When people ask me about the role of the project manager, the best paradigm I can think of is an orchestra conductor.
In comes John Williams
There are multiple ways to describe who John Williams is. As a starting point, I’ll refer to his Wikipedia page. What does he do? In no particular order:
- Composer
- Arranger
- Conductor
- Pianist
- Brass player
The list goes on and on and on.
Can he do all that? Yes, and much more. Can he do all that simultaneously? No, he can’t! It’s impossible. With some limitations, however, he could perform some of these roles at the same time. Without being an expert, I can assume, for example, that while composing he could also arrange the same piece. If we see André Rieu in action, we notice that he’s playing the violin while conducting his orchestra, but I’m yet to see someone playing piano and brass together.
Going back to his Wikipedia page, we can see some of the music he has composed, like Lost in Space, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and the Star Wars theme, just to name a few. If we need to hire a composer, can we hire him? Of course we can!
If we jump to YouTube, we can find him conducting the Vienna Philharmonic. On this particular example, we can see him conducting his own music, but he’s still conducting the Vienna Philharmonic. If we need to hire a conductor, can we hire him? Of course we can!
Back on YouTube, we can find him playing piano alongside Yo-Yo Ma. Because it’s just the two of them, there was no need for a conductor, but if we need to hire a pianist, can we hire him? Of course we can!
So here we have a perfect example of someone who can serve in different roles and capacities for the length of the engagement, albeit not performing in all roles simultaneously.
In come other creative professionals
Using myself as an example (but only as an example), these are some of my professional responsibilities from the recent past:
- Application developer
- Software engineering leader
- Project manager
- Program manager
- Scrum master
If you need to hire someone with either of these skills, you could definitely hire me, as long as I satisfy your specific requirements. Just to add a little context, while I’m serving as engineering lead, I can also do some development simultaneously, provided there are no conflicts. As a matter of fact, I have seen many job postings for hands on software managers, where the incumbent is expected to lead the team and write code. It’s perfectly doable!
When it comes down to being a scrum master and software engineer at the same time, there is a high risk of conflicts, therefore it’s not recommended.
The same can’t be said about being a scrum master and a project manager. There can be an overlap between the two roles, and there can also be a firm distinction. There isn’t necessarily a conflict, as one role can easily complement the other, which means that you can have one person do both. Easily!
Going one step further, not all project managers can be program managers, but the opposite is mostly a requirement. In other words, a program manager can, and likely will, also serve as project manager, assuming time allows. In effect, I have seen many job postings for program managers where the job description includes project management responsibilities.
I have also seen job postings for agile delivery leader, agile project manager, project manager scrum master, and the like, but these are not as frequent. Why? Because so many companies enforce a distinction between project managers and scrum masters. I beg to differ, but my opinion is irrelevant for them.
As of the time of this writing, I have 15 years of experience as scrum master, 22 as project manager, and 10 as program manager. Some hiring teams have intelligently concluded that I have 22 years of total experience, but others think that I have 47. For them, I must be as old as Methuselah. <insert laughter here>