Roles and Responsibilities in an AgilePM Project
AgilePM defines a compact set of roles arranged in three layers: project-level, solution development team, and supporting roles. Knowing who does what - and, crucially, who does not do what - is the most heavily examined area at Foundation level.
Project-level roles
There are three project roles. The Business Sponsor is the single individual who owns the business case and has the authority to commit funds; there is exactly one. The Business Visionary provides the vision and is the business ambassador, ensuring the solution delivers the expected business benefit. The Project Manager manages the day-to-day project, owns the Project Plan, and reports to the Business Sponsor. Trap: the Project Manager does not own the business case - the Business Sponsor does.
Solution Development Team roles
The Team Leader facilitates the team and ensures it works as a self-organising unit. The Business Ambassador represents the business users day to day. The Solution Developer builds the solution, and the Solution Tester tests it. In small projects these roles combine; a common trap is assuming each role must be a separate person, which AgilePM explicitly does not require.
Supporting roles
The Technical Coordinator ensures the solution is technically coherent and that non-functional requirements are met. The Workshop Facilitator plans and runs workshops. The Business Advisor is optional and gives specialist business input.
The pivotal concept: the empowered team
The Solution Development Team must be empowered to make day-to-day decisions and must contain all the skills needed to deliver. If a question asks who decides the detail of what is built within a timebox, the answer is the Solution Development Team, not the Project Manager.
Rule of thumb: one Business Sponsor, one Business Visionary. If a question offers two of either, it is wrong.