I've started exploring the agile world & the associated certifications (psm1 & csm are a good starter). Having read a few blogs, guides and other related artifacts, my mind is stuck on one question:
How are the estimation, scope, costs and procurement managed in Agile projects if there is no full time project manager? Scrum Master is not same responsibilities as a project manager. I read that most of the agile projects are driven by self-organizing generalists (the development team) while the Scrum Master/Agile Coach work to keep the team within the guidelines of agile framework (educating the team on agile processes, roles, ensuring the time-boxed events are concluded within the set time frame etc.). So who is managing the project/sprint delivery as a whole - check if scope is followed, are the estimates right or inflated, conflicts within the team, procurement? Relying just on the teams on estimation (schedule + cost) can lead to padding (resource might just provide best guess on how much time a task might take - making it relative to who is performing the task). Same goes for scope creep if there is no project manager to keep a track of what's in & what's not in scope (I know product backlog is the main artifact used for it but in real world, it can be a challenge to avoid influences on scope, especially when the product owner is from the customer's side).
It is interesting concept and I am sure as I continue to read I will learn more.
Any real world experience, challenges or thoughts on this?
