Why Is There No Project Manager In A Scrum Team?

Every time when we have a discussion about scrum and SAFe, we usually hear that there is no such role as a project manager. And that’s the reason people are apprehensive about the success of a project without a project manager. Can the scrum team manage to perform their tasks very well without a project manager? Is it possible?

The scrum team can work well without a scrum project manager, but the project can still stall. If a project manager is not required, then what's the best way to make things run smoothly?  In this article, I will share the experience of working on a scrum team project without a project manager.

Project Manager Roles And Responsibilities in Scrum

Earlier, the role of the project manager was to create and execute “The plan” that should be within the budget, meet the deadline, and complete the predefined scope. Project managers were responsible for managing scope, cost, risks, quality, people, processes, communication, procurement, and many other responsibilities.

Yes! In that case, the project manager was put in a very difficult and challenging situation. Let's quickly get an overview of the project manager's role and responsibilities in the scrum-

1. Ensure that the project meets its objectives
2. Defining the scope of the project
3. Changes in scope must be managed
4. Time and cost estimation
5. Mitigating and managing risks
6. Scheduling and sequencing of activities
7. Teamwork negotiations
8. Providing assistance to the team and removing impediments
9. Serving as a focal point for information on the project
10. Managing the stakeholders
11. Keeping track, reporting, and documenting

Scrum Team Roles And Responsibilities

We have looked at project management roles and responsibilities; now, let's quickly look at the roles and responsibilities of a scrum team. There are three primary responsibilities on a Scrum team: Product Owner, Scrum Master, and Developers.

1. Product Owner

A product owner is a single person who represents the business side of the project and is responsible for increasing the value of the product created by his team. By balancing competing priorities, the product owner's responsibility is to ensure that the right product is built at the right time.

2. Scrum Master

It is the Scrum Master's responsibility to help everyone in the organization, including the Scrum team, understand and implement Scrum theory and practices. As a Scrum master, you embody agility, remove impediments to progress, facilitate events, and trigger the change that improves quality or productivity for the team, the product owner, and the organization.

3. Developers

As part of every sprint, developers develop an aspect of usable increment that contributes to the product owner's goals. As a result -

• By balancing scope and schedule tradeoffs, the product owner maximizes the R.O.I.
• Scrum masters are subject matter experts in the process framework and use Scrum to help teams achieve maximum efficiency.
• The developer is responsible for a wide range of daily tasks and decisions related to a project.

Scrum teams share responsibility for quality and risk management. As a result, Scrum effectively divides project management responsibilities among the product owner, Scrum master, and developers. So, this is the only reason we don't see a project manager in the scrum team.

Because these three roles have taken on their responsibilities in such a way that the need for a project manager has been eliminated. Although Scrum teams l handle much of the project management, there could be additional coordination that might require a few extra positions in product development with multiple Scrum teams.

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Scrum masters play a vital role in the agile software development process, which helps organize an effective team of developers who work in a collaborative fashion.