Roles and Responsibilities in an AgilePM Project
Project-level roles
AgilePM defines roles at three levels: project, delivery, and solution. At the project level, the Business Sponsor is the project champion and owns the business case. The Business Visionary provides the vision and ensures the solution meets business needs. The Technical Coordinator ensures technical coherence and represents technical roles. The Project Manager manages the project on a day-to-day basis, focusing on delivery within constraints. The Project Board consists of the Business Sponsor, Business Visionary, Technical Coordinator, and Project Manager; it makes key decisions.
Delivery and solution roles
At the delivery level, the Team Leader leads the team and ensures work is done. The Business Ambassador provides business input and tests the solution. The Solution Developer builds the solution. The Solution Tester tests the solution. At the solution level, the Business Adviser provides specialist business advice, and the Technical Adviser provides specialist technical advice.
Traps and worked example
A common trap is confusing the Business Sponsor and Business Visionary. The Sponsor is accountable for the business case and is the ultimate decision-maker; the Visionary is responsible for the vision and ensuring it is realized. Another trap is assuming the Project Manager has the same authority as in traditional projects; in AgilePM, the Project Manager facilitates and coordinates but does not have absolute authority over scope.
Worked example: If a question asks who is responsible for ensuring the solution delivers the expected business benefits, the answer is the Business Sponsor, as they own the business case.
Rule of thumb: Map each role to its primary responsibility: Sponsor (business case), Visionary (vision), Technical Coordinator (technical integrity), Project Manager (day-to-day management), Team Leader (team delivery).