Defining Agile Roles

  Agile   Scrum   ProjectsAtWork  

The different roles of Scrum Masters, coaches, trainers, consultants and, yes, project managers are often confusing to organizations transforming from traditional to Agile practices. Let’s take a closer look at these titles and how their responsibilities compare to one another in an emerging agile environment.

As more organizations become interested in Agile these days, one frequently recurring question is “How do the roles and responsibilities of Scrum Masters, Agile coaches, trainers, consultants and project managers compare to one another?” The answers may be fairly obvious among experienced practicioners within the Agile community, but for organizations who are starting to investigate Agile, the differences may not be so apparent, which leads to confusion in navigating these new waters.

As a side note, I generally do not like labels, though they are a necessary evil to some degree. Whether the labels represent titles, roles or even position descriptions, the spirit of what people do —  and what they can do — is lost when applying badges, titles and labels. That said, let's explore some commonly used Agile terms when looking at roles, titles and responsibilities.

Scrum Masters

If we look at the current certification for Scrum Master, we see that it's not really that difficult to obtain and consequently isn't certifying…

Please log in or sign up below to read the rest of the article.