Curious about how Project Managers are different to Scrum Masters? John McFadyen gives us his perspective on how they differ.   

A project manager has a number of significant skills in the delivery of a specific project within a specified time frame. They possess great communication skills and often work with project stakeholders all the way through the project delivery process.  

They manage risks, costs, dependences and play an active role in deciding who should do what work and in what specific order that work needs to be done. In many ways, they are the kingpin of the project and all the elements of the project fall under their authority and responsibility.  

In traditional environments like Civil Engineering this can be a good thing. People know how to build bridges and they have been building them for centuries so project managers have great insight into what needs doing, how it needs doing, and how long it will take to complete a project with relatively accurate estimates.  

Project managers and traditional waterfall style project management battles when there are great degrees of complexity, uncertainty, volatility and ambiguity.  

In other words, at times where what is being created has never been created before or a problem that has never been solved before needs solving by a team of experts and professionals.  In #scrum, the #scrumteam work together to solve complex problems and build products and services that truly delight customers.  

In Scrum, the development team are the experts who are best placed to know how something should be built or how the problem should be solved. A Scrum Master will work with the development team to identify the most valuable work and how to remove impediments to progress that may be plaguing the scrum team.  

A product owner is like the CEO of the product and they are involved in identifying a vision for the product or service, and identifying a priority for the most valuable elements to be built first or the most compelling problems to be solved first.  

A scrum master will work with the product owner as well as the development team to create an environment where the team can thrive and deliver working, valuable solutions in relatively short increments of time known as sprints.

The #scrummaster would not bear sole responsibility for the product as the project manager does nor do they get involved in deciding who should do what. They work with the team to understand what impediments stand in the way and then set about solving those problems in conjunction with the team as well as other members of the organisation.  

A scrum master also works with influence rather than authority. They would rely on tools and techniques found in coaching, for example, to help the team find their way rather than using their authority as a project manager to influence outcomes.  

It's a very different style of working.  

If you are interested in becoming a Certified Scrum Master, visit our https://www.agilecentre.com/courses/scrum-master/certified-scrummaster/ course page as well as the https://www.agilecentre.com/courses/scrum-master/advanced-certified-scrummaster/ course page for insights into these courses.

If you like the idea of a mentored and coach-driven approach to your skills development journey, visit our Agile Coach Academy page on https://www.agilecentre.com/courses/agile-coach/agile-coach-academy/

Visit https://www.agilecentre.com for more information on Agile Centre and visit https://www.johnmcfadyen.com for more information on John McFadyen.  

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