Often in my classes, I’m asked for a clear comparison between the various traditional roles and the new roles in Scrum. Here is a high level summary of some of the key responsibilities and activities that help highlight some important differences between these four roles:
| ScrumMaster | Product Owner | Project Manager | Team Lead |
| NEVER | NEVER | Assign Tasks | YES |
| NO | PARTICIPATES | Create Schedule | NO |
| NO | YES | Manage Budget | NO |
| Remove Obstacles | PARTICIPATES | YES | YES |
| NO | Define Business Requirements | PARTICIPATES | NO |
| NO | YES (Deliveries) | Define Milestones | NO |
| Facilitate Meetings | NO | YES | YES |
| YES (process and people) | YES (business) | Risk Management | PARTICIPATES |
| Organizational Change Agent | NO | NO | NO |
| NO | Accountable for Business Results | RARELY (just costs) | NO |
Of course, there are many other ways we could compare these four roles. What would you like me to add to this list? Add a comment with a question or a suggestion and I will update the table appropriately!
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In many contexts, the project manager is accountable for business results, so I would put “sometimes” to that one.
Can you also please add a compare these with the product manager role? or is the product manager role the same as the product owner role here?
Thanks
Product Manager and Product Owner are similar in many ways and different in only a few small ways. One difference is that a Product Owner is responsible for exactly one product and no more. Another difference is that a Product Owner must work with the development team daily throughout the whole product development effort. Finally, a Product Owner also has some more detailed tactical activities related to creating and maintaining the Product Backlog (which while similar to a product roadmap, is not identical).
I second that request. Have found wide discrepancies on/offline in defining product manager vs. project manager and clarification would be very helpful.