Can a traditional project manager serve as a scrum master?

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Amir Nasiri

A project manager accustomed to the traditional project management approach can be a scrummaster in the agile organization? This is a very interesting question, and also a question that all project managers need to think about when they face agile methods (such as scrum) one day.

When agile is implemented on the ground, different philosophies and methods are used for product development. All of this is based on lean practice. The principles of agility focus on the concepts of flexibility, versatility, and resilience to continuous change. There are many kinds of agile methods for product development, and scrum is one of them. It is an agile approach developed after about 20 years and can be used in a wide variety of projects. Scrum focuses on iterative development and incremental delivery of products. Its popularity is due to the simplicity, efficiency and versatility of the method itself. The scope of our discussion here concerns only the team.

In the event of traditional project management, project managers rely heavily on upfront details and a large number of documents. The project manager spends a lot of time on sign-up and follow-up to ensure that what the team promises in a meeting can be delivered truthfully.

The thrust of this article is not to persuade you to choose one way to abandon another. On the contrary, we are looking at whether a traditional project manager can effectively play a role in an agile environment. My answer is, "not necessarily." ”

The reason I say "not necessarily" is that agile principles and scrum methods rely on trust and the ability of the team. This requires the project manager to have excellent authorization ability. Many project managers are accustomed to micro-management, and they cannot allow the team to work autonomously. The reality is that many of them have different backgrounds and experiences, and carry with them a "toolbox" that is filled with good or bad practices. This "toolbox" may hinder project managers from transitioning to more agile scrum in the traditional way of project management.

Other possible factors are organizational environment, culture and readiness. The project manager may be psychologically prepared, but the organization may not be ready to accept such an agile environment. In addition, it depends on the readiness of the team. The team has been working in the traditional waterfall for the past 10-20 years, can they switch to the agile way of scrum all of a sudden?

The project manager must have an open mind and accept the fact that "change is unavoidable" and adapt to change. The project manager must also learn to let go and allow the team to work independently and perform their duties. Managing a project and related resources does not mean that you want to manage the team's solutions and how they can accomplish the task. What the project manager wants to do is to help the team eliminate the obstacles that are encountered on the way forward and communicate the progress of the project to the business parties.

In summary, the answer I give is still "not necessarily". A traditional project manager will be able to do scrum Master only if he accepts changes and maintains an open mind and positive attitude towards change.

Can a traditional project manager serve as a scrum master?