Can the Scrum master and Project manager be the same person or different in a project?

I disagree that there is no comparison between PM and Scrum Master, on the contrary both roles in many cases require the same mindset.

Most PMs work in matrix organizations and are given no formal authority over the project team members. As such most PMs are forced to use a facilitator rather than a command and control approach. In addition in order to use a command and control style you must be able to formulate the commands you give to the team but you can't do this if you are not also a good subject matter expert, and most PMs are not.

In conclusion I think most PMs have a SM mindset. Not necessarily because they choose this but because they are forced by the lack of formal authority.

Hi Adrian,

I answered to the question asked by Mr. Rama Kumar, he asked Project manager can the scrum master?

I replied yes he/she can able to do both roles and he/she has to act as per scrum value and principle(agile) when he/she working as scrum master and he /she act as a project manager when he is doing the project in the traditional method.

In a functional organization where PM does not have any command and control so there he/she acts as a co-ordinator to co-ordinate with the team to help and support and take the status and project and service delivery will be in the traditional ways.

Way of doing project/product/service delivery will be different in a waterfall and agile model so he/she should know both before acting as a PM or Scrum Master, is preferable to be a different person but if required PM can be Scrum Master he/she having knowledge and experience of both.

Hi Ramakant,

In software development and in IT in general it is not very common to have PMs with formal authority over the project team members and as such they must work in a Scrum Master "style" which means no command and control.

Most PMs are used to manage projects without formal authority over the project team members and as such they aleady have the right mindset for the role of the SM.

When I used to work as a developer the Scrum Masters were lead-developers with some degree of formal authority over the other developers on the teams and as such they used a more command and control approach even if in theory they were not supposed to do this as the SM is a servant leader.

There is no control on how each organization works but SM roles and responsibility would maintain the SCRUM values and maximize the effectiveness if scrum team deviating from scrum values then he should guide them to bring them on track.

The answer to @Rama Kumar Jayanti question is that Yes PM can be SCRUM master by knowing the roles and responsibility of both roles how projects will be executed in the waterfall and agile methodlogy.

I did understand what you said but I just did not agree with this "Yes, the Project manager can be scrum master but the mindset of will be completely different."

From experience I have seen that PMs in software development and in IT in general have the same mindset as SMs meaning that they don't use command and control but instead they act like facilitators.

PMs don't use command control because most of them have limited or no domain knowledge and lack the ability to tell the team members what to do. Also most of them have no formal authority over the team members, some team members may be more senior and at a higher pay that the PM and ultimately it is not their jobs to give orders and work instructions to the team members.

The meaning of mindset will be different in case of Scrum master is that delivery will be done in the mode of iterative and incremental whereas PMs plan to do delivery at the end of the projects if they are following the traditional way/waterfall model. the mindset of PMs will be taking status, following up with the team very closely, command and control, interacting with clients and managing stakeholders but in case of Scrum master it is not there where the product owner manages the stakeholders so whenever PMs become Scrum master then they have to act as per Scrum master roles and responsibility and values, they have to change their mindset as per the roles. Hope I replied to your query.

I agree with the fact that PMs and SMs have different duties and see the project from different perspectives but both are facilitators meaning that neither the SM nor the PM really make decisions but they just coordinate and help others make decisions.

I think PMs are the best candidates for the Scrum Master role. A PM moved to a SM role would have different duties but he would still be a facilitator and not a command and control leader.

Neither the SM nor the PM would tell developers what to do or how to write their code or make other work related decisions.

Regarding Agile vs Waterfall you would be surprised but I have seen purely waterfall projects using Scrum to do the software development. One project for instance took two years to complete with a single release and 4 tests releases. The Scrum teams however had their internal sprints that were completing but the work done on those sprints was not delivered to the customer as the project was waterfall.

In cases as the above there is usually a PM and one or more SMs. The PM can also be SM it does not matter. So Agile and Waterfall are not mutually exclusive. If you assign a PM as SM he would work as a facilitator if you assign a lead developer or development manager he would tend to use a command and control style of leadership. I've seen this happen.

It seems some understanding gaps, it is not important how you are following are doing or how your organization following up, you have to follow the standards which are used worldwide and go through PMBOK, agile guide and SCRUM guide to understanding the understanding gaps and to be implemented for better result.

go through the link for better understanding and also much other stuff available online to refer to fill the understanding gaps:

https://www.projectmanagement.com/contentP...sted%20below%2E