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A resource manager as a organiser of day to day productivity has no place on an agile team. We know why they don't belong, it's in your question. They're trying to optimise things that oughtn't to be optimised. It's counterproductive.

It could be possible that this "resource manager" is more strategic role than it sounds. For instance, at a staff-augmentation agency, there are people making sure that developers have new engagements to move on to after their current ones finish. That's a useful job, but it doesn't involve day to day meddling in a team. And if that's happening, the team need to object to it and escalate their concerns.

But, if the "resource manager" is a role that exists day to day in the team that we have a problem. That person will have to look past their role and at how they contribute the team's outcome. Something needs to be arranged, by the team and by their reporting manager, to best use their skills productively. Ideally something that doesn't undermine their career progression and leaves them with a role they enjoy and can do well. This is a hard problem and depends on the individual.

A resource manager as a organiser of day to day productivity has no place on an agile team. We know why they don't belong, it's in your question. They're trying to optimise things that oughtn't to be optimised. It's counterproductive.

It could be possible that this "resource manager" is more strategic role than it sounds. For instance, at a staff-augmentation agency, there are people making sure that developers have new engagements to move on to after their current ones finish. That's a useful job, but it doesn't involve day to day meddling in a team. And if that's happening, the team need to object to it and escalate their concerns.

But, if the "resource manager" is a role that exists day to day in the team that we have a problem. That person will have to look past their role and at how they contribute the team's outcome. Something needs to be arranged, by the team and by their reporting manager, to best use their skills productively. Ideally something that doesn't undermine their career progression and leaves them with a role they enjoy and can do well. This is a hard problem and depends on the individual. Their job isn't too far away from agile coach or Scrum master (they are, after all, asking process questions), but their attitude and abilities may be incompatible, it's impossible to say from a distance.

A resource manager as a organiser of day to day productivity has no place on an agile team. We know why they don't belong, it's in your question. They're trying to optimise things that oughtn't to be optimised. Their job is to figure out something else they can do with their skills that isn't counterproductive.

If their job is something more strategic and long term, like, for example in a staff-augmentation agency, making sure staff have new engagements to move on to after their current ones finish, then that still has a place. There exist activities that are outside of a development team, and that's one of them.

For that first type of "resource manager", if they are to continue being involved in the team on a day to day basis, they will have to look past their role and at how they contribute the team's outcome. Something needs to be arranged with the involvement of the team and their reporting manager, to best use their skills productively. Something ideally that doesn't undermine their career progression and leaves them with a role they enjoy and can do well. This is a hard problem and depends on the individual.

A resource manager as a organiser of day to day productivity has no place on an agile team. We know why they don't belong, it's in your question. They're trying to optimise things that oughtn't to be optimised. It's counterproductive.

It could be possible that this "resource manager" is more strategic role than it sounds. For instance, at a staff-augmentation agency, there are people making sure that developers have new engagements to move on to after their current ones finish. That's a useful job, but it doesn't involve day to day meddling in a team. And if that's happening, the team need to object to it and escalate their concerns.

But, if the "resource manager" is a role that exists day to day in the team that we have a problem. That person will have to look past their role and at how they contribute the team's outcome. Something needs to be arranged, by the team and by their reporting manager, to best use their skills productively. Ideally something that doesn't undermine their career progression and leaves them with a role they enjoy and can do well. This is a hard problem and depends on the individual.

What do you want here? They don't belong. And you know why. It's in your question. They're there to optimise something that oughtn't to be optimised.

  Their job is to figure out something else they can do with their skills that isn't counterproductive.

Some organisations have them, because organisations do counterproductive things. And, because agility is hard, more places say they do it than actually do it.

But fundamentally, it's like you were booking a beach holiday and one of your friends said the only thing they did was book skis. They've got to see the team goal and work towards it, rather than just sticking to what they usually do. How that is done, and how it's done in a way that doesn't ask them to throw away their career progression and status, is a hard question and depends on the individual.

A resource manager as a organiser of day to day productivity has no place on an agile team. We know why they don't belong, it's in your question. They're trying to optimise things that oughtn't to be optimised. Their job is to figure out something else they can do with their skills that isn't counterproductive.

If their job is something more strategic and long term, like, for example in a staff-augmentation agency, making sure staff have new engagements to move on to after their current ones finish, then that still has a place. There exist activities that are outside of a development team, and that's one of them.

For that first type of "resource manager", if they are to continue being involved in the team on a day to day basis, they will have to look past their role and at how they contribute the team's outcome. Something needs to be arranged with the involvement of the team and their reporting manager, to best use their skills productively. Something ideally that doesn't undermine their career progression and leaves them with a role they enjoy and can do well. This is a hard problem and depends on the individual.