The role of the Project Manager in an Agile project

Over the last 6 months or so, I have been attending meetings of the Agile Practitioners Forum.  It has become apparent to me from these meetings that there are (at least) 2 distinct camps amonst the Agilistas as I like to call them.  One camp believes vehemently that if you do not adopt the practices of a methodology, eg XP, that you can not be Agile.  The other camp, and the one I personally subscribe to, views Agile not as a set of practices or processes to be followed dogmatically, but as a culture or mindset.

Regardless of which camp you feel most comfortable with though, there is one question that keeps rearing it’s ugly head - is there a need for the more traditional role of Project Manager in an Agile project?

Some would say that if the team is using Scrum, there is no need for a Project Manager as the Scrum Master will undertake that role.  I find this an overly simplistic view though, and what about the agile team that isn’t using Scrum?  From my experience, none of the practices of XP actually cover the need for project management.  Maybe this is why some people still view Agile projects as having no control?

Before I continue, let me suggest some of the tasks a Project Manager would typically undertake on behalf of the team, then it should become apparent where I am coming from on this entry.

Most importantly to me, the Project Manager will ensure they know what else is happening within an organisation, for example other projects, operational issues, new marketing ideas - all the things that could influence and impact the scope and timescales of the project the team is trying to deliver.  Also, the Project Manager will typically sort out procurement of development and test environments and will track expenditure against the project budget.  The Project Manager will also, typically recruit the project team and certainly should heavily influence the ethos and culture of the team.

In the ideal world of Scrum, the organisation agrees to leave the team alone for the duration of each sprint in return for a committment from the team to deliver the agreed product backlog items for the sprint.  Now whilst it would be brilliant to work in an environment like this, I have never experienced this in the real world of systems delivery.  In the real world, teams are asked to investigate and estimate new pieces of work to satisfy that new marketing initiative or to deal with that production issue that has just emerged and will cost the company lots of money.

Whilst I agree that the Scrum Master should be protecting the team in these situations, not all Agile projects use Scrum and not all organisations will allow the Scrum Master to protect the team 100%.

I would suggest that the need for a skilled Project Manager is just as great in any Agile project as for any other project, and that like any other project, the Project Manager’s role is more outward facing than inward.  A good Project Manager will protect his team whatever method they are using to deliver.  A good Project Manager will also make sure that their team has everything they need to allow them to deliver.  A good Project Manager will also make sure that they have a good team in place, and doing this means that the team can be allowed to self organise.  A good Project Manager will value the contribution of all team members and encourage open discussion within the team.  A good Project Manager will arbitrate in the event that the there is disagreement within the team to give the team a way forward.  A good Project Manager does not take credit for the work of the team but ensures that the team get the recognition and credit for successful delivery. 

A bad Project Manager on the other hand will be inward facing and will try to micro manage their team whilst paying no regard to the external factors that can affect the team’s delivery.  A bad Project Manager will not protect their team.  A bad Project Manager will take credit for any delivery the team makes.

Believe it or not, an Agile project without a good Project Manager will be just as bad, if not worse than an team with a bad Project Manager.