• Agile & Scrum Basics

What is the role of management in Scrum and Agile?

Agile management involves self-organizing teams and a Product Owner who translates customer requirements into a product vision. If teams are self-organizing and the Product Owner represents the customer value… How then should the role of managers be assessed? Managers take the initiative for a new strategic direction and provide good team facilities in order to excel.

Traditionally, of course, the manager is a leader, planner and someone who manages the and the team. He or she is responsible for achieving goals. Within Scrum, these responsibilities of the manager are divided between the Scrum Master, Product Owner and the Development Team.

Traditional organization or still Agile working?

4 reasons managers often choose Agile working

1. Traditional work can become repetitive and quickly boring. Agile working allows people to take work from each other and remain flexible as an organization, even as the environment and marketplace changes.

2. Traditional working can create narrower thinking team members forgetting the big picture. Within Agile management, it is motivating to work together multidisciplinary self-organizing teams. Team members often work specifically customer-related. This makes the direct contribution visible and that motivates!

3. Traditional work often requires handover. This increases the likelihood of errors. Agile management is based on multidisciplinary self-organizing teams. Thus, there is less need for handover. This allows for increased innovativeness and flexibility (internally).

4. Traditional working has a clear separation between management and employee. And by this we mean the separation between management (arranging) and employees (executing). Agile in management assumes the ability of employees: to think for themselves, arrange things and make decisions.