Scrum Alliance CSM Cheat Sheet

Review a compact Scrum Alliance Certified ScrumMaster (CSM) cheat sheet for Scrum foundations, accountabilities, events, artifacts, commitments, servant leadership, and empiricism traps.

Use this Scrum Alliance CSM cheat sheet to review the Scrum decisions that matter before timed practice. Strong CSM answers increase transparency, preserve empiricism, support self-management, and keep the Scrum Master from becoming a project manager in disguise.

Open CSM practice for the free 50-question diagnostic, topic pages, timed mocks, and the full PM Mastery Scrum bank.

Exam Snapshot

ItemCSM cue
ProviderScrum Alliance
ExamCertified ScrumMaster
Format focus50 questions in 60 minutes after approved course access
Practice behaviorchoose the Scrum Master action that supports empiricism, accountabilities, events, artifacts, and team ownership
PM Mastery statuslive practice available

Scrum Checklist

AreaWhat to knowCommon trap
Scrum foundationsempiricism, transparency, inspection, adaptation, values, and iterative deliverytreating Scrum as a sequence of meetings
AccountabilitiesScrum Master, Product Owner, Developers, and shared Scrum Team responsibilitiesmaking the Scrum Master the team manager
EventsSprint, Sprint Planning, Daily Scrum, Sprint Review, and Sprint Retrospectiveconverting events into status reporting
Artifacts and commitmentsProduct Backlog/Product Goal, Sprint Backlog/Sprint Goal, Increment/Definition of Doneconfusing artifact ownership and commitment purpose
Servant leadershipcoaching, facilitation, impediment removal, teaching, and organizational supportsolving the problem for the team

Must-Know Distinctions

  • Scrum Master versus project manager: Scrum Master serves Scrum adoption and team effectiveness; they do not assign work or own delivery commitments.
  • Product Owner versus stakeholders: stakeholders provide input; the Product Owner owns product value and Product Backlog ordering.
  • Daily Scrum versus status meeting: Developers inspect progress toward the Sprint Goal and adapt the plan.
  • Sprint Review versus acceptance meeting: review inspects the Increment and adapts the Product Backlog with stakeholders.
  • Definition of Done versus acceptance criteria: Done is shared quality commitment; acceptance criteria clarify product expectations.
  • Facilitation versus command: facilitation helps the team inspect and decide; command removes self-management.

Common Traps

  • Assigning tasks to Developers.
  • Letting stakeholders change the Sprint Backlog directly.
  • Treating incomplete work as part of the Increment.
  • Using velocity to pressure or compare individuals.
  • Cancelling or shortening Scrum events because the team is busy.
  • Escalating before helping the team inspect, adapt, and own improvement.

Practice Strategy

After each CSM diagnostic, classify misses by accountabilities, events, artifacts, commitments, empiricism, or servant leadership. If your answers keep making the Scrum Master the decision-maker, drill servant-leadership and self-management scenarios before returning to mixed sets.

Revised on Monday, May 25, 2026