Clarifying Roles in Agile Teams: Implementers and Important Resources #

In agile teams, clarity of roles is essential for smooth, efficient progress. A common pitfall for many teams is treating all contributors as if they share the same responsibilities and availability. But understanding the difference between “Implementers” and “Important Resources” can make a big difference in workflow, estimation accuracy, and team alignment.

Here’s a breakdown of the roles, actions, and responsibilities for both Implementers and Important Resources, and how recognizing these distinctions can help your team stay on track.

The Role of an Implementer #

Implementers are the core team members directly responsible for building, testing, and delivering the software. They take ownership of the user story work, ensure quality, and engage in daily sprint activities. Implementers are the primary drivers of progress in each sprint, and they actively collaborate to achieve the team’s goals.

Key Duties and Responsibilities of Implementers:

Daily Progress Updates: Implementers attend daily scrums and share updates on their work, keeping everyone in the loop on the sprint’s progress and any roadblocks they encounter.
Engagement in Retrospectives: Implementers actively participate in retrospectives, providing insights on what’s working well and areas for improvement. This feedback helps the team continuously refine their process.
Ability to Make Minor Fixes: Each implementer has the access and skills necessary to make small adjustments to the codebase and deploy changes to staging or production, which enables quick fixes without unnecessary delays.
Ownership of PBI Work: Implementers take full ownership of Product Backlog Item work in the sprint. They are responsible for the completion of these tasks and ensuring quality before the work moves to production.
Understanding of the Codebase and System: Implementers put in the effort to understand the application, architecture, and codebase well enough to estimate and implement stories accurately.
Collaborative and Proactive: Implementers reach out to other team members or Important Resources whenever they need additional help or expertise to complete their tasks effectively.

In short, Implementers are hands-on team members who build and maintain the software, communicate progress daily, and are committed to the end-to-end quality of the application.

The Role of an Important Resource #

Important Resources are team members or external contributors who provide specialized support to the implementers. While they’re npt ultimately responsible for the user stories work progress, their expertise is critical for the completion of specific tasks within those stories. Important Resources make themselves available to the team as needed but don’t engage in core agile activities like daily standups or retrospectives.

Key Duties and Responsibilities of Important Resources:

Availability for Implementers: Important Resources make themselves available to answer questions, complete specialized tasks, review work, and provide feedback to Implementers when needed. They contribute their expertise to support the team’s goals.
Assigned to Specific Tasks in User Stories: Important Resources may take on specific tasks within a user story, but they don’t hold responsibility for the overall completion of the story. For example, a copywriter might draft the text for a feature, but the Implementer manages the full feature’s development and integration.
No Ownership of the User Story Progress: Important Resources don’t take full ownership of any user story. They contribute to the story work but aren’t responsible for its delivery or deployment.

Common Examples of Important Resources #

Copywriters: Provide content or messaging for the application but aren’t responsible for the feature’s development or design.
Translation Experts: Handle localization tasks, enabling the application to work in multiple languages.
Tech Operations: Assist with deployment, server management, and infrastructure support, typically outside of daily sprint work.
Cloud Computing Experts: Offer guidance on cloud architecture, scaling, or cost management but aren’t involved in day-to-day coding or feature development.
I.T. Accessibility Experts: Ensure compliance with accessibility standards but aren’t responsible for coding or integrating accessibility features.
Project Managers: Oversee the broader timeline, resources, and project scope but don’t actively work on user stories.

The Impact of Misunderstanding These Roles on Estimation and Timelines #

One of the biggest issues agile teams face is inaccurate estimation and missed timelines due to the reliance on Important Resources without accounting for their availability. Important Resources are often not full-time on the project and may have other commitments, such as working on multiple projects, taking time off, or shifting roles. These factors can cause delays in completing user stories that depend on these resources.

Since Important Resources typically aren’t involved in estimation meetings, their input may be missed, leading to inaccurate estimates. For example:

Availability Gaps: Important Resources might not be available when needed, delaying work. If a critical resource is unexpectedly unavailable, it can create significant bottlenecks.
External Commitments: Important Resources often split their time across multiple projects, making their schedule unpredictable for the agile team.
Unforeseen Delays: Important Resources may change jobs, get promoted, or take unexpected leave, affecting project timelines if no one else can cover their tasks.

Understanding and planning for these dependencies during estimation and planning can help the team set more realistic goals and timelines.

Tips for Agile Teams: Improving Estimates by Considering Important Resources #

To create more accurate sprint plans, it’s essential to account for the contributions of Important Resources. Here are some ways agile teams can address this challenge:

Include Resource Dependencies in Estimations: When estimating user stories, consider dependencies on Important Resources and account for any additional time needed if those resources may be delayed.
Discuss Resource Needs During Sprint Planning: Implementers should communicate resource needs to Important Resources early on. This proactive approach helps Important Resources plan their availability and ensures they’re able to support the team when needed.
Prioritize Flexible Schedules: If Important Resources are temporarily unavailable, the team can prioritize tasks that don’t rely on them, minimizing idle time and keeping the sprint moving forward.

Conclusion: Clarifying Roles for a Smoother Agile Workflow #

By clearly defining who is an Implementer and who is an Important Resource, agile teams can improve efficiency, collaboration, and timeline accuracy. Implementers are the primary builders who take ownership of the user story work, actively participate in agile ceremonies, and deliver the product. Important Resources provide essential support and expertise but don’t have the same level of responsibility or involvement.

When teams understand these roles and consider them in their planning and estimation, they can achieve more accurate timelines, reduce bottlenecks, and create a more efficient workflow. Embrace this role clarity, and you’ll set up your agile team for greater success.