What Is an Agile Project Manager?
More and more organizations are adopting an Agile style of project management. Agile is a collaborative methodology that uses short development cycles called “sprints” to incorporate stakeholder and customer feedback along the way. The goal is to embrace flexibility and continuous improvement, resulting in a better end product. However, in an Agile environment, the role of the project manager is less defined.
Agile project management focuses more on team collaboration and less on hierarchical leadership. Some of the most popular frameworks for implementing Agile include Scrum, Kanban, Extreme Programming (XP), and Adaptive Project Framework (APF). Scrum advocates distributing the responsibilities of the traditional project manager role among the team, with an appointed Scrum master serving as their guide and facilitator. A conventional project manager’s role evolves in an Agile environment depending on the project and organizational structure.
An Agile project manager might take on any of the following roles:
- Key facilitator: Their goal is to empower their team and clear potential roadblocks, paving the way for project success.
- Change management expert: They will be tasked with rallying the entire organization around Agile project management, ushering in new processes, and communicating with company stakeholders.
- Strategic coach and trainer: Change happens quickly in an Agile environment. Project managers will be tasked with helping their teams master the newest tools, workflows, and processes.
Key skills of a successful Agile project manager
Regardless of how an organization defines the role of an Agile project manager, anyone tasked with managing projects in an Agile environment should possess the following qualities for success:
- Exceptional organizational skills, including the ability to prioritize. In an Agile environment, project managers must focus on essential components of the project and let go of unnecessary or distracting work.
- The ability to thrive — and remain calm — under pressure.
- Excellent communication skills and the ability to work well with others.
- Superior critical thinking capabilities, including the ability to think on their feet.
- Comfort with quickly changing priorities and a high level of adaptability and flexibility.
Ultimately, an Agile project manager embraces the four key values of the methodology listed in the official Agile manifesto:
- Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
- Working software over comprehensive documentation
- Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
- Responding to change over following a plan
Agile project management certification and training
More organizations than ever are offering certifications for Agile project managers. A few of the most well-known include:
- Agile Certified Practitioner (ACP) from the Project Management Institute (PMI)
- Agile Project Management Practitioner (AgilePM) from APMG International
- Associate or Master’s in Agile from Strategyex
- Certifications and credentials from:
- The International Consortium for Agile (ICAgile)
- Scaled Agile Academy
- ScrumAlliance
Further reading:
- Agile Marketing: Buzzword or Top Strategy for Fast-Paced Marketing Teams?
- 5 Best Project Management Books for Beginners and Accidental Project Managers
- The Four Pillars of Agile Marketing
- How Agile Helps Marketers Overcome Their Top Challenges
- How Marketers Get Things Done: The State of Agile Marketing in 2016
Artem Gurnov
Artem is a Director of Account Development at Wrike. He previously held the role of Project Manager, overseeing a team of customer success managers (CSMs). Over the years of building teams and scaling business processes, he has successfully deployed multiple projects, from automating client outreach to setting up work prioritization tools for sales reps and CSMs.