Agile Delivery Lead vs. Scrum Master: Can you do both?

Agile Delivery Leads and Scrum Masters are both roles in agile work environments, but they have different responsibilities and 

What are these differences and what is the background to the two roles? Is it possible to take on both roles at the same time? 

In this text I address these questions and try to give some hints and tips.

It is important to emphasize that the Agile Delivery Lead or Agile Delivery Manager is not an official role in the Scrum Guide and is therefore not anchored in the standardized definitions of the Scrum framework.

In contrast to the clearly defined Scrum Master, who plays a central role in the Scrum framework, the Agile Delivery Manager is more of a practical position that has emerged in the industry.

This role was created to meet the need for more comprehensive coordination of agile delivery processes that go beyond the scope of individual Scrum teams. The agile landscape is dynamic and organizations often develop their own adaptations and extensions to better fit their specific needs. Therefore, the Agile Delivery Manager can be seen as a notional role that has organically emerged in practice to meet the growing needs of complex projects and organizations.

Specifically, the company Capital One has made a name for itself by introducing the role en masse in their company instead of a Scrum Master - see the following quote on this.

“Amongst a world of many technical transformations, perhaps the Scrum Master role no longer meets the same needs. This is why the next step in the Agile evolution is the Agile Delivery Lead (ADL)”

- Sean Miller & Bill Roberts (Capital One)

Other companies have now also introduced this role, but not all have exactly the same definition of it. With this in mind, here are some examples of the differences between the two roles to get a better feel for their focus.

1. Focus and frame:

   • Scrum Masters: The Scrum Master is specifically responsible for the Scrum framework. He supports the Scrum team in understanding and effectively applying the Scrum principles and practices. The Scrum Master focuses mainly on removing impediments, increasing productivity and ensuring that the team adheres to the Scrum rules.
   • Agile Delivery Lead: The Agile Delivery Lead has a broader focus and may include different agile approaches and frameworks, not just Scrum. The role is therefore often less limited to enforcing certain agile practices. In some cases (as with Capital One), it is also particularly about coaching team members technically.

2. Responsibilities:

   • Scrum Masters: The Scrum Master is primarily responsible for ensuring that the Scrum team is able to work effectively. This includes removing obstacles, supporting the self-organization of the team and promoting continuous improvement.
   • Agile Delivery Lead: The Agile Delivery Lead is more focused on overseeing the entire delivery process and ensuring that products or projects are completed successfully and efficiently. This may include working with other teams, stakeholders and managing resources.

3. Scaling:

   • Scrum Masters: In Scrum, the focus is usually on a single team or, at best, a maximum of two teams. A Scrum Master supports two teams in using Scrum effectively.
   • Agile Delivery Lead: This role may work at the multi-team level or even at the organizational level to ensure agile principles are successfully applied across the organization.

4. Skills and experience:

   • Scrum Masters: The focus is often on coaching, facilitation and conflict resolution within the team. A good Scrum Master should have a deep understanding of Scrum and be able to support the team on the path to self-organization.
   • Agile Delivery Lead: In addition to the skills of a Scrum Master, a Agile Delivery Manager often needs a broader range of skills. These include project management, leadership, communication at different levels of the organization, and the ability to implement agile principles at a strategic level.

Yes, it is of course also possible for one person to have both the role of a Scrum Master and that of a Agile Delivery Manager at the same time. This may be the case, especially in smaller teams or organizations with limited resources.

As I said, the title is initially fictitious, so both roles can be identical in practice.

Basically, there are some considerations and aspects that should be taken into account if you want to take on both responsibilities:

1. Time and focus:

   • Both roles require a considerable amount of time and specific skills. It is important to ensure that the dual role does not lead to an overload and that sufficient time is available for the respective responsibilities of both positions.

2. Clarity in the tasks:

   • It is important to clearly define which tasks and responsibilities are assigned to each role. This helps to avoid misunderstandings and ensure that the requirements of both positions are met.

3. Manage conflicts:

   • Conflicts may arise, especially if the requirements of the two roles conflict. The ability to recognize and appropriately manage conflict is critical to ensure that both aspects of the job can be done effectively. For example, what if as a Agile Delivery Manager you tend to make top down decisions? Then the whole idea is doomed to failure because this is not compatible with the servant leadership aspirations of a Scrum Master.

4. Communication:

   • Clear communication is essential. This applies both to communication with the team and to communication with other stakeholders and departments. Transparent communication helps to clarify expectations and promote understanding of the dual role.

5. Training and development:

   • The person holding both roles should continuously train and develop to keep up with both the latest developments in the Scrum framework and general agile practices.

While it is perfectly possible to combine both roles, it is important to ensure that this is done carefully and consciously to ensure effectiveness in both areas. It can also be helpful to seek regular feedback from team members and other stakeholders to ensure that both aspects of the dual role are being successfully fulfilled.

The next graphic leads well into our next section – a little tip: One-to-one meetings are one of your biggest levers to make your team successful in both roles.

Tools can also help to intelligently take over the responsibilities of Scrum Masters - especially when it comes to continuous improvement. Specifically, Echometer is a standout solution here.

On the one hand, Echometer helps with team coaching with a retrospective tool, but also with a one-to-one meeting tool. It focuses on making any team leads from agile teams that have regular one-to-one meetings more efficient.

Make your 1:1 meetings exciting, measure trends and above all, make progress in the development of your software developers!

Try out one of our templates, see below. The following template is a standard template for bi-weekly one-to-one meetings, for example. It also includes a measurable “mood check” at the end, which you can of course customize:

The Scrum Master role in the Scrum framework focuses on supporting teams and adhering to agile principles. In contrast, the Agile Delivery Manager is a notional position created in practice that has a broader focus on the overall delivery of projects. It is possible to combine both roles, but this requires clear task allocation, effective communication and the ability to manage conflict in order to fulfill the requirements of both positions.

Lastly, one more note: If you would like to try out how it feels to develop your team further with our tool: You can start an agile retrospective without logging in below, in this case the “Keep, Stop, Start” workshop.

Alternatively, simply forward our website to the responsible colleagues: www.echometerapp.com.