The Role of a Project Manager in Scrum

We had a great turnout at DFW Scrum last TUE for "The Role of the Project Manager in Scrum". Many organizations struggle with what to do with the Project Manager when they have a Scrum Team. Chris Eberhardt and myself facilitated this fascinating conversation. The reality is, there is not "standard" or "cookie-cutter" approach to the answer. Every culture, company, value system, etc... are a little different (or a lot for that matter). So we took the approach of facilitating conversation more than giving answers, because honestly; most people in the group have the answers, they just need validation if they are violating Scrum values.

The one big point that does apply to each company is that while the role itself is not described in Scrum, the responsibilities and duties still have to be done. Typically those duties and responsibilities are absorbed by the 3 roles in Scrum (Product Owner, Scrum Master, or Development Team). We also found some duties that aren't necessarily part of Scrum, but needed by the organization to drive visibility, transparency, and coordination. Those burdens should be placed on the team and we should work together to figure those things out and who is best to serve those duties.

There are some organizations that exist where Development (the Scrum Team) is just a small piece of the overall "project". In that case, we might have a project manager taking the metrics from the Scrum Team and providing visibility to the overall timeline for the other pieces. In Software, many of the Go To Market (GTM) activities might not involve the Scrum Team at all. As such, a Project Manager might piece together the finished software with the sales, support, finance, etc...

In other cases, perhaps a Scrum Master fulfills those duties in tandem with the Scrum Team duties. It really just depends. Whatever the case, the word "Project Manager" should not be a deterrent to doing Scrum. Scrum is very adamant about some things and does not outline a role for Project Manager, that doesn't mean that we can't figure out how to carry out the functions of the role in its absence (or presence). Be pragmatic and work as a team to figure out what works best. A traditional Project Manager tends to have duties and responsibilities that violate the tenants of Scrum. That is why aspects of that role are transferred to specific roles on the team.

Don't let compliance and other "governance" terms deter you either. Those can be built into the definition of done for the team and considered in all aspects of our planning and completion. Naturally there are some governance processes that actually hinder productivity of the team, let's be transparent about that and show the impact of the team and then have the team propose some possible solutions.

Attached is our Deck used to facilitate the discussion, the big take-away is this: "What kind of organization are you"? Each one presents benefits and challenges of Scrum.

Types of Organizations

  • All Scrum Masters (0:n)
    • No Project Managers, only Scrum Masters
    • Not the same as all Project Manager titles have been replaced by the title of Scrum Master
  • One Project Manager and One Scrum Master (1:1)
    • Every project has a Project Manager and a Scrum Master
  • One Project Manager and Several Scrum Masters (1:n)
    • Every project has a Project Manager but there are several Scrum Masters
fa0c32_726bf4ac4bae4e0882adcaaaf0754e87.jpg#asset:181

Related Articles

Organizational Rhythm

Rhythm...let's define that word really quick before we move on: a strong, regular, repeated pattern of movement or sound In music, that rhythm is the foundational cadence that allows multiple musicians to play together and deliver one common, in-tune, and usually beautiful song. If they didn't have that common cadence...

Read More

Are You Ready to Sprint? (Tips for Getting Your First Sprint off to an Amazing Start)

Getting started with Scrum doesn’t need to be a laborious process, but there are a few things you want to settle with your team before you take off sprinting. Teams that are organized around outcomes, have the right people on the team to deliver valuable work, can commit to a...

Read More

So you want to do Scrum?

What do you truly want? I have spent a career helping organizations go from whatever process they are doing to wanting to be more agile. The request typically starts with "We would like you to come in and conduct some Scrum Training". Great, I love conducting workshops and helping people...

Read More

Requirements in Scrum

Let's be honest. Most teams struggle with how to get requirements into their new "agile" process. Take Scrum for instance. Scrum says you start with what is called a Product Backlog. Let's see what the Scrum Guide says about the Product Backlog: The Product Backlog is an ordered list of...

Read More

How To Grow Scrum at Your Company without a Heavy Framework

Now that your company’s mastered the Scrum framework at a team level, it may be time to expand it to multiple teams or areas of your organization. While you may be thinking you need to learn a scaling framework such as SAFe or LeSS; there are many things you can...

Read More

We can't release until the end of the sprint...

As I work with Scrum Team's, I find a common thread in teams that believe our releases are "tied" to the Sprint time-box. This is not the case. Releases are independent of the Sprint time-box. If you have something that meets the team's definition of done, the Product Owner has...

Read More

How Scrum is like American Football

Scrum really is a team sport. We don’t win the game by individual contributions. We win the game by playing well together, much like in American football. In fact, Scrum is so similar in many ways to this sport, so let’s take a closer look. The Huddle is Like the...

Read More

Is Your Team Focused with a Sprint Goal?

One of the 5 values of Scrum is Focus. Too often, I will ask Product Owners "What is the goal of this sprint"? Their response? "To get all of these Product Backlog Items done!" (and they look at me like...duh!) My question is focused on ensuring that our Development Team...

Read More

Plan Your Wedding with Scrum

So many people think that Scrum is an IT-thing, but Scrum is such a flexible framework for managing complex products and projects that it can be applied just about anywhere! We’ve seen Scrum used in technology, marketing, finance and human resources, but guess what—it’s not just a framework for business...

Read More

Unlocking Agile's Power in the World of Data Science

In this episode of the "Agile Mentors" podcast, I discuss integrating Agile and Scrum practices in the world of data science. Tune in to gain insight into the importance of feedback, the stages of the SAS Enterprise Miner initiative, and how frameworks like OSEMN can enhance the data science process...

Read More

Beyond Software: How Scrum Helps Marketers Succeed

Just because a group of software developers popularized Scrum doesn’t mean it’s a technology framework. In fact, their inspiration actually came from a white paper called The New New Product Development Game, which had a lot more to do with business than tech. For the past 20 years, Scrum has...

Read More

Core Scrum Roles

Just like the US Government has 3 branches (Judicial, Executive, and Legislative Branches), Scrum has 3 roles. Many people compare the counter-balance of each roles in Scrum to that of the US Government. It's really about the checks and balances. But I truly believe it is even more than that...

Read More

What Does it Mean to Be a Certified ScrumMaster®?

What does it mean to be a Certified ScrumMaster® (CSM) and how will it help your career goals? Can you get hired as a Scrum Master without a certification? Let’s explore the pros and cons of certification, what it means for your career and how to obtain your certification if...

Read More

Unleash the UI/UX Power in Scrum

There is a wide perception that Design in general is just making things pretty, choosing colors and pictures. However this mostly describes the activities related to UI and does not take into account UX at all. UI/UX are often compared with an iceberg where UI is on the top including...

Read More

Stop Starting and Start Finishing

Ever run in a race or participated in a track meet? No matter how far the distance, when you cross the finish line, you’re done. It’s easy to understand and you don’t have to linger around, waiting for anything else to happen. What happens when you need to get an...

Read More