How to become an agile project manager

Agile project management is fundamentally different from traditional project management, so much so that some agile frameworks lack a distinct project management role within the development team.

The key difference is that project managers generally act as just that - ‘managers.’ They allocate tasks and duties. Agile methods and frameworks generally don’t define a manager role because the expectation is that a team is self-organizing. The team members decide how best to complete the tasks prioritized by the business.

Agile team leaders act more as ‘facilitators.’ They don’t tell people what to do, they make sure that teams and developers have all the tools and information they need to do their jobs. They also unblock the blockages i.e. they fix problems so that the team can concentrate on doing its work.

Regardless of your background or experience, the ability to successfully implement agile methodologies or integrate oneself into an agile environment requires training and an understanding of Agile.

There are a number of excellent agile training courses available that can help you transition from traditional to agile project management or train those with no experience in project management.

Moving into agile project management

Agile comes in many shapes and forms. One of the great features of agile is that it can be adapted to suit almost any context.

Not every agile method requires a complete overhaul of existing systems. Some approaches (such as lean agile) aim to take existing ‘traditional’ project management frameworks and rework certain aspects to improve workflow and development.

Because of this, knowledge and experience gained as a project manager within a traditional project management environment can still be applied to projects within an agile context.

Agile roles

Not every agile project management role requires complete retraining. Some agile mythologies simply help refine pre-existing ‘best-practice’ project management methodologies. One such example is lean agile.

Lean agile is a management philosophy that began in the automotive manufacturing industry. But, because it focuses primarily on aiding the productivity of workers and developers, its’ principles can be applied to any industry.

Lean agile focuses on waste reduction while creating a better, less stressful workplace through investing in and respecting employees.

Lean agile improves productivity and profitability by eliminating slow and wasteful procedures like excessive documentation, micromanagement, lengthy meetings, avoidable mistakes, overreliance on predetermined product requirements, and unproductive multitasking.

Aside from lean agile approaches, there are also other ‘light’ agile approaches. Traditional project management environments can still benefit from employing individual agile tools such as Kanban to improve workflows with little/no interruption to normal operations.

Because many agile methods are radically different from traditional project management, with a little training, project managers can successfully transition into an agile environment.

Dedicated agile roles

Comprehensive agile approaches such as Scrum or SAFe® agile (Scaled Agile Framework®), generally do away with project managers, substituting them for Scrum Masters or an equivalent role.

If you want to transition into a dedicated agile role, you will require extensive agile training.

Project managers assign tasks, enforce deadlines, and control multiple aspects of development to ensure that a project meets its goals on time and within budget.

Scrum Masters however, focus their attention solely on the application of the Scrum. They help developers understand their role within the agile framework, facilitate cooperative efforts and communication, but have no authority to allocate tasks to developers.

Your primary goal as a dedicated agile manager is as much about utilizing your soft skills as it is about your hard skills which you may have acquired in your career as a traditional project manager.

Scrum Masters are ‘servant leaders.’ Occasionally, you might be asked to guide with authority based on your knowledge and experience, at other times you must learn to step aside and allow others to do the same.