It seems to be quite a common question - "What is the role of the project manager in an agile environment" and there is a great answer at LitheBog: Exploring Lean and Agile. This and other blogs point to the skills of traditional project managers and how these are still relevant or which of them should be focused upon such as leadership. But hang on a minute - there is still a project to be managed someone needs to oversee it - someone needs to be considering how the project sits within the organisation's program and strategy - that isn't going to be done by the product owner or the scrum master unless they are expressly given that responsibility - but then that makes them the project manager.

So what is it that is so complex about answering this question? Well - maybe the traditional project management role needs to be adapted to fit the agile world - the old dog needs to learn new tricks perhaps. I'm not even convinced that's the case - maybe all that's needed is a particular aptitude. One that some might have by nature where as others may need to apply themselves to. That is to be open-minded - the ability to embrace new ideas - the ability to adapt behaviour and approach on a project by project basis. This alternative aptitude becomes embedded in shrines such as the Agile Manifesto and not merely expecting the plan to change but rather proactively look for reasons to change it.

Its always been important for project managers to know how to play the fence but the ability to do so may be one of the skills that defines an Agile Project Manger. Depending on the demands of a given project he may sit on the fence a neutral arbitrator between customer and supplier - or he may need to act in the interests of either the customer or the supplier - using these terms in the loosest possible sense where the customer is the body who pays for the software and the supplier the body who gets paid to produce it. The traditional project manager probably finds himself located on the fence or on one side or the other throughout the entire duration of an appointment - but the Agile Project Manager needs the ability to reposition relative to the fence as dictated by the uncertainty that is software development.