What Are The Roles and Responsibilities of An Agile Project Manager?

Introduction:

Are you new to the world of Agile Project Management? Do not worry as this article will explain everything that you need to know about it.?

For the last 10 years, the term agile has caught the interest of many?project managers.

Agile approaches have been implemented in many large and small scale organizations, and that's why it becomes imperative for these organizations to have a?project manager?who is aware of the agile way of working and someone well-versed with the predictive life cycle approach to deliver projects.

But first, let's understand who defines the role of a project manager.

Role Definition:

Even though there are frameworks and best practices in place for both adaptive and predictive life cycle approaches.

In the ideal world, execution should revolve around these frameworks and best practices, it rarely happens in the real world.

In the real world, the organization recruiting the?project manager?defines the roles and responsibilities of the project manager.

Some organizations go by the book and follow a recommended framework, whereas others branch out and determine their working method.

In some organizations, the?project managers?are sales-oriented, and in some, they are delivery-oriented.

Thankfully, having the?PMP? knowledge equips a project managerial candidate to get accustomed to any expectations from the organizations because they have the fundamental understanding of traditional methods of project delivery and agile methodology all at the same time.

Expectations From Project Managers:

The term?Project Manager?indicates that organizations can expect this person to have a basic understanding of how projects work. This person will be responsible for project execution, delivery and overall will be accountable for a project.

The term Agile Project Manager indicates that the organization can expect everything that is included in the term Project Manager PLUS they would know how to work in the adaptive life cycle, facilitate teams, coach team members, and contribute towards ensuring that the development is done with the goal of client satisfaction.

If an organization is working purely using Agile methodology, they don't even have a term called Project. Everything is done in Product mode. But many organizations work in a project mode while using adaptive lifecycle in some parts of the project.

Real-World Example:

For example, let's say there is a website project that a company is working on. They could go for a project mode or product mode for developing this website.

If the website requirements are pretty clear from the beginning, and the lifecycle of the project can thus be predicted because of pretty defined scope, the company can go for a project mode.

If the website requirements are unclear and the website development will go on a day-to-day basis, with the client involvement in the development process, the company can go for a product mode.

But most of the time, the company might decide to use a hybrid model where there are times when the development is happening in project mode, and there are times when the development is happening in product mode.

For example, even though the website will be developed as per client expectations, there would still be a definite launch date for the website, and that's why other parts of the project, such as client sign-off, pre-planning of features, etc., would be done in project mode.

Agile Project Manager:

In these cases, organizations need an?Agile Project Manager?who can oversee the project development activities, ensure that the launch timeline is met, and ensure that the website is developed as per client instruction and client satisfaction.

Also, it could mean working with stakeholders and negotiating the project expectations, attending various meetings, facilitating multiple interactions such as requirements, conflicts, ensuring transparency, ensuring periodic demos are happening with the clients, etc.

Following that, they would be expected to ensure that lessons are reflected upon in lesson learned meetings, quality metrics, and other issues are discussed in retrospective meetings.

ScrumMaster And Project Manager:

In my observation, there are many organizations where there are Scrum Masters and Project Managers together.

Usually, the?Project Manager might be working on external interfaces such as financial reporting, invoicing, etc. involved with many agile teams and the Scrum Master is focused more on team leadership, team transparency, etc.

There is a possibility sometimes that these two jobs are done by one person. This role could be a combination of responsibilities such as understanding the project constraints, understanding the project stakeholders, and focusing on achieving the project value and taking the project to the finish line while also, as a scrum master responsibility, focusing on developing team, creating an environment where the team-related focus can thrive, also focusing on quality transparency, etc. all the time.

Conclusion:

The roles, responsibilities, and expectations of?project managers?are evolving with the change in technologies. Companies would prefer hiring someone trained in agile methodologies and knows how to execute projects using a predictive life cycle. It all depends on the perception of the hiring organizations.

All in all,?PMP? certification?can equip you with enough knowledge and skills that you can thrive in any environment, whether adaptive (Agile), predictive or hybrid.

In this video Agile Trainer, Saket Bansal is sharing the brief Roles and Responsibilities of the Agile Project Manager.

You Are Invited:

You are invited to our next webinar explorative sessions where we discuss what certification is best for your experience and background.?Click here?and follow us on Linkedin for all the notifications about upcoming open-hour sessions.?

?▄?▄?▄??▄?▄?▄??▄?▄?▄??▄?▄?▄??▄?▄?▄??▄?▄?▄??▄?▄?▄??▄?▄?▄??

Check Upcoming?PMP? Certification Live Virtual Training?Schedule, Do Visit:?https://www.izenbridge.com/pmp/online-course/

For More information:

?? Email us -?[email protected]??? Whatsapp us on (+91-9958287711)