Scum Master v/s Project Manager – Key differences

Often, we come across these two words in industries – Scrum Master and Project Manager. Though, both of these roles contribute to the projects. But, they add some confusion to the young professionals who have stepped into the project management world recently. It applies to freshers too, who are planning to build their careers in project management. They remain concerned about, which role should they choose to make the career? In fact, they struggle to understand, whether there is any difference in these roles or are they the same? And if they are the same, why are they named different? Some people consider Scrum Master as the Project Manager in an agile environment. To some extent, they are true, but not completely. Though, these two roles somewhere overlap to a certain extent. They are far different from each other. Scrum Master contributes to agile projects supported by Scrum project management principles; whereas Project Manager often focuses on traditional disciplined project management principles. This article uncovers the differences between these two roles. If you are a Project Manager currently, or you are willing to become a scrum master or vice versa. Scrum Masters can be project managers, and project managers can be Scrum masters, but they’re not the same thing. A Scrum Master is a role embedded specifically on a Scrum team, whereas a project manager refers to the professional leading virtually any type of project. And while a Scrum Master’s primary focus is leading a team to follow Scrum principles, a project manager is occupied with the logistical aspects—the budgets, schedules, communication plans—in addition to keeping their team on track and motivated.While a Scrum master makes sure their team follows Scrum principles, project managers oversee the entirety of a project, including logistics like budget and risk. Scrum Masters and project managers can both be critical to the successful completion of a project. It’s not uncommon for Scrum Masters and project managers to work on projects together, but when you compare Scrum Master vs. project manager roles, there are clear differences.

Let’s have a look at them.

What Is a Scrum Master?

A Scrum Master works with a Scrum team to guide the teammates through creating large products in short cycles or iterations. This involves tackling tasks from a backlog of planned work, assessing each completed step and perfecting the work to reach set goals.

Scrum Masters ensure that their Scrum teams adhere to Scrum principles to achieve the best results in product development. The Scrum Master is a person, who ensures that scrum principles are being followed. He/She ensures the scrum team's adherence to "Scrum" during agile projects. Before understanding further about agile scrum master, let’s know about Scrum.

What is Scrum Project Management?

Scrum is not a tool or technique used in agile projects. Rather it’s a framework – agile project management with Scrum. Scrum framework allows people: to address complex problems with agility, and to deliver high-value products. Primarily, the Scrum framework is used in complex product development scenarios. Scrum defines some set rules and principles to follow in agile adaptive product development. Scrum Master is the key person of the scrum team, who is more like a servant leader for his/her core scrum team. He/She takes the onus to ensure that scrum rules are well understood and enacted by the team. He/She always makes efforts to ensure that scrum team is adhering to scrum principles. Agile practices and scrum rules are completely maintained. In other words, a Scrum Master is the scrum manager in adaptive iterative projects. His/Her main goal is to maximize the value created by his/her team in agile projects.

Scrum Master Role and Responsibilities

·         Scrum Masters work within the Scrum framework, using Agile methodologies to guide their teams toward specific goals. Below are a Scrum Master’s typical responsibilities.

·         Keep a Scrum team on task and ensure team members are producing high-quality work while following Scrum principles. Have a thorough understanding of Scrum principles and Agile methodology as they pertain to product development.

·         Guide Scrum teams as they work through sprint backlogs to reach each sprint’s goals.

·         Facilitate daily Scrum meetings to assess the progress the team has made toward the set goals, and make adjustments if needed.

·         Maintain communication with product development teams to meet any challenges or problems head-on. Resolve any issues that could stall the product development process.

Scrum Master responsibilities towards Development Team

·         Mentoring and coaching the team to follow scrum rules.

·         Helps to remove roadblocks and impediments to aid in the team’s progress.

·         Helps the team to deliver high-value results and maintain team dynamics.

·         Facilitates scrum events and scheduling scrum meetings.

·         Coaching and handholding the team to adopt scrum framework. Especially if the team is new to scrum rules.

·         Also, a Scrum Master plans for scrum implementation in the organizations and helps people who are stepping into an agile environment or scrum adoption.

·         Hence, Scrum Master provides the facilitation to the scrum team. He/She tries to maximize the value created by his/her team. He/She acts as a coach or scrum guardian to the scrum team to ensure their adherence to the Scrum framework.

Requirements to Become a Scrum Master

To become a certified Scrum Master, you must go through training to learn Scrum principles. Meeting Scrum Master certification requirements demonstrates that you are knowledgeable and have proven abilities as a Scrum Master. A few organizations offer Scrum Master certification programs. While program requirements may differ, most require at least a two-day training course and a comprehensive exam. Some organizations offer the exam without the coursework, so if you choose this option, you must study on your own to prepare. If you’re not sure if you want to commit to a certification program, look into organizations that offer free training options online. In most cases, these are trial versions of a longer, paid training program. You may not earn an official certification through these shortened programs, but you can learn enough to help you determine whether a Scrum Master career is right for you. Because different organizations administer different certifications, Scrum Master certification costs vary depending on which program you choose. Fees for Scrum Master certification programs typically run between $150 and $1,995. Most of these programs include exam fees in the cost of their programs.

Benefits of Working as a Scrum Master

Being a Scrum Master can be a rewarding career for you if you enjoy motivating and guiding teams through the product development process. A Scrum Master is a servant-leader role that comes with many benefits for those who become certified.

Excellent Earning Potential: The income difference between a Scrum team member and a certified Scrum Master can be substantial. If you’re transitioning from a career as a Scrum team member to one of a certified Scrum Master, you should see increased earning power.

Scrum Masters earn an average annual base salary of over $95,000, according to a salary report from the Scrum Alliance. Scrum professionals who earn two certifications can earn over $103,000 per year on average.

Improved Resume: Potential employers who see Scrum Master certification on your resume can know that you have the knowledge and skills necessary to work as a Scrum Master with any organization. This certification reflects your commitment to being a servant-leader for Scrum teams as you guide teams toward their goals using Scrum principles.

Increased Career Opportunities: Becoming a certified Scrum Master makes you eligible for additional certifications. The coursework and exams you complete to earn Scrum certification can help you build more in-depth knowledge of Scrum and Agile principles.

Additional certifications can help you qualify for higher-level, better-paying jobs working within the Scrum framework.

What Is a Project Manager?

Successful project managers assume leadership roles, handling important logistical elements of a project. Essential project management skills include planning, organizing, scheduling and ensuring that a project is completed successfully and on time. Project managers stick with a project through its lifecycle, from beginning to end. A Project Manager not only facilitates his/her project team to achieve optimum efficiency but also gets involved in other several project activities. A Project Manager works on the relatively less risk-oriented environment. Because he/she has the advantage of using traditional disciplined project management approaches. Where he/she can:

·         assess the risks to prepare themselves for upcoming challenges,

·         understand the clear project scope before starting the project planning, and

·         have comparatively better clarity on the final requirements.

However, the scenario for PMs is nowadays not so easy. They need not always apply traditional project management principles. That's why the project management community and PMI thought of updating PMBOK guidelines. They came up with PMBOK 6th Edition with the introduction of agile principles. A good Project Manager should have an ability to judge better - as to which approach works for them in the current project? Accordingly, he/she should adopt these frameworks. However, sometimes a seasoned Project Manager promotes the usage of the Hybrid approach. – a combination of traditional waterfall and agile models.

Project Manager Role and Responsibilities

·         Project managers manage activities through a project’s entire lifecycle, including the initiation, planning, execution and closure phases. Their responsibilities include the following.

·         Handle the initial elements of a project, such as defining its scope and making plans for others working on the project to follow.

·         Determine the cost of a project and make sure it stays within the allotted budget. This may include reallocating resources in the event of unanticipated expenses.

·         Manage a project’s human resources, including interviewing and hiring team members and other staff.

·         Monitor the progress of a project. This includes troubleshooting any problems, assessing risks and handling any aspects that could affect the quality of the project.

·         Communicate with stakeholders to keep everyone informed about a project’s progress.

·         The Project Manager is responsible for delivering the results meeting the project requirements.

·         He/She involves in defining a project scope with the team and plans the project activities accordingly.

·         He/She is responsible to delegate and assign responsibilities to each team member. He/She ensures that the role assignment is according to the respective skills & expertise of the team members.

·         Reports the project progress to relevant stakeholders on time.

·         Tracks the project performance against the baselines and assures an effective project quality control.

·         Ensures the project documentation and real-time updates are in place.

·         Plans work schedule for the team and ensure the team understands their respective roles in the project.

·         Sometimes, a Project Manager prepares the budget for a project and gets it approved from the management.

·         Monitors and controls the risks in the project and highlight any unresolved issue.

·         Manages the stakeholders and maintains team dynamics.

·         Identifies and removes any project bottlenecks.

·         Finally, a Project Manager ensures project result delivery by managing the project constraints – scope, budget, time and resource efficiency.

Requirements to Become a Project Manager

If you want to build a career as a project manager, you should plan to earn certification. There are several types of project management certifications, from entry-level credentials to those designed for seasoned professionals, and the requirements for each vary.

Common certifications include the Project Management Professional (PMP)® and the Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM)®.

PMP certification requirements entail at least a high school diploma, an associate degree or a bachelor’s degree. CAPM certification requirements are similar. Depending on the credential, you might also need several years of project management education, plus experience working in project management or a related field. You must also pass an exam to become certified.

Benefits of Working as a Project Manager

More Job Opportunities: Earning a project manager certification qualifies you for high-paying jobs that are in high demand. In fact, PMPs in the U.S. earn 32% more than their non-certified counterparts, according to a salary survey from the Project Management Institute (PMI).

Certification also demonstrates that you have the education, knowledge and skills to effectively manage a variety of projects. Certification can qualify you for jobs that you may not be able to get otherwise.

Improved Skill Set: Earning a project management certification is not easy, so this undertaking says a lot about your abilities and skill level. Project management certification requires you to apply and master project management principles, methodologies and essential skills that can help you succeed as a project manager.

Greater Earning Potential: As a certified project manager, you can expect to earn around more than project management specialists who do not have certification. On a global level, PMPs earn median annual salaries that are 16% higher than those of their non-certified peers, according to PMI’s salary survey.

Conclusion: Finally, it’s imperative that a Project Manager’s role is more of a Leadership role. While Scrum Master’s duties include more of facilitating and coaching role. With the advent of PMBOK 6th guide, the role of a Project Manager has become more diversified. A Project Manager’s approach is not only limited to the traditional waterfall as before. But now, he/she can apply incremental iterative models depending upon the scenario. An organization at an early stage of going agile may think – a Project Manager’s role can be transferred into Scrum Master – but it’s a myth. This is because both of these roles are far different in their respective responsibilities and approaches.