Moving from being a Scrum Master to a Project Manager is not a transition that I usually see – in fact, it’s usually the other way around. However, I have seen this happen more recently, and it’s a thought-provoking trend. A few years ago, I would have told you that Project Management as a profession was going the way of the dinosaur. However, that doesn’t seem to be the case after all. There is more demand for Project Management than ever before, and I’m now seeing people who “grew up” using agile frameworks joining the ranks of traditional Project Management.
Seriously?
Yes, seriously. A whole generation of new professionals has never known the pleasure or pain of being accountable to Project Management Organizations. These folks have been agile for most of their careers. And yet, people are still choosing to become Project Managers. So, why?
Why would anyone want to make this career change?
I know, I know. It sounds counterintuitive, given the popularity of agile frameworks and the speed of product development. However, not every project is a good fit for agile; it may not be the best choice for projects with physical components or those that are predictable and repeatable. The physical world isn’t going away any time soon (metaverse, anyone); therefore, there will always be a need for Project Managers.
Who are Project Managers?
Project Managers are to a project team as conductors are to their orchestras. They hold the plans for achieving desired outcomes. Project Managers are also usually responsible for delivery – their head is “on the block,” so to speak; this means their job is very stressful because they need to do everything to ensure that the job is delivered “on time, on budget, and in scope (otherwise known as the Triple Constraint or Iron Triangle.”
What’s different between Scrum Masters and Project Managers?
Leaders who direct versus Leaders who serve
Project Managers and Scrum Masters are both leadership positions. A Scrum Master is a servant leader to their Scrum Team, whereas a Project Manager directs their team’s work. It’s a very different mindset, and it’s where Scrum Masters may have difficulty changing their approach. Scrum Masters are in no way “command-and-control” compared to traditional Project Managers, who assign, organize, and manage the work. Scrum Teams are “self-organizing” and “self-managing,” so Scrum Masters may not know how to do this work.
Sole responsibility versus Team responsibility
Project Managers have a lot more responsibility than the typical Scrum Master. Part of a Project Manager’s job is obtaining the resources required to do the job, managing the budget, communicating status, managing changes, and ensuring that everyone meets their expectations. Scrum Masters don’t tell anyone how or what to do – the team figures out the best way to deliver the expected value, and the whole group is accountable.
Upfront detailed planning versus rolling-wave
In general, Scrum Masters and Scrum Teams are comfortable with a lot of ambiguity and accept that there are lots of unknowns. Project Managers don’t have the luxury of not knowing the whole plan from the beginning. Traditional project management involves a great deal of upfront planning, which takes a ton of time, and tends to be very detailed. Agile planning is more iterative and incremental and repeatedly happens during a product’s life.
Precise estimating versus relative estimating
Another difference between Scrum Masters and Project Managers is how they estimate. In traditional projects, all tasks in the work breakdown structure get estimated using hours. These estimates help derive the schedule and the budget. In agile, sizing is done at a higher level and is not precise – it’s a rough order of magnitude called “relative estimating.” User Stories are analyzed using factors such as risk and value, and it decouples the “estimates” from time.
Full transparency versus throttled communication
One of the keystone tenants of agile is transparency, which is pretty much the opposite of how it generally works in traditional projects. For the Scrum Master, their team’s work is always visible on a Product or Sprint Backlog, and anyone can inspect it at any time. There isn’t this level of trust or transparency in traditional Project Management; the Project Manager is the gatekeeper of information, formally sharing a project’s status. In my opinion, this is a tedious and wasteful part of the Project Management profession, but given the lower level of involvement by stakeholders in projects, it’s a necessary evil.
Project Management Organizations versus None
Project Management was once so popular that it spawned a group to manage Project Managers and their projects within an organization. The name for this governing body is a Project Management Office (PMO). Larger companies needed a group like this to ensure the correct projects were selected, staffed, and adequately managed. Since the introduction of agile practices, more and more PMO offices are being disassembled, and their people reallocated to other (more valuable) work. However, the pendulum might need to swing back the other way to provide structure for developing products and projects – only time will tell on this one.
More structure versus less structure
While there are generally accepted practices that agile teams tend to use, the focus is not on producing a lot of paperwork or details. In agile, the mantra is “just enough, just in time,” whereas in Project Management, there tends to be a lot more formality to pretty much everything – from the Business Case to the requirements to the Lessons Learned. If you like pushing paper and having things in proper order, then Project Management might be a good profession for you.
Resistant to change versus welcoming it
In traditional Project Management, change is Enemy #1. Why? Because the cost of change in conventional projects is so much higher. The longer the project goes on, the more expensive accepting change becomes. Agile is the opposite of this – it fully expects and embraces change – it’s built into the framework. When you’re used to always saying “yes, I’ll add that to the backlog” in agile, you’ll switch to “put it in a change request, and I’ll submit it to the change control board.” As a Project Manager, your job is to resist any change.
Complex versus Simple
In agile, the sweet spot for product development is in the complex to the chaotic range. For traditional projects, simple, well-understood, or less complicated types are a good fit. The key is that there’s no silver bullet when it comes to your project approach – every project is different, and some are appropriate for one method, whereas others are not. If you’re a Project Manager, you will succeed when a project has more knowns than unknowns, and if you’ve done projects that are similar in the past, even better.
Overprotective parent versus kicking kids out of the nest
Okay, I may be being a bit dramatic, but as a Scrum Master, I often say that my job is “to work myself out a job.” I mean that my goal is for the team to become so self-managing and high-performing that they barely need me anymore. In that case, I can go on to the next group that needs a coach and a guide. However, as a Project Manager, I feel like the role is more like a babysitter, giving out chores and making sure everyone is doing what they’re supposed to and on time. These two roles are opposite of one another.
So, why would someone make this change?
In reading through my notes, it seems unbelievable (to me, at least) that anyone would choose to make this career change of their own volition. The negative aspects of traditional Project Management seem to outweigh the benefits. However, it might still be a good choice for some people – especially people who may:
- Want more responsibility.
- Like the attention of being the primary point of contact.
- Want the recognition and reward.
- Thrive on stress.
- Like solving problems.
- Want to say “no” to people.
- Prefer being the boss.
- Enjoy the feeling of power.
- Make more money (maybe).
Final Thoughts
If you’re a Scrum Master and thinking about turning coat and becoming a Project Manager, I hope this blog has been worthwhile. These are both good roles to have, but it depends on your personality and preferences. If you love serving, guiding, and mentoring others toward success, then stick with being a Scrum Master. However, if you want to try your hand at being a Project Manager, I won’t hold it against you (because that’s what I am right now).
Now, for your thoughts. Would you ever consider becoming a Project Manager after having practiced agile? Do you see any benefits or advantages of the Project Manager role over Scrum Master? If so, what? Let me know in the comments below!