Project Manager to Value Delivery Manager

Here we have a common problem. The “agile team” comprises a product owner, team coach, and team members. Far too often, I hear something like, “there are no project managers in agile.” Agile teams are empowered to make decisions and determine how to get the work done. Project Managers are seen as outsiders, a relic to traditional ways of working, which require someone to manage the project or scope.

Should PMOs be disbanded? Do we need Project Managers if we are or have adopted an agile way of working? Let’s look at what attributes professional project managers (not taskmasters, project coordinators, or project support people) have coupled with the typical depth and breadth of experience. Is there anything that can be leveraged in supporting value delivery management?

A few crucial attributes:

Why would any team or organization perceive someone with those attributes, let alone other skills and experiences, as not fitting for an agile way of working? Typically a result of an abundance of bias.

Within organizations adopting an agile way of working, there is confusion and misconception about the value of PMOs and Project Managers. The marketplace is flooded with limited-experience people who become team-level agile coaches (Scrum Masters, Team Leads, etc.). Sometimes all it takes is to attend a two-day training and get a certification. I have worked with organizations where team-level agile coaches had never been on a team using agile; they had no practical experience. Going to training and getting a certification was a way to land a job as an employee or contractor in the role of a Scrum Master.

So there we have it, a coach with no experience and minimal guidance to draw on. The outcome is further diminished via the promotion of a very narrow view of adopting agile. Is it any wonder that there is less “good” agile and a lot more “hybrid” agile in most organizations these days?

As a Project Manager, are you unsure what this means for your career?

As organizations realize the benefits of improving their value streams, they need people to focus on improving the flow of value to customers. In addition, they need to bring professionalism into adopting agile and lean ways of working.

Project Managers are one of the most well-suited groups to support value delivery management. Where they may be seen as outsiders today, tomorrow, they are the enablers of improving the flow of value as Value Delivery Managers.

Leveraging proven management practices to concentrate on minimum business increments, reduce work in progress, decrease planning cycles, and improve feedback frequency. Value flow management enables improving efficiency while simultaneously reducing the cost of delays, waste, and risk. Where once the outsider, the Value Delivery Manager is now at the intersection of the portfolio and product management portion of the value stream and the delivery teams.

Portfolio Managers and Product Managers determine the right value to create. Delivery Teams (agile teams, supporting and operational people) create the value. Value Delivery managers improve the flow of value.

Using factors for effective flow, they support creating great environments where value is produced. There are eight seminal factors improving flow which I will expand upon:

I will write future newsletters on each of the eight factors and show how a Value Flow Scorecard works.

The Value Delivery Manager can bring focus and empowerment to ensure that these flow factors are attended to and used to improve flow.

Link to LinkedIn live stream on this topic: Project Management to Value Stream Management