Project Manager
or Scrum Master?
How to understand the differences
Keith Richards
www.agilekrc.com
Presentation Structure
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Introductions
Establishing some basics
Three typical scenarios
The difficulty with mapping the roles
Three options to look at
Recap
Further information
Close and questions.
The webinar is being
recorded.
The slides are
available on our
website.
Introductions
• Chief Executive of agileKRC
• agileKRC is a pioneering company at the forefront of agile thinking
• Specialising in all things agile (PRINCE2 Agile, Scrum, Kanban, Lean
Startup, DSDM, AgilePM, everything!)
• Training, Consultancy, Coaching and Delivery
• Lead author for the NEW PRINCE2 Agile product from AXELOS
• 20 years of experience with agile
• Detailed knowledge of PRINCE2 with agile and the DSDM Framework
• IAF Accredited / APMG Certified Facilitator
• Author of ‘Agile Project Management’ (TSO)
• Voted ‘Most Valuable Agile Player’ UK Agile Awards.
Roles and Responsibilities
• Why do we need them?
• A common reason for failures when poorly defined
• Not the same as job titles or job descriptions.
Do we have a problem here?
•
•
•
•
•
•
Why do this webinar?
Am I just looking for a problem that is not there?
Very common question - very understandably (see later)
Frequently seeing errors here
We could all do with getting on the same page
Well at least a page
you are comfortable with.
Let’s start at the very beginning
• A very good place to start
• We need to get clear on what Scrum is. What it really
is, and not ‘ScrumBut’
• We need to get clear on work context/environments.
What is in Scrum?
•
•
•
•
•
A framework to manage product development
3 roles: Scrum Master, Product Owner, Development Team
5 events/ceremonies (e.g. The Sprint)
3 artefacts (e.g. Product Backlog)
Ideally one team, one product, one PO, one room!
What is NOT in Scrum?
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Sprint Zero, Discovery
Scrum of scrums
PM role, PMO role
A business case
The ability to run a project
In isolation you cannot run a project with Scrum
Be careful with ScrumBut – it is not Scrum.
Different contexts, therefore different scenarios
Project Environment
Product Environment
Strategic Vision
Project Governance
Project Management
Projects
Complicated
Unique
Temporary
Needs to be managed
BAU
Routine
Enhancements
Simple
Scenario 1 – BAU (‘Business as Usual’)
• No Project Manager
• The Scrum Master is the SM – end of story
• Take care with ‘Epics’.
Structure for maintaining a
product with Scrum
TEAM
SM
PO
Scenario 2 – Single-team Project
•
•
•
•
•
You need a Project Manager
Avoid a redundant relationship
No need for a ‘one-to-one’ (PM to SM)
The PM is in effect managing the Team
This may be the SM, but may be not.
SPON
TEAM
Structure for managing a project
with a single Scrum team
SM/
PM
PO
Scenario 3 –
Multi-team Project
SPON
• You need a PM ‘above’ the
delivery level
• The teams will be managed by
‘Team Managers’ who are
possibly the Scrum Masters?
PM
Y
X
Z
TEAM
Structure for managing a
project with Scrum teams
SM
TEAM
PO
SM
TEAM
PO
SM
PO
Now for the difficult bit!
• In theory, Scrum teams do not need ‘managing’ as they
‘manage their own work’ …all they need is a ‘coach’
• …but if it is a project, this causes friction e.g. ideally,
the Project Manager needs a ‘single point of contact’
(or SPOC)
• Eeeek! So what do we do here?
• Well, we tread very carefully
•
…very carefully indeed.
TEAM
SM
PO
…but it gets worse!
• Project Management ‘basics’ want a SPOC and they
want a team managed and in control.
• These words don’t sit well with many in the agile
community
• Some of the tension lies with
– Servant Leadership
– Self-organisation
My take on these two
• Go 80% on Servant Leadership
• Go 100% on self-organistaion
• Go 0% on self-direction
Servant Leadership – some words of caution
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
A lot of the emphasis seems to be on ‘Servant’
When a team succeeds it is happy to share the success
…are they equally happy to take responsibility for failure?
If you are part of a bigger picture – “who’s in charge”?
Where does ‘the buck stop’? Who is accountable?
Could you win a World Cup this way?
Rory Mackenzie (www.rorymackenzie.co.uk).
Self-organisation? Yes!
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Let the team work out how to get from A to B
But they need end up at B!
Trust and empowerment are essential….
…but we need to end up at B!
Self-direction? No.
…btw this is called ‘Anarchy’
Self-managing? …is what exactly?
How to solve it? (3 options)
• (A). The default is to have a SPOC in the team. Typically,
this is the Scrum Master acting as Team Manager
• In ‘Scenario 2’ they are therefore the Project Manager
• (B). If the Scrum team performs well it may be best to
avoid using the label of Team Manager, but identify a
SPOC (probably the Scrum Master but not necessarily)
• (C). If you do meet a very pure Scrum team then you may
need to compromise and ‘create’ a SPOC from more than
one person (e.g. PO and SM)
To recap
Be clear on what Scrum is and what it is not
Be clear on whether to not you are in a project context
Be clear on the scenario – is it 1, 2 or 3?
Be clear on how you create a SPOC inside the team – is
it option A, B or C?
• …and be careful how you do this as some tact may be
required 
•
•
•
•
This is just a view
•
•
•
•
•
Food for thought
Feel free to ignore
…it is based on a lot of experience
…and learning from failures and very big failures too
Be agile, not fragile!
Further Information / Next Steps
• Keith is teaching the PRINCE2 Agile course in London on Dec 7th, 2016.
• Next AgilePM course is on January 23rd, 2017 (Dec 5th course is full).
• agileKRC help organisations with their transition to Agile.
• agileKRC offers a variety of agile services, including consultancy,
training, coaching and recruitment.
• Public courses in PRINCE2 Agile, AgilePM, Agile PgM, AgileBA, Scrum,
SAFe, Kanban. https://agilekrc.com/public-training-course
• Find us on Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube @agilekrc
• Read Keith’s BLOG at: https://agilekrc.com/blog
• Lots of free RESOURCES at: https://agilekrc.com/resources
Project Manager or Scrum
Master?
(…or Team Manager!)
Any questions?
[email protected]
www.agilekrc.com