 

A common question asked by students is 'Does the Scrum Master have to be technical?". The answer is no. It can of course be helpful but also impact a team from self-organizing of the Scrum Master solves the solution for the team rather than facilitating or coaching.

There are some blogs on Agile Marketing from Yuval, one of the PSTs: https://www.agilesparks.com/agile-services/agile-marketing/

Besides the Scrum Guide, there is the Learning Path mentioned above. And the Scrum Open is valuable.

Good luck and Scrum on!

PSM I difficult for non-IT folks - No

Scrum is not a project management methodology. It is a social engineering framework designed to make your team more effective. Scrum isn't for every project. Although Scrum has its origins in software development, it's been used to successfully manage many types of projects. 

Ref: 

https://deviniti.com/agile-devops/agile-scrum-non-software/

https://www.scrum.org/forum/scrum-forum/32661/scrum-only-designed-software-development-projects

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/why-scrum-just-software-development-eugene-yap

Hi Dennis, I'm in IT but not a developer. Scrum is a framework that can and is used by any industry.  I wrote both the PSM I and II a few months ago and can't remember anything specific to IT.  It's a challenging exam but as long as you follow the recommended material on this site you should be fine.    Good Luck

I belong to Mechanical background. And no it is not tough. Just grasp the guide well and practice a lot. All the details are already mentioned in other comments. I commented to increase your morale that "Yes, a non-IT person can too" :)

Thanks for your input. 

Meanwhile I have passed the PSM I exam with an astonishing score of 97.5%. That sounds as if it was easy-peasy, but it was not for me. The exam was a bit more challenging than I have expected:

- Some of the questions I got were about specific situations in a software development team. (Yes, the word software was in the question).

- On 15 questions I rather made an informed guess instead of being confident about my choice. All that despite having taken a preparation course, dozens of attempts on the Open assessment and Mikhail Lapshins' mock exam and reading and understanding the Scrum guide.

- I felt that some of the questions were not answered in the Scrum Guide.

Even though Scrum is always called a framework, it feels to me to be a methodology which can only be altered in the details. 

The PSM I is a good foundation for me to simply understand Scrum in its ideal setup. I took it to expand my knowledge about agile philosophies and practices. As next step I rather focus on the learning environment around Agile Marketing certifications (such as ICAgile). Whether I will attempt to get these specific Agile Marketing certifications as well depends on their reputation and usefulness in the countries I am willing to work in.