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

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RK J Hyderabad, Telangana, India
In my project we are planning to implement the agile methodolgy in place of waterfall model. Can Project manager be the Scrum master?
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Adrian Carlogea Australia
Aug 16, 2019 11:12 AM
Replying to Ramakant Beernally
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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.
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Ramakant Beernally General Manager, GIS & ITES, E-Governance| SBL KNOWLEDGE SERVICES Pvt. Ltd. New Delhi, Delhi, India
Aug 16, 2019 11:12 AM
Replying to Ramakant Beernally
...
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.
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
...
1 reply by Adrian Carlogea
Aug 16, 2019 2:48 PM
Adrian Carlogea
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Thanks but from my experience I have noticed that many organizations don't follow the so called standards issued by PMI and others. These standards are considered the basis but each organization adapts them so that they end up being far away from the norm.

How can you explain for example waterfall projects using Scrum? I will try an explanation. A software services company has decided to do software development using Scrum but most of its customers want waterfall projects. Since the company has already invested a lot in Scrum it still use it for the actual development but working in sprints brings no value as the customer is not interested in small increments.

Some software development work is impossible to deliver in small increments since it may not be practical to split the work in very small chunks. Also the small increments may be useless for the customer they want the whole thing. Maybe small increments would be useful for testing purposes but many companies don't want small functionality peaces delivered to them.

As a company you must adapt and not follow blindly a set of standards.
avatar
Adrian Carlogea Australia
Aug 16, 2019 1:24 PM
Replying to Ramakant Beernally
...
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
Thanks but from my experience I have noticed that many organizations don't follow the so called standards issued by PMI and others. These standards are considered the basis but each organization adapts them so that they end up being far away from the norm.

How can you explain for example waterfall projects using Scrum? I will try an explanation. A software services company has decided to do software development using Scrum but most of its customers want waterfall projects. Since the company has already invested a lot in Scrum it still use it for the actual development but working in sprints brings no value as the customer is not interested in small increments.

Some software development work is impossible to deliver in small increments since it may not be practical to split the work in very small chunks. Also the small increments may be useless for the customer they want the whole thing. Maybe small increments would be useful for testing purposes but many companies don't want small functionality peaces delivered to them.

As a company you must adapt and not follow blindly a set of standards.
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