Agile and Project Manager
Does Agile project require a project manager?
Or, is a scrum master, who is a coach cum facilitator, sufficient?
If you search the net you will find defenders of both side of the argument but of late the pro “need to have a project manager” view seem to be winning.
Even PMI has a certification for “Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP)“.
However, few years back the pendulum was on the other side with more support for “no project manager for agile project – only scrum master / coach / facilitator”.
Why has this shift happened?
There are 2 possibilities.
- People have gained more real life experience on handling agile projects and have realized that you do need a project manager to take care of stuff like managing risk, dealing with interpersonal conflict and other people related issues, interfacing with the rest of the organization and many others.
- Existing project managers are trying to save themselves from becoming redundant!!
What do you think?
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I think the question will swing back and forth indefinitely, because it’s framed the wrong way. There are a many things a team will do to increase its chance of success. Some of those things are traditionally linked with project management: dealing with stakeholders, managing risks and issues, status reporting, coaching, leadership and so on. I prefer the question ‘does the team have the resources it needs to manage the project itself?’. If it does, then it probably doesn’t need the support of a project manager.