A manager does not need to run a Sprint to get value from PAL I. This Scrum.org assessment tests how leaders support teams that work in an agile way, and it is aimed at the people who sit around the Scrum Team: department heads, programme managers, executives and coaches. It has 36 questions, a 60-minute limit, an 85% passing score and a fee of USD $200.

This guide is written for the reader who has been told that the organisation is "going agile" and wants to know what the Professional Agile Leadership I credential would prove, what is on it, and how to prepare around a full-time job. It also covers what changes at work afterwards, which is the question most pages about PAL I leave out.
Do you need PAL I if you manage people but never run a Sprint?
Probably yes, if your decisions shape how a Scrum Team works. Budgets, targets, reporting lines, hiring and the way you ask for status all reach into a team's daily life, even when you never attend a Sprint Planning. PAL I is built for that influence. It asks whether you know how to use it in a way that helps a team deliver, instead of in a way that slows the team down while sounding supportive.
Three groups tend to get the most out of it: