Mike FrenetteManager, IT PMO| Halifax Water (retired)Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
A Scrum Master and a Project Manager are the same?
I am seeing this statement in a number of posts on LinkedIn where people are passionately debating the recently announced strategic partnership between PMI and the Agile Alliance.
What do you think?
Should all Scrum Masters now be dubbed with the Project Manager title .... and vice versa?
They are distinct roles: the SM focuses on team facilitation and Agile practices, while the PM manages project scope, timelines, and deliverables. While their responsibilities may overlap in hybrid environments, renaming one as the other risks diluting their specialized contributions.
While there is some overlap in the competencies and activities performed, a PM's competencies and activities go well beyond what an SM does with the exception of technical acumen related to the build aspects of the product worked on by the team.
A PM would also have multiple frameworks, methods and toolkits available to them to tailor and use as needed whereas an SM is constrained within the guidance of the Scrum Guide.
A PM is usually involved in the end-to-end (including value delivery) to a group of stakeholders whereas as an SM's primary focus is on the "construction" (to use the DA term) stage of delivery.
Kiron
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2 replies by Mike Frenette and Shakeel Anwar Bhatti
Jan 06, 2025 7:59 AM
Mike Frenette
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Thanks, Kiron.
This post was meant to be controversial, obviously. It is reflective of what is being said in the Agile community. Could be tongue-in-cheek, but of that I am unsure.
I'd like to hear from others who hold the same or different views.
No, Scrum Master and Project Manager are fundamentally different. Scrum Master focus on enabling Agile teams, while Project Manager oversee project scope, timelines, and deliverables. Saving Changes...
Mike FrenetteManager, IT PMO| Halifax Water (retired)Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
Jan 05, 2025 5:18 PM
Replying to Kiron Bondale
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Mike -
No. Just no.
While there is some overlap in the competencies and activities performed, a PM's competencies and activities go well beyond what an SM does with the exception of technical acumen related to the build aspects of the product worked on by the team.
A PM would also have multiple frameworks, methods and toolkits available to them to tailor and use as needed whereas an SM is constrained within the guidance of the Scrum Guide.
A PM is usually involved in the end-to-end (including value delivery) to a group of stakeholders whereas as an SM's primary focus is on the "construction" (to use the DA term) stage of delivery.
Kiron
Thanks, Kiron.
This post was meant to be controversial, obviously. It is reflective of what is being said in the Agile community. Could be tongue-in-cheek, but of that I am unsure.
I'd like to hear from others who hold the same or different views.
Anyone else? Saving Changes...
Sergio Luis ConteHelping to create solutions for everyone| Worldwide based OrganizationsBuenos Aires, Argentina
The question is simple to answer: people must go to the basement, read it and understand it. Scrum Guide for Scrum, Program Management guide for Program.
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1 reply by Mike Frenette
Jan 06, 2025 8:32 AM
Mike Frenette
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I am sure any basement dweller who did that would never say the were the same role. ;)
Saving Changes...
Mike FrenetteManager, IT PMO| Halifax Water (retired)Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
Jan 06, 2025 8:14 AM
Replying to Sergio Luis Conte
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The question is simple to answer: people must go to the basement, read it and understand it. Scrum Guide for Scrum, Program Management guide for Program.
I am sure any basement dweller who did that would never say the were the same role. ;) Saving Changes...
Is it same? No. Maybe there are similarities in some aspects but never the same. I have known people who were project managers shift to scrum master roles but they also understood the principles and got certified as well. Saving Changes...
Mike FrenetteManager, IT PMO| Halifax Water (retired)Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
As a PMO Manager, PM and Scrumaster, I, of course, do not think the roles are the same. They are kilometres apart.
I would be curious to know the response to a query like this on an Agile site, since I found the original statement on an Agile thread on LinkedIn. Saving Changes...
Eric SimmsSenior Program ManagerBaltimore, Maryland, United States
I suspect personal perspective is the primary issue. From an insider’s viewpoint (that of a Project Manager) we recognize a host of differences between a Scrum Master and a Project Manager. However, from an outsider’s viewpoint (that of many stakeholders) Scrum Masters and Project Managers are simply “the people responsible for getting things done”, and most stakeholders don’t bother differentiating between the roles. I liken this to hiring a plumber to repair a broken pipe. I don’t care if the person is technically an Apprentice, Journeyman, or Master Plumber so long as they fix my problem, and I’d refer to the person using the general term of ‘Plumber’. I think most stakeholders lump Project Managers and Scrum Masters together using the familiar term ‘Project Managers’. Saving Changes...
I see where one young boy has just passed 500 hours sitting in a treetop. There is a good deal of discussion as to what to do with a civilization that produces prodigies like that. Wouldn't it be a good idea to take his ladder away from him and leave him up there?
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