Differences between Project Manager, Scrum Master, and Delivery Manager
There are several differences between a Project Manager and a Scrum Master.
However, in this article, I didn't want to delve too much into technicalities, and instead wanted to discuss it from a more practical perspective.
The Project Manager has the role of "representing" their team to the client. This has several implications that I will detail below and show the differences with a Scrum Master.
Differences between a Project Manager and Scrum Master
Project Manager | Scrum Master |
|---|---|
Direct communication with the client and filtering of information to the team. | Opens the lines of communication so that the entire team can obtain information firsthand from the client or stakeholders. |
Manages and assigns work to each team member. | Supports the team so that they can estimate, manage, and assign work autonomously. |
Shows clients progress reports through charts or presentations and manages risks. | Opens the doors for the team to show their work progress directly to the Product Owners. Risk management is carried out jointly with the team and those involved on the client side. |
Delivers work plans with a list of tasks, milestones, and responsibilities, which can be adjusted as time goes on and move delivery dates. These date changes can cause dissatisfaction on the client side since they usually stick to the initially granted dates. | Manages cadence. Set dates for value delivery. Value delivery dates are not modified, but the scope of each delivery can be modified.
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Can have as many sessions as necessary with clients or stakeholders for requirement gathering. Documents them and passes the requirements to the different work teams (UX, development, delivery).
| Has regularly scheduled backlog refinement sessions where the entire team, together with the Product Owner and stakeholders, participate to understand the client's requirements and provide individual estimates, as well as establish the priority in which they will be worked on.
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The number of team working sessions is predefined in terms of time and calendar. It avoids "meeting mania" by only considering essential parties.
| The number of team working sessions is predefined in terms of time and calendar. It avoids "meeting mania" by only considering essential parties. Manages the project's main resource, which is time. Sessions must have a previously established duration, clear objectives, and only involve necessary parties. |
What is the difference with a Delivery Manager?
The Delivery Manager is responsible for ensuring that the client or end users in any case, receive value through the product delivered.
Both roles have fundamental differences.
The Project Manager is responsible for managing the execution of the project. But the Delivery Manager always focuses on obtaining greater quality of the products delivered and customer satisfaction; through the delivery of value from early stages of the project.
In the case of the Scrum Master role as described in the article Scrum Master as a Servant leader, we can see that it combines both responsibilities. On the one hand, it is responsible for helping the entire team to be self-manageable and eliminates all impediments so that the team can execute their work in the best possible way and fulfill their commitments on time. And on the other hand, at all times it is seeking that the delivered products have been generated with the highest possible quality, in the shortest time, and that they are of great value to our clients.
At Gluo, our projects have a certified SAFe Scrum Master assigned as a Delivery Manager. If you want to learn more about our services, write to us and we will contact you.
