Take a look. Scrum is a project management framework that enables a team to communicate and self-organize to make changes quickly, in accordance with Agile principles.. He will do his best to ensure that quality is there by coaching the teams with the implementation of continuous improvement practices; but he will have no responsibility for the deliveries. A Scrum Master does not have to create or maintain such documentation. A Scrum Master is a facilitator for an Agile development team. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Having said that, I don’t mean the job of a Scrum Master is quite simple in comparison to a Project Manager. Daily Standups are reports to the Team (not the ScrumMaster). A common question is how do Project Managers work with Scrum. Do ask yourself if this motivation alone will last for years. This retrospective is classic in substance but different in form. Do you want to write for Serious Scrum or seriously discuss Scrum? You may be called a project manager but, in fact, act as a scrum master or a product owner. Some people never get to do this transition and keep reactions of “command and control” when they are not accompanied in this transition, . A Scrum Master’s reason of being is to make sure that Product Owner and Scrum Team are enabled to maximize the value of the product. But there’s a sweet difference between meeting project objectives and maximizing product value! This project manager will have technical and project management skills to manage an IT project; a good relationship is also better. A Project Manager will want to control the process and, moreover, will not always have the expertise and understanding of the team necessary to draw out the best in people during a Scrum process. A scrum master doesn’t manage; a scrum team is self-organizing. Project Manager / Scrum Master is not an entry role. The Scrum Master exists to serve the team, puts the needs of the team first. So, it is not easy to decide between Project Manager and Scrum Master for an organization. the developers will choose the requests themselves in those proposed by the Product Owner at the start of the sprint. A Scrum Master is supposed to empower the Scrum Team. The ScrumMaster is there to remove obstacles and impediments, not to manage the team - the team is self-managing. Scrum does not have the Project Manager role. This may well occur without the Project Manager being provided any training to take on this new, and quite distinct role. Now, you witnessed all the difference between a Project Manager and an Scrum Master. The Scrum Master is a servant-leader for the Scrum Team. But, do not jump into a conclusion that they both will not … Feel free to read our other retrospectives on this […]. Scrum Values During Scrum Events-Daily Scrum, GROW Retrospectives — tackling what really matters. This with the firm belief that you get the best out of people when you empower them. A Scrum Master is critical to the facilitation and execution of the Scrum team. That’s done by the product owner and the team. But it is so important to recognize the differences between the two, recognize where some tasks may overlap, and recognize how they complement one another in large-scale projects. The Scrum Master doesn’t support external communication for the purpose of making technical decisions; this communication in scrum is reserved for the development team. technical feasibility study and product design (specifications), ensure communication with other external teams, will guarantee the conformity of deliveries, facilitate the outside team to adapt to Scrum, the sprint prioritization, release prioritization and even roadmap at the Product Owner level. Project Managers are sometimes expected to simply take up the role of Scrum Master when their organisation moves to taking an agile approach. A scrum master does not manage risk by him or herself. A project manager will take on the risk management responsibility without asking the team. It's not Scrum for these reasons: The project manager and product owner start the release planning and ask the team if the release planning is ok. Having evolved from a project manager to a scrum master, I continue to juggle between the project manager and scrum master hats, even though I am officially a scrum master now. Scrum Master vs Project Manager: Summary. However some project managers consider like the scrum master that the human side is important for the productivity of the teams; but these common points that are not systematic depend on the vision of the management of each project manager. It may interest you to change formats. Project Manager and Scrum Master are leadership roles, which implies followers, which means you will need to have relevant experience that a team is willing to follow. Look, I know this is not what people want to hear, but it is very difficult to make the switch from a traditional project manager to a scrum master. Ultimately, the project manager answers to the customer and must prioritize their needs along with the interests of the development company or organization as a whole. However, note, that the explanation for the Project Manager role is just as applicable to ALL roles in change initiatives. And the Scrum Master will handle many administrative activities such as planning and arranging logistics for ceremonies as part of supporting the team. Many project managers either choosing the role of scrum master themselves or getting asked to take this role by an organization when organizations decide to use Scrum to develop products. The real difference is the difference between a Scrum Master and an Agile Project Manager. As more and more companies are moving towards agile project management, Scrum Master role is growing in demand than the traditional Project Manager role. If the answer is the Project Manager you can forget Scrum and ideas of a self-organizing team. As you can see, the two roles are very different evens opposite. Not sure what do you mean by “better title”, but let me tell you about the differences in their roles and responsibilities and then you can make an informed decision all by yourself. What’s velocity? Summary: The Scrum Master is not a Project Manager The role of the Scrum Master is more specific and technical than the more general role of a Project Manager. - agile coaching (teams, orga, product owner, scrum master, agile coach) The role that comes closest is the Product Owner, who should maximize value from the product. Within Scrum there is no such role for a Scrum Master. I have used the Project Manager role here for a particular reason. We purpose agile, scrum and devops accompaniment. In fact, a scrum master isn’t responsible for the success of the project… The work is completed by the 3 roles in the Scrum Team. I was not surprised. He will do his best to ensure that quality is there by coaching the teams with the implementation of continuous improvement practices; but he … The Scrum Master role and the project manager role are very separate and distinct. In Scrum, the planning is realized on two levels (levels can be added to the program level in very large projects): The scrum master will not be guarantor of the functional or technical aspects of deliveries, unlike a project manager. Although the scrum analogy was first applied to manufacturing in a paper by Hirotaka … As said: a whole different beast. But it’s important to note that in scrum, there is no official project manager role. If the Scrum Master and the Project Manager is not agreeing on something who will decide? THE reference in the field of Scrum and related practices on Medium. A Project Manager not only facilitates his/her project team to achieve optimum efficiency but also gets involved in other several project activities. A reader asked why the lifecycle in Agile Lifecycles for Geographically Distributed Teams, Part 1 is not Scrum. A project manager helps manage the project timeline, resources, and scope in order to meet business requirements. A Scrum Master is not a project manager. That’s why we make a Mood Board. They are responsible for managing the exchange of information between team members. Scrum Master vs Project Manager: Conclusion. We will see different points that show why the role of project manager and scrum master are different. Both are important. Organizations that are new to Agile and Scrum commit some deadly blunders. But what about all those project management activities if the team is Agile? Our agile coaches can help you in your digital transformation by carrying out audits, trainings, setting up a strategy of your agile transformation with many agile practices: scrum, kanban, XP, devops, lean startup, management 3.0, scrumban, kanban, agile method. For someone new to Agile, the project manager and scrum master roles might seem similar, or even identical. The role that comes closest is … So if your intrinsic motivation lies in helping others as a servant leader, then the Scrum Master role is for you. A Project Manager takes a leadership role in leading the team and developing and managing the plan. The Scrum Master should also make sure that the goals, scope and product domain are clear. A Project Manager is responsible to meet the project objective. If the answer is yes, a Scrum Master career path is for you for sure. Judicaël Paquet (agile coach and senior devops) The most common and overlooked one is the lack of clarity of the roles of the Scrum Master and the Project Manager. It calls for proper planning and considerations of the prospects involved. Last but not least, unlike the Scrum Master, Project Manager has to be a critical thinker with an ability to identify and manage risks associated with a project. The Scrum Master is there to ensure they can do the work the best way possible, making sure that impediments are removed quickly. Here are the main tasks that the project manager must handle: We could add other tasks but I tried to simplify as much as possible. My twitter profile is https://twitter.com/WJAgeling, In this periodical newsletter we will inform you about the most recent developments and accomplishments of Serious Scrum. - customized agile training A Project Manager is supposed to bring a project to a successful conclusion. However, in order to keep the role of Project Manager relevant and diversive, PMBOKv6 has introduced Agile section in the PMP exam. To Succeed Product Owners Cannot Ask for Permission! Comparison is a natural thing to do in order to relate what I am doing now and what I … In Scrum, it is the developers who become together the guarantor of technical excellence. The mitigation plan for the identified risks has to be prepared by the Project Manager so as to limit the amount of any risks a project might undergo. It was not until after I made the jump to scrum master that I realized all along, I was really more a scrum master in a project manager position. - sensitization and manager coaching However, relying on a Scrum Master is very vital to ensure the success of a project. Scrum is a subset of project management that uses a selected set of … So: A project Manager’s reason of being is to plan, execute and deliver a project according to requirements, within budget and in time. The Scrum Master should help the Product Owner with backlog management and product planning, as an expert of the tools and techniques. There is often confusion when organisations transition to an agile way of working, particularly with the mapping of roles. Feel free to read our other retrospectives on. A Scrum Master has only allegiance to the team. * A project manager has to create and update several documentations like project brief, budget, risk log, etc. The technical project manager is the person in charge of managing an IT project so that its running is smooth with a team of developers that he has in charge; he animates this team for the duration of the project. There are two ways to understand the problem of Scrum Master vs Project Manager: Scrum is a self-sufficient framework and should not be mix with other project management approaches. Role of the Project Manager in Scrum. Within Scrum there is no such role for a Scrum Master. The point is that scrum master is a role in Scrum framework and project manager is not only a role, but also a position (or a title) in a company where Scrum framework can be applied. Although the evolution seems logical from the technical project manager to scrum master at this time is not true ; some technical project managers can’t become scrum master because they haven’t the mindset for that. For those who do not […], The “retro Lego” retrospective is a very nice retrospective which offers a very different format; teams love this format because it is very fun in its form. I have always been surprised to see the importance of this often not used indicator. The Scrum Master has no objective towards the product, whether on the functional or technical aspect, contrary to the technical project manager who is 100% guarantor of the technical quality. Your email address will not be published. Differences: Scrum Master vs. Project Manager. While a scrum master is a crucial member of the scrum team, they are not involved in planning the release. Unfortunately there often tends to be conflict in organizations that has chosen this path – since the Project Managers might still be stuck in a much more traditional view of projects. Many project managers either choose the role of scrum master themselves or being asked to take this role by an organization when organizations decide to use Scrum to develop products. What Product Owners Should Know About the Scrum Guide 2020. A scrum master does not manage risk by him or herself. A Scrum Master is not a project manager. The Scrum Master will only intervene to propose solutions to go towards technical excellence in case of failure on the part of the development team. Its daily help actions will indirectly contribute to the technical or functional excellence of the product. The ScrumMaster and the project manager shouldn't be the same thing because the team needs to feel that they are accountable to the team (not the scrum master). The Development Team self-organizes their work and no-one tells them how they should build the product increment. The scrum master will not be guarantor of the functional or technical aspects of deliveries, unlike a project manager. If the scrum master have to create a real communication with all the actors related to the product on which his team works, this communication will be in order to bring these actors to understand the methodology, to approach the team …. The Scrum Master is there to help and assist with highly specific technical knowledge but not to manage the workflow. We will analyze the differences between the two roles to understand well why these roles are very different. This all with the aim that they can do their job the best possible way. Scrum Guide 2020 — How Radical Is the Change From Self-Organisation To Self-Management? There are currently a lot of discussions around the role of Project Manager and the Scrum Master and why the latter makes the former redundant! Now, we will mainly decode the practice hidden […], A question often arises in Scrum teams: velocity, a mandatory indicator in Scrum? The world of agility is a very human universe; so what better way than a good monitoring of team health? Velocity, a mandatory indicator in Scrum? - agile transformation architect Project manager as a scrum master in Agile or Scrum Team. Scrum Master is a highly specialized position which requires motivation, problem solving skills and mentorship . Project managers also are responsible for managing work packages, people, and resources, while the Scrum master does not indulge in these tasks. A project manager will take on the risk management responsibility without asking the team. When comparing the difference between a Project Manager and Scrum Master, the Project Manager has more of a leadership role than a Scrum Master. A scrum master’s job is not to manage a project or deliver status reports — duties that people associate with the role of a project manager. The project manager’s focus is on the project and making it a success, whereas the scrum master’s priority is the team and ensuring their success. Let’s look a less popular retrospective but really interesting: Box of the future. Here is the main skills for a scrum master: indeed in some contexts, the scrum master may  have complementary roles but being careful to maintain his neutrality on the product itself. Specialties: scrum, kanban, management 3.0, scalability, lean startup, agile method. We will never repeat it enough but the Scrum Master is not a project manager but a person in the service of the team to help it to be better. - agile maturity audits and situations Scrum Master is the owner of the entire project team and mediates with the customer. Here is an article if you want to know more about the role of scrum master. A mood board to follow the health of the team. © 2016 - 2019 | Myagile Partner - All rights reserved. The Product Owner and the Development Team plan the work in a sprint. Both Project Manager and Scrum Master play different roles and have different responsibilities. The team does not generate the initial draft of release planning … Continue reading "Why an Agile Project Manager is Not a Scrum Master" A Project Manager is responsible to meet the project objective. A project manager is the project lead for a product and is responsible for managing the project and making decisions. My activities in France and Switzerland: To set the record straight, A Project manager is NOT synonymous with Scrum Master. Project Manager and Scrum Master: Differences. Having lived through the change from project manager to scrum master I understood the answer. Project manager: The role of a product manager is totally different from that of a scrum master.