Do you know the non-Scrum roles of a project?

Scrum already covers the roles of the Developers, the Product Owner, and the Scrum Master, but from a consultancy’s side, there’s also the Tech Lead and the Account Manager to consider.

Confusion often arises when these roles overlap, especially when sales or account managers step into delivery activities or when tech leads discuss matters outside their scope.

Account Manager

An Account Manager’s main job is to own the relationship with the client and ensure satisfaction, without stepping into daily project delivery. They should support the Tech Lead and Scrum Master, not replace them.

As a guiding principle, Account Managers should not join daily scrums or participate in technical conversations — those are best left to the delivery team. However, relationships are fluid, and occasionally joining a stand-up (e.g., to check in with the client or resolve a relationship issue) may be appropriate. The key is to respect boundaries: don’t manage the project or the technical side of things.

❌ Generally avoid

• Joining daily scrums (unless there is a specific relationship issue to address)
• Changing resources mid-week (resourcing changes should be deliberate and always involve the Tech Lead)
• Having technical conversations with the client on the side without the Tech Lead present

✅ Focus on

• Managing communication from initial contact, to the Initial Meeting, through to the Spec Review, until the main body of work is booked
• Managing key relationships and ensuring the client is happy with the Tech Lead and Scrum Master
• Getting T&Cs and other required documents signed
• Entering and maintaining CRM data for Companies, Contacts, Opportunities, and tracked emails
• Handling invoicing
• Leading conflict resolution
• Managing ongoing resourcing and booking Developers
• Facilitating budget discussions
• Joining Sprint Reviews periodically (e.g., once a month, or more often if issues arise)

Tech Lead

❌ Generally avoid

• Discussing money or budget directly with the client

✅ Focus on

• Displaying ownership of the project while keeping code quality high and technical debt low
• Delivering the project into production
• Spec review and project communication — being the primary communicator with the Product Owner
• DevOps — ensuring good practices are followed (e.g., releasing to production as frequently as possible)
• Taking responsibility for the architecture and technical direction of the project
• Assisting the Account Manager with technical aspects of conflict management
• Monitoring and managing the budget and timelines

✅ Figure: Don't forget! You can use reports to identify projects that are being worked on without Tech Leads

✅ Figure: Good example - copy this as email template and send to the Tech Lead so they know what is involved