Free Resources
We're happy to offer several resources for self-study learning. These also qualify for Scrum Alliance® Scrum Education Units (SEUs).
Scrum and Agile articles
Notes from a Tool User, Mark Levison’s long-running blog, explores current Agile topics and mixes in insightful advice with practical application tips to help Scrum teams and individuals.
Agile Glossary and Reference Library
Jokingly called the “World’s Largest Opinionated Agile Reference Library”. The content is created and the links are curated through the lens of Agile Pain Relief Consulting’s view of what is effective in the practice of Scrum and Agile.
New to Scrum?
A whole page of free resources specifically for those who are trying to make sense of Scrum basics and terminology.
Scrum and Agile Games
Learning doesn’t have to be boring or tedious. Our brains retain more information when it’s fun!
- Online Agile Teams Game
- High-Performance Team Game
- Building High-Performance Organizations Game
Free with newsletter subscription
The following Scrum and Agile resources are available free to our newsletter subscribers.
Newsletters are sent out roughly every two weeks. You can opt out of anything at any time by simply unsubscribing, or letting us know and we’ll customize your subscription to only what you need.
eBooks
- The Guide to Effective Agile Retrospectives
- Five Steps for Creating High-Performance Teams
- A Jargon-Free Introduction to Scrum
- Beyond Scrum: Why Scrum Alone is Not Enough
- Agile Engineering Practices and Their Effects PDF Cheat Sheet
Community Coaching
Free Virtual Scrum Meetup. Kind of office hours/virtual coffee chat, where you can join in a Zoom conference and talk about whatever confuses and confounds you in Scrum. (Bonus: if you haven’t done a workshop with me yet, this is your chance to try before you buy.)
We've helped 8000+ people find success using Scrum
Proud to be the trusted training provider for many of the largest financial, insurance, software, and education organizations, as well as all levels of Canadian government.
Best training I've taken in a long time.
Susan DPrivate Client
Best. Training. Ever.
Martin DMontreal
Using Scrum to teach Scrum. Perfect.
Andrew COttawa
Insanely terrific. I have been bored silly at some Agile training classes. This was 100% interesting… okay, 98%. Very clear, Exceptional memory! I get it now - the value of a *real* pro scrum master.
Simon CVancouver
Well versed in knowledge and provided great "philosophical" thinking towards solutions to problems at work. Fun and approachable. Encourages solution formulation yourself.
Kang CKitchener-Waterloo
Mark was a great instructor! Very enthusiastic about the course and assisting its participants in becoming successful product owners. Incredibly knowledgeable and entertaining.
Elizabeth CToronto
Instructor was engaged, interesting, and fun. He included all members in discussion and Q/A. The course provided me with what I need to start effectively using scrum at work.
Erik CEdmonton
I really enjoyed my experience with Agile Pain Relief and the 2 day CSM course. It was highly informative, interactive, and engaging, even with the hurdle of being fully virtual. Mark was thoughtful, patient, and ready to answer any question that came his way. I found the workshop to be not only educational, but also a great exercise in building confidence.
Katie HVirtual
I liked him. I did Scrum Master certification with him a long time ago and, when my colleague and I thought about doing PO training, I suggested we searched to see if he was still active. We feel his experience when he talks.
Christian DVirtual
Mark's enthusiam was contagious. His energy and humor brought Scrum alive! I enjoyed the examples and many aspects we covered.
Michelle HKitchener-Waterloo
Very Charming, approachable, easy to ask questions to.
Carly SToronto
I though the class was great. I liked how the class was structured in a Scrum Agile way and how we got to choose what to focus the class time on.
Ryan DVancouver
Mark is very knowledgeable and his experience with Agile and Scrum was awesome as he was able to provide lots of tips and examples.
Sophie CVirtual
Mark clearly presents the scrum process and principles. He provides background information and stories to reinforce these techniques.
Richard COttawa
Mark is engaging, very knowledgeable and morphs to the class knowledge. His sense of humor is also appreciated.
Malisha CToronto
Awesome work on walking us through the process.
Steven CVancouver
Mark was engaging, knowledgeable, well-read and provided great examples.
Warren CVancouver
Mark was an excellent teacher; explained all concepts very well.
Jackie COttawa
Did a great job getting the information across. Provided real-world examples and concrete solutions that were helpful. Q&A throughout added a lot.
Jacob DPrivate Client
The course was very interesting and provided enough for me to start structuring my team's work along scrum principles.
Eric DPrivate Client
Knows course material well. Quick to answer all questions.
Michael BEdmonton
Fantastic course. I am excited about implementing more of what I learned.
Andrew BToronto
Mark is insightful, a pleasure to listen to, and inspires me toward making the changes needed so that I can work out a high-performance team.
Mike SVancouver
The course included everything I hoped to cover and Mark very well demonstrated its content.
Jerome CToronto
Mark was full of energy. There was never a moment where what we were discussing wasn't interesting.
Swetha RKitchener-Waterloo
Good course. In the end it is going to be us to make [Private Client] an even better company and a even better product.
Steve MPrivate Client
Very knowledgeable teacher with tons of examples and real life stories.
Alex BMontreal
The course was great and really opened my eyes on all the ways that I could help my team succeed. I like how the instructor kept us engaged, even though a virtual class, and kept as all accountable during the 3-day course.
Marie-Alice SVirtual
Mark was the best instructor that I have learned from. His style of delivery is very crisp and enjoyable. Loved every minute of it.
Rajiv MToronto
Truly an expert. Knows his stuff.
Denise AOttawa
Excellent communicator and interacts well with the class. Great knowledge of course material and a genuine advocate of Scrum.
Tony CToronto
Interesting facilitation of a topic that could have been not so interesting.
Jeff MEdmonton
Instructor kept the course interested, kept us engaged through fun exercises. I love the course content, the book. Well prepared reference.
Hulya AOttawa
The instructor was very engaging. The material was easy to understand and his approach was reasonable and made great sense!
Ashely RPrivate Client
Great speaker, insightful, willing to be "Frank" - no pun intended.
Paul SPrivate Client
Really appreciated how he addressed our questions and gave feedback. Mark was very knowledgable on the subject matter.
Kyle AOttawa
Very good presentation skills. Excellent materials for study (in class and via email). Good tips and pragmatic approach. Good experience and info from the trenches.
Luiza DToronto
Awesome. Enlightment for pain points like overtime, too many WIP, motivation, etc.
Susie LVancouver
Very good two days with excellent discussions. Mark was very adept at provoking these discussions.
Richard MOttawa
Mark has a way to engage the group that is positive and unique. His ability to be flexible in the two days with regards to training makes the course fun.
David HOttawa
Very engaging way of learning how to be a Product Owner, just like Scrum should be.
Teeba APrivate Client
Mark is great - knows the material and can address all questions, prompting us to try and answer them first! Great trainer, I would recommend him to others.
Frances AOttawa
Mark was great! I found this style easy to follow and I feel prepared.
Melanie KToronto
Mark is very knowledgeable on the subject and always had good arguments to overcome the "we couldn't do this in our organization".
Sebastien DPrivate Client
Mark did a fantastic job of concisely and thoroughly describing the POs.
Dean GToronto
Mark is an excellent instructor and has great techniques to help us understand and learn the material of the course.
Miguel NMontreal
Mark is a great instructor! He is knowledgeable and has experience, so he knows what he is talking about! Highly suggest his course!
Anthony MVirtual
Mark was very energetic and enthusiastic instructor. You could definitely feel his passion for Agile and Engineering as a whole.
William IPrivate Client
Mark is an excellent instructor, the course was well organized and well paced.
Thong TEdmonton
A +
Derek SOttawa
Mark's enthusiam was contagious. His energy and humor brought Scrum alive! I enjoyed the examples and many aspects we covered.
Michelle HKitchener-Waterloo
Very Charming, approachable, easy to ask questions to.
Carly SToronto
Best training I've taken in a long time.
Susan DPrivate Client
I though the class was great. I liked how the class was structured in a Scrum Agile way and how we got to choose what to focus the class time on.
Ryan DVancouver
Mark is very knowledgeable and his experience with Agile and Scrum was awesome as he was able to provide lots of tips and examples.
Sophie CVirtual
Best. Training. Ever.
Martin DMontreal
Using Scrum to teach Scrum. Perfect.
Andrew COttawa
Insanely terrific. I have been bored silly at some Agile training classes. This was 100% interesting… okay, 98%. Very clear, Exceptional memory! I get it now - the value of a *real* pro scrum master.
Simon CVancouver
Mark clearly presents the scrum process and principles. He provides background information and stories to reinforce these techniques.
Richard COttawa
Mark is engaging, very knowledgeable and morphs to the class knowledge. His sense of humor is also appreciated.
Malisha CToronto
Awesome work on walking us through the process.
Steven CVancouver
Mark was engaging, knowledgeable, well-read and provided great examples.
Warren CVancouver
Mark was an excellent teacher; explained all concepts very well.
Jackie COttawa
Did a great job getting the information across. Provided real-world examples and concrete solutions that were helpful. Q&A throughout added a lot.
Jacob DPrivate Client
The course was very interesting and provided enough for me to start structuring my team's work along scrum principles.
Eric DPrivate Client
Knows course material well. Quick to answer all questions.
Michael BEdmonton
Well versed in knowledge and provided great "philosophical" thinking towards solutions to problems at work. Fun and approachable. Encourages solution formulation yourself.
Kang CKitchener-Waterloo
Fantastic course. I am excited about implementing more of what I learned.
Andrew BToronto
Mark is insightful, a pleasure to listen to, and inspires me toward making the changes needed so that I can work out a high-performance team.
Mike SVancouver
The course included everything I hoped to cover and Mark very well demonstrated its content.
Jerome CToronto
Mark was full of energy. There was never a moment where what we were discussing wasn't interesting.
Swetha RKitchener-Waterloo
Good course. In the end it is going to be us to make [Private Client] an even better company and a even better product.
Steve MPrivate Client
Very knowledgeable teacher with tons of examples and real life stories.
Alex BMontreal
The course was great and really opened my eyes on all the ways that I could help my team succeed. I like how the instructor kept us engaged, even though a virtual class, and kept as all accountable during the 3-day course.
Marie-Alice SVirtual
Mark was the best instructor that I have learned from. His style of delivery is very crisp and enjoyable. Loved every minute of it.
Rajiv MToronto
Mark was a great instructor! Very enthusiastic about the course and assisting its participants in becoming successful product owners. Incredibly knowledgeable and entertaining.
Elizabeth CToronto
Truly an expert. Knows his stuff.
Denise AOttawa
Excellent communicator and interacts well with the class. Great knowledge of course material and a genuine advocate of Scrum.
Tony CToronto
Interesting facilitation of a topic that could have been not so interesting.
Jeff MEdmonton
Instructor kept the course interested, kept us engaged through fun exercises. I love the course content, the book. Well prepared reference.
Hulya AOttawa
The instructor was very engaging. The material was easy to understand and his approach was reasonable and made great sense!
Ashely RPrivate Client
Great speaker, insightful, willing to be "Frank" - no pun intended.
Paul SPrivate Client
Really appreciated how he addressed our questions and gave feedback. Mark was very knowledgable on the subject matter.
Kyle AOttawa
Very good presentation skills. Excellent materials for study (in class and via email). Good tips and pragmatic approach. Good experience and info from the trenches.
Luiza DToronto
Awesome. Enlightment for pain points like overtime, too many WIP, motivation, etc.
Susie LVancouver
Very good two days with excellent discussions. Mark was very adept at provoking these discussions.
Richard MOttawa
Mark has a way to engage the group that is positive and unique. His ability to be flexible in the two days with regards to training makes the course fun.
David HOttawa
Very engaging way of learning how to be a Product Owner, just like Scrum should be.
Teeba APrivate Client
Instructor was engaged, interesting, and fun. He included all members in discussion and Q/A. The course provided me with what I need to start effectively using scrum at work.
Erik CEdmonton
Mark is great - knows the material and can address all questions, prompting us to try and answer them first! Great trainer, I would recommend him to others.
Frances AOttawa
Mark was great! I found this style easy to follow and I feel prepared.
Melanie KToronto
Mark is very knowledgeable on the subject and always had good arguments to overcome the "we couldn't do this in our organization".
Sebastien DPrivate Client
I really enjoyed my experience with Agile Pain Relief and the 2 day CSM course. It was highly informative, interactive, and engaging, even with the hurdle of being fully virtual. Mark was thoughtful, patient, and ready to answer any question that came his way. I found the workshop to be not only educational, but also a great exercise in building confidence.
Katie HVirtual
Mark did a fantastic job of concisely and thoroughly describing the POs.
Dean GToronto
Mark is an excellent instructor and has great techniques to help us understand and learn the material of the course.
Miguel NMontreal
Mark is a great instructor! He is knowledgeable and has experience, so he knows what he is talking about! Highly suggest his course!
Anthony MVirtual
I liked him. I did Scrum Master certification with him a long time ago and, when my colleague and I thought about doing PO training, I suggested we searched to see if he was still active. We feel his experience when he talks.
Christian DVirtual
Mark was very energetic and enthusiastic instructor. You could definitely feel his passion for Agile and Engineering as a whole.
William IPrivate Client
Mark is an excellent instructor, the course was well organized and well paced.
Thong TEdmonton
A +
Derek SOttawa
Get Certified
Explore what Scrum is and how to make it work for you in our Scrum Certification training. Hands-on learning will guide you to improve teamwork, deliver quick feedback, and achieve better products and results.
Registration is now open for workshops:
About this course
Focuses on the role of the team and the ScrumMaster. Get the skills and practical experience necessary to improve teamwork, take the exam, and advance your career with a certification that is in high demand today. Often the best fit for anyone new to Scrum.
Learning and Benefits
Relatable Scenarios
Learn on-the-job applications of key Scrum concepts, skills, principles, along with practical solutions that you can apply the next day for difficult, real-life situations.
Respected Certification
Everything you need to earn your Scrum Alliance® ScrumMaster certification, including exam fee and membership, and so much more.
Practical Exercises
With focus on the challenges that real teams face, and tools to dig deeper. You don’t need more boring Scrum theory. You need something you can sink your teeth into to see immediate results.
Jargon-Free Learning
This workshop is not just for software development or people with a computer science degree. We’ve helped many non-software teams with Scrum.
Career Advancement
Use Scrum knowledge to standout at work, get paid more, and impress your customer, all without burning out.
Ongoing Support
Our active Scrum community forum is a safe place to ask questions. Long after you earn the Certified Scrum Master certification, you will have access to the forum, course materials, and additional valuable resources.