June 24, 2019: Question Series #15
Written By: David Filer
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Recently, I read multiple LinkedIn posts that were very anti-Project Manager and very pro Agile. The gist of the posts was that heroes (aka the rock stars) were not welcome in Agile. Since Agile is a collaborative team approach, and good PMs tend to be known as rock stars, they don’t have a role in an Agile ecosystem. What surprised me the most were the hundreds of passionate comments versus the position of the LinkedIn article writer itself. Overwhelmingly, most of the posts had strong thoughts against rock stars, individual high performers, and PMs, and supported the concept of team dynamics within an Agile framework. To me, the passion in the comments was very negative and, quite frankly, not in the spirit of all things Agile.
Clearly, I have an opinion on this subject or I wouldn’t have taken the time to write this article. Let me start by stating that I don’t view Agile as a framework but more as a mindset. This approach allows for flexibility to accommodate all industries, types of works, and types of people. I also believe that Agile isn’t a 100% one-size-fits-all model for all organizations. For example, in many cases planning requires a slower methodical approach and Waterfall can accommodate that nicely. Post-planning development tends to work well in fast-paced, high-pressure sprints assuming the maturity of the team is ready for it, and the executive team has done a good job of removing organizational barriers. People tend to freak out when you mention Agile and hybrid. Some have gone as far as to term it WAgile. Hybrid approaches are necessary when done correctly and very appropriate to suit certain industries, products, and services. Keep in mind, most Agile implementations fail because they are treated like methodology implementations rather than as a mindset. People need to understand why they need to change, and find a way to relate it to their personal and cultural why.
So, what does this have to do with PMs (after all isn’t that the title of this article)? My hypothesis is that Agile organizations shy away from PMs because they don’t like what I call the Spotlight Approach. A good PM highlights, escalates, and facilitates the removal of project barriers better than any Agile team. A team is only as a good as its weakest link and teams are comprised of people. It’s almost statistically impossible to always have a team of high performers. Expecting the team to self-manage performance is simply not effective. Don’t get me wrong, I love the concept of a self-empowered team. What I don’t love is how Agile refuses to acknowledge problems directly instead opting for a team-collaborative method through a group voting process. Direction is never a bad thing; real-time feedback is never a bad thing; leadership is always a good thing. A good PM, in my humble opinion, has the skills to navigate all of this. As I write this article, I am visualizing all the LinkedIn Agile theorists quaking in their boots at what I am suggesting here. But let’s look at this a different way before we all shoot down my hypothesis. There are many teams whose work is dependent on the output of others. Product owners in Agile represent parties that benefit from the use of the product being built. They aren’t focused on handoffs. Scrum masters in Agile are a facilitator and protector of the development team. There is a missing link, or dare I say a void, that PMs can fill. Why can’t a PM be responsible for these handoffs? Why can’t we take this a step further and suggest that PMs be responsible for all handoffs, even the ones internal to the team, that aren’t working so well?
If PMs have a role in Agile, which I believe they do, then they are individuals. Individuals can be high performing and are most certainly allowed to be considered rock stars, if their continuous performance earns them that label. And it’s not just PMs that deserve to be recognized for their individual performance. All Agile development team members should be (but I will save that debate for another article).
As always, I tend to be divergent in my line of Agile thinking. I welcome spirited debate and passionate viewpoints. I ask that all positions be listened to and questioned in a respectful manner.
What do you think? Thanks for reading!
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