Certified Scrum Professional - Scrum Master

Certified Scrum Professional - Scrum Master

Certified Scrum Professional - Scrum Master Logo

The Grow-Lean Certified Scrum Professional Scrum Master (CSP-SM) builds on the A-CSM to complete the Scrum Alliance Scrum Master Path to CSP. After completing this workshop you will be able to pursue Guide level certifications like the CST, CTC or CEC.

Our CSP-SM is 100% live, completely interactive and slide-free. It is delivered online using the tools Mural and Mentimeter. You will learn from the industry’s most experienced CSP-SM Trainer, Arlen Bankston, as well as other advanced attendees.

Find out more about the Certified Scrum Professional - Scrum Master training.

Student Testimonials

Vetted reviews from class attendees

4.89 - 206 reviews
5.00 - 72 reviews
4.90 - 521 reviews

Arlen Bankston's Testimonials

Key Details

The richest CSP-SM course taught by a deeply experienced and engaging expert

Live and Interactive

Unlike other companies where you mostly study alone, this is a live online class, with deep interaction, numerous exercises and the opportunity to learn from your peers.

  • You leave with practical techniques to address your work challenges.
  • You are positioned for journey to guide level certifications including the Certified Scrum Trainer (CST), Certified Team Coach (CTC) and Certified Enterprise Coach (CEC). These certifications are highly respected in the agile community and at present, less than 1,000 people worldwide have reached the Guide level.

Engaging and Practical

  • Experience a blend of exercises, real-world case studies, engaging games, short videos and more.
  • Oscillate between theory and application to illustrate the wide gulf between what is possible in truly agile teams and organizations and the way that they often perform in today’s business environments.
  • See how tools like the ones used in class can also be used to collaborate and communicate more fluidly with both your teams and your stakeholders.
  • Leave ready to take your team to the next level through pragmatic tips and stories of transformation from the instructor’s two decades of consulting experience, as well as learning from often equally experienced fellow students.

Arlen Bankston

CST | CSP-SM | CSP-PO | CAL | A-CSM | CSM | A-CSPO | CSPO | LSS MB | SAFe SPC5

Arlen Bankston, a pioneering figure in the agile movement, was one of the first to integrate lean systems thinking and user experience practices with agile software development methodologies. His innovative approach has left a lasting impact on the field.

Currently, Arlen is a sought-after coach and trainer, specializing in advanced courses such as the Advanced CSPO, Certified Scrum Professional PO, Certified Scrum Professional - ScrumMaster, Certified Agile Leadership Essentials and Team, as well as custom sessions including the Grow-Lean Remote and Hybrid Work. His expertise extends beyond the realm of software, exploring Lean, Six Sigma, BPM and other process management and systems thinking approaches to provide organizations with a comprehensive perspective.

Arlen's journey in the agile world began with his early involvement in the Scrum Alliance (member number 41) and as one of the first Certified Scrum Trainers . He further expanded his knowledge by becoming a Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt during his six-year tenure leading a Lean-Agile practice. His entrepreneurial spirit led him to co-found the consultancy LitheSpeed, which he successfully led for fifteen years before joining Grow-Lean.

Known for his thought leadership and dynamic, entertaining, and practical training style, Arlen has trained and mentored thousands of ScrumMasters, Product Owners, team members and executives. He designed the Agile Leadership Academy to address the leadership and structural challenges that many successful companies still face.

Arlen's client list spans across every industry and includes notable names such as RBC, Monster, Marriott, NBC Universal, CNBC, NGA, Capital One, T. Rowe Price, Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae and the Armed Forces Benefits Association. His book “HR and the Agile Organization” provides valuable insights on how human resources departments can adapt to support organizations striving for adaptability while enhancing employee engagement and retention.

Have a Visa or Mastercard Credit Card?
Pay in up to 12 installments by choosing Splitit at checkout.
You pay zero interest!

Session Schedule

Certified Scrum Professional - Scrum Master (CSP-SM)

Three 5-hour sessions - Live Online
Trainer: Arlen Bankston

Tue
26
Mar
Thu
28
Mar
USD 1,495
8:00 AM - 1:00 PM (EDT)
USD 1,295
Live Online / Virtual
valid till 22 Mar
Arlen Bankston
$108 a month
8:00 AM (EDT)
1:00 PM (EDT)
USD 1,495 USD 1,295
valid till 22 Mar
Two 8-hour sessions - Live Online
Trainer: Arlen Bankston

Thu
2
May
Fri
3
May
USD 1,495
10:00 AM - 6:00 PM (EDT)
USD 1,295
Live Online / Virtual
valid till 30 Mar
Arlen Bankston
$108 a month
10:00 AM (EDT)
6:00 PM (EDT)
USD 1,495 USD 1,295
valid till 30 Mar
Two 8-hour sessions - Live Online
Trainer: Arlen Bankston

Thu
16
May
Fri
17
May
USD 1,495
9:30 AM - 5:30 PM (EDT)
USD 1,295
Live Online / Virtual
valid till 6 Apr
Arlen Bankston
$108 a month
9:30 AM (EDT)
5:30 PM (EDT)
USD 1,495 USD 1,295
valid till 6 Apr
Two 8-hour sessions - Live Online
Trainer: Arlen Bankston

Mon
27
May
Tue
28
May
USD 1,495
10:00 AM - 6:00 PM (EDT)
USD 1,295
Live Online / Virtual
valid till 6 Apr
Arlen Bankston
$108 a month
10:00 AM (EDT)
6:00 PM (EDT)
USD 1,495 USD 1,295
valid till 6 Apr
Two 8-hour sessions - Live Online
Trainer: Arlen Bankston

Mon
3
Jun
Tue
4
Jun
USD 1,495
10:00 AM - 6:00 PM (EDT)
USD 1,295
Live Online / Virtual
valid till 6 Apr
Arlen Bankston
$108 a month
10:00 AM (EDT)
6:00 PM (EDT)
USD 1,495 USD 1,295
valid till 6 Apr
Two 8-hour sessions - Live Online
Trainer: Arlen Bankston

Thu
13
Jun
Fri
14
Jun
USD 1,495
10:00 AM - 6:00 PM (EDT)
USD 1,295
Live Online / Virtual
valid till 6 Apr
Arlen Bankston
$108 a month
10:00 AM (EDT)
6:00 PM (EDT)
USD 1,495 USD 1,295
valid till 6 Apr

What You Learn

How to become a great ScrumMaster and Coach.

Lean Thinking

Explore lean principles that explain and expand upon key aspects of agile methods, applying them to a variety of real-world situations ranging from product designand portfolio management to team structures and organizational change management.

Advanced Agile Facilitation

Experience a range of different facilitation techniques that can be used to foster effective team and stakeholder interactions, addressing common issues likepower dynamics and role disparities.

Advanced Agile Coaching

Investigate how organizational development, professional coaching and behavioral modeling techniques can amplify your coaching effectiveness.

Team Dynamics & Effectiveness

Practice techniques to support the development of self-managing teams and adaptive organizations, focusing on ways to deal with difficult situations.

Starting New Agile Teams

See how different team structures, role definitions, working agreements and more can affect team effectiveness, and learn how to launch new projects with alignment and clarity.

Software Craftsmanship

Learn about advanced agile engineering techniques and ways to introduce and promote them within your teams.

Coaching the Developers

Find out how to connect team members beyond the transactional level, creating closer connections, better flow, consistent quality and higher trust.

Coaching the Product Owner

Use techniques like value stream and customer journey mapping to align Product Owners and teams against tangible goals and manage risky product assumptions.

Organizational Development

Learn how to visualize a complex adaptive system like your organization and run defensible experiments to improve it.

Scaling

Learn how to scale pragmatically with a proper balance of forward planning and adaptive approaches.

Upgrade and Expand Your Agile Toolbox

Go beyond basic and often misused agile tools.

Story Point Confusion?

Are Story Points stressing out your teams and confusing your stakeholders?

We’ll show you several other ways to estimate work based on what you’re trying to accomplish (e.g. sizing a project, splitting stories, loading the Sprint, forecasting, reporting etc). We’ll even explore some situations where you might not need to estimate at all! We’ve worked directly with the authors of techniques like story points, user stories and Kanban, applying each in many real-world projects, and we understand when and how they work as well as when they don’t.

Ineffective Retros?

Are your Retrospectives stale and ineffective at driving real improvement?

We’ll explore numerous ways to enhance the design, facilitation and follow-through of retros, practicing several truly engaging ways to run them in class. We’ll also provide a wealth of ideas for how you can tune retros to your specific context and create custom templates that hone in on problems that really matter. Finally, we’ll show how to ensure that true improvement happens on a regular basis, as many retros are more talk than action.

Scaling Issues?

Is your scaling approach a huge morale-sapping monstrosity?

We’ll dive into five different scaling methods to compare and contrast them, showing how you can pick and choose practices to build a development process that fits your organizational challenges and culture without being overwrought, slow and disempowering. Some of these methods are quite popular and some are lesser known, so you will definitely walk away with a few fresh tools and very different ways to think about optimizing large-scale delivery.

Framework confusion?

Are you confused on how to blend principles from XP, Kanban, DevOps, Lean and Lean Startup?

We’ll dive into popular methods beyond Scrum. For XP and DevOps we will look at engineering disciplines and continuous delivery. For Kanban we will explore visualization and creating flow. For Lean we will understand how Lean principles can be applied to knowledge work. For Lean Startup®we will cover how to apply build-measure-learn loops to pivot the business case and improve outcomes. You will leave ready to go beyond Scrum with a variety of practices.

Why Choose This Session?

You made it this far in your education journey. You know the trainer makes a difference. Choose Arlen and his 25 years agile experience.

  • Get Arlen Bankston one of first to deliver the CSP-SM.
  • Receive the best value in advanced CSP-SM training.
  • Participate in deep discussions.
  • Benefit from a 100% live session (beware of offline variants).
  • Learn from case studies and real-life examples.
  • Everything covered with no hidden cost.
  • Receive meaningful answers to questions.
  • Have fun and enjoy the session.

Why Choose Grow-Lean?

Longest tenured trainers, smaller classes and higher quality.

  • Small group of elite, experienced, practical agile trainers.
  • The highest quality for a fair price.
  • Caring customer support before and after training.
  • Interactive class experience.
  • Everything is included. No hidden fees!
  • Trainers are actual practitioners. Don't trust talking heads!
  • Unique training material, templates and approaches.
  • Small class size so you get personal attention.
Want to bring a training to your team or organization?
Contact us to discuss options for private workshops.

Training Discounts

A variety of discounts to fit your situation.

Request your discount on the session (a class on date/time with a trainer) you want. If more than one discount applies explain in your comments.

For Grow-Lean Alumni, log in or use your account email when registering, and receive an automatic discount. If you also qualify for another discount, request it, and as long as your email matches we know you are an alumni.

You can pay in up to 12 installments by choosing Splitit at checkout.

After entering your request you may email us at Grow-Lean-Training@Grow-Lean.Com or call us +1.609.975.9294 for questions.

If you have a Visa or Mastercard credit card you can pay in up to 12 monthly installments. There are no fees or interest if you pay on time! Your available credit must be enough to cover the full cost and there is a hold on your credit card for the amount that you have not paid.

For example, if your final fee is $1,000 and you chose 10 installments:

  • You would pay $100 today and have a $900 hold placed on your credit card.
  • The following month your credit card would be charged another $100 and the hold would be reduced to $800.
  • Each month you pay $100 and each month the hold is reduced by $100.

If you are not familiar with the term "hold" this is similar to what hotels do when you check in, to cover extra expenses you may incur including the mini bar.

The benefit to you is that you do not pay any interest or fees if all payments are on time.

Find Session

Find the session you want on the class list, then click "Discounts" link. Early-bird discounts do not need to be requested.

Choose Discounts

You will be on the discounts tab for the class.

Select Discount

Choose the appropriate discount then click the link for it. Not all discounts are available for all sessions.

Enter & Submit

Provide the requested information then click "Submit".

Early Bird
Early Bird

Combines With: Everything

Able to register in advance?

The Early Bird discount is available on many of classes.

There is no need to request it. Simply register while it is available.

If you receive another discount it will combine with the Early Bird.

Out of Pocket
Out of Pocket

Combines With: Alumni, Early Bird

Paying yourself and won't be reimbursed?

The Out of Pocket is for you if you won't be reimbursed. If you are unemployed, a military veteran, or a student request the appropriate discount.

Choose a specific session (class on a date with a trainer), click on Discounts, and complete the request form. If you are not sure of the date, choose a session and explain in the comments.

Group & Private
Group & Private

Combines With: Early Bird

Bringing friends or colleagues to one or more sessions or want a private session?

The Group and Private Discounts are for sending three or more attendees to one or more events or for private events (i.e. just for your team).

To request, choose a session (class on a date with a trainer) you are interested in, click the Discount Link, and when filling out the form describe your situation.

Our Training Team will reach out to you.

Alumni
Alumni

Combines With: Early Bird, Hardship, Out of Pocket, Student, Veteran

Get 5% off for each public session, over $495, you took with us, up to 20%.

The Alumni Discount provides you discounted rates to future Grow-Lean training.

For each Grow-Lean session* you take with us, at a rate of $495 or above, you accumulate another 5% off of a future training, up to 20% off*.

* We have a small number of partner events where the alumni discount does not apply.

Hardship
Hardship

Combines With: Early Bird, Alumni

Suffering an economic hardship and able to provide an unemployment notice or separation agreement?

The Hardship Discount is for you if you are suffering an economic hardship and are able to provide an unemployment notice or separation agreement and are not being reimbursed.

Choose a specific session (class on a date with a trainer), click on Discounts, and complete the request form. If you are not sure of the date, choose a session and explain in the comments.

Student & Educator
Student & Educator

Combines With: Early Bird

Are you a full-time student or educator, with a .edu email address?

The Student Discount is for you if you are a full-time student or educator with a .edu email address.

Choose a specific session (class on a date with a trainer), click on Discounts, and complete the request form. If you are not sure of the date, choose a session and explain in the comments.

When completing the request tell us your major and expected graduation date or explain what you teach and where.

Military & Veteran
Military & Veteran

Combines With: Early Bird

Are you active duty military or a veteran?

The Military / Veteran Discount is applicable if you are active duty, reserve, or retired from the military.

Choose a specific session (class on a date with a trainer), click on Discounts, and complete the request form. If you are not sure of the date, choose a session and explain in the comments.

When completing the request tell us if you will be reimbursed or not.

Have a Visa or Mastercard Credit Card?
Pay in up to 12 installments by choosing Splitit at checkout.
You pay zero interest!

What You Get

Everything you need to complete the Path to CSP-SM.

Live On-Line Training
Fully live and interactive. Many other classes use canned videos. You can use YouTube for that!
Certification Fees
All fees to get you certified are covered. There are no additional or surprise charges.
CSP Scrum Master Certification
Path to CSP - Certified Scrum Professional Scrum Master (CSP-SM) Certification which is good for two years.
CSM and A-CSM Renewal
All of your other Scrum Alliance certs, including the CSM and A-CSM are renewed for two years. No need to pay any additional fees to the Scrum Alliance and no need to collect and record SEUs.
One Free Class Retake
Hear perspectives from new classmates. Retake a CSP-SM for free within 120 days as long as we continue to deliver this session.
Two Year Scrum Alliance Membership
You receive a two-year membership with the Scrum Alliance which gives you access to member-only content and discounted access to Scrum Gathering events.
Alumni Discount
Take one training of $500 or more and get 5% off, two get 10% off, three get 15%, all the way up to 25% off.
16 PMI PDUs
Get 16 Project Management Institute (PMI) Professional Development Units (PDUs) to help meet your PMI continuing education requirements.

Earning Your Certification

The Certified Scrum Professional - ScrumMaster.

Certified Scrum Professional - Scrum Master Logo

Taking the session earns you the coveted CSP-SM Certification if you meet the requirements.

  • Attend class (at least 14 hours).
  • Have a Scrum Alliance® A-CSM Certification.
  • Can validate at least 24 months in the role of Scrum Master over the last five years.

Earning the CSP-SM allows you to pursue guide level certifications. At present, less than a 1,000 individuals at this level.

  • Certified Scrum Trainer (CST).
  • Certified Enterprise Coach (CEC).
  • Certified Team Coach (CTC).
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