Advanced Certified ScrumMaster
Lead With Confidence When Scrum Gets Hard
Advanced Certified ScrumMaster is a private two-day Scrum Alliance certification course that helps experienced Scrum Masters guide teams through conflict, resistance, and real-world constraints without becoming the Scrum police.
Chosen by companies in SaaS, Healthcare, Government, Consulting, Financial Services, Retail, Energy, and more.
When Knowing Scrum Is No Longer Enough
- Conflict is avoided until it becomes disruptive
- Scrum Masters feel pressure to enforce the process
- Teams wait for the Scrum Master to solve every problem
- Important conversations end without clarity or commitment
- Organizational impediments seem beyond the Scrum Master’s reach
Advanced Scrum Mastery That Builds Capability
- Guide difficult conversations toward productive outcomes
- Coach ownership instead of policing compliance
- Choose when to teach, coach, facilitate, or step back
- Influence teams and leaders without relying on authority
- Address systems that keep the same impediments returning
What This A-CSM Course Emphasizes
What Participants Will Be Able To Do
Intervene Skillfully In Conflict — Help team members, Product Owners, and stakeholders move toward productive outcomes.
Facilitate High-Stakes Conversations — Create clarity when priorities clash, emotions rise, and decisions matter.
Coach Toward Self-Management — Help teams own problems instead of depending on the Scrum Master to solve them.
Adapt Without Losing Scrum’s Intent — Respond flexibly to organizational constraints while preserving Scrum’s purpose.
Choose The Right Stance — Know when to teach, coach, facilitate, intervene, or step back entirely.
Compare Scrum Master Workshops
Compare A-CSM with Certified ScrumMaster and Effective Scrum Master to choose the right level of certification, structure, and Scrum Master development.
How The Course Works
This is a focused, interactive advanced certification course for Scrum Masters who already know the framework. Participants examine realistic situations, practice advanced facilitation and coaching, and discuss how to respond when conflict, resistance, or organizational systems make improvement difficult.
The course satisfies Scrum Alliance’s minimum 16-hour A-CSM education requirement and is designed for live online delivery using Mountain Goat Software’s interactive learning environment.
- Scrum Alliance Advanced Certified ScrumMaster course
- Delivered over two focused days
- Designed for live online delivery
- Private course for your organization
- Builds on CSM foundations rather than repeating them
- Supports the education requirement for A-CSM certification
Course Outline
- Agile principles and Scrum beyond rules and mechanics
- The advanced Scrum Master role, boundaries, trust, and influence
- Facilitation through disagreement, ambiguity, and consequential decisions
- Coaching individuals and teams through resistance toward ownership
- High-performing teams, collaboration, quality, and continuous improvement
- Agile organizations, systems thinking, root causes, and structural impediments
- Scrum mastery, personal strengths, growth areas, and continued development
Practice And Resources That Extend Beyond The Course
Participants leave with techniques and resources they can use in the situations that make Scrum Master work challenging:
- MGS AI Toolkit for coaching practice, Scrum questions, story splitting, and backlog ideas
- Prompts for conflict, facilitation, and difficult Scrum Master conversations
- Approaches for coaching self-management and team ownership
- Course resources participants can revisit while applying advanced skills
Taught By People Who Helped Shape Scrum
Mountain Goat Software was founded by Mike Cohn, a co-founder of both the Scrum Alliance and the Agile Alliance and the author of User Stories Applied, Agile Estimating and Planning, and Succeeding with Agile.
For more than 25 years, Mountain Goat Software has helped teams and organizations apply Scrum across industries and organizational cultures. Participants learn from experienced trainers who can connect advanced facilitation, coaching, and systems thinking to the difficult situations Scrum Masters actually face.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who should attend?
This course is for experienced Scrum Masters who understand Scrum fundamentals and want to strengthen their facilitation, coaching, conflict-navigation, and organizational influence. Participants must hold a Scrum Alliance CSM certification before they can receive the A-CSM credential.
What experience is required for A-CSM certification?
Scrum Alliance requires at least 12 months of Scrum Master work experience within the past five years. You may complete that experience before or after the course, but it must be validated in your Scrum Alliance account before the credential is issued.
Does my CSM need to be active?
No. Scrum Alliance currently accepts an active or expired CSM as the prerequisite credential. The prerequisite must be from the Scrum Master track; a CSPO does not substitute for it.
How is this different from Certified ScrumMaster?
Certified ScrumMaster establishes a foundation in Scrum and the Scrum Master accountability. A-CSM assumes that foundation and focuses on advanced judgment, facilitation, coaching, conflict, team development, and organizational influence.
Can this course be customized?
Examples, discussion, and exercises can connect to your organization’s teams and challenges. Because this is a certification course, it must still satisfy Scrum Alliance A-CSM learning objectives and education requirements.
Do we sell individual seats?
No. Mountain Goat Software focuses on private training for organizations. We can discuss a private A-CSM course for your company.