Part 1: Project Manager vs Scrum Master
I was wondering how to approach the topic of the relationship between the PM and the Scrum Master. Aleksander Fredro’s poem “Paweł i Gaweł” came to my help. Even if you couldn’t recite it, I’m sure you’d remember the gist of the story. One at the top, one at the bottom. They make their lives miserable. And although the ringleader is clearly indicated in the poem, in life it does not matter who started it. The whole of the funny adventures of the two neighbors comes down to the summary expressed in the last stanza: The moral of this story goes like this: As you do to someone, so he to you.
Is this what the relationship between PMs and Scrum Masters actually looks like?
I have already expressed my belief several times on our blog that opposing standardized approaches to project management makes no sense. I perceive slogans such as “agile versus waterfall” or “Scrum versus PRINCE2” as a lack of in-depth consideration of the topic, and most importantly, as an attempt to introduce general principles where a pragmatic view of reality must prevail. In my practice, an example of this state of affairs is a frequently asked question: Who should be the leader in the project today, the Project Manager or the Scrum Master?
These are completely different roles
Let’s start with the fact that these are completely different roles that have completely different tasks. I will support myself at this point with two guides. Let’s first refer to the Scrum GuideTM. “Scrum is a framework useful in the processes of producing, delivering and maintaining complex products. The Scrum Master is responsible for promoting and supporting the use of Scrum (…). Scrum Masters achieve this by helping everyone understand Scrum theory, practices, rules and values.”
On the other hand PMBOK Guide® The 6th edition focuses on the role of the project manager. “The Project Manager plays a critical role in leading the project team to achieve project goals. (…) The role of the PM may vary depending on the organization. (…) A simple analogy can help understand the role of a Project Manager for a large project by comparing it to the role of an orchestra conductor.”
Already on the basis of these short fragments we can draw very important conclusions. The Scrum Master focuses on supporting the team in applying action patterns that support the creation of a valuable product. The Project Manager brings together a project team, which may consist of many production teams, and the project goals may go beyond the delivery of the product.
Of course, we may be dealing with small projects carried out by one team. The PRINCE2® 6th edition manual will help us understand such situations, as it allows one person to play two roles: Project Manager and Team Manager. In turn, the PRINCE2 Agile® manual indicates some consistent elements in the roles of Team Manager and Scrum Master, but it also clearly states: It can be said that this role (Srum Master) has no equivalent in PRINCE2.
Always a customer
Coming back to the question of who should be leading in the project the answer should be that both today and yesterday, the client should be the leader in the project. It is for the client that the project is carried out, within which the product is created or developed. The customer can, of course, be external or internal, but this will not matter in determining the roles representing the customer. At the development team level, this is the role of the Product Owner. We will look at what in the next article.
Author of the article: Maciej Krupa
