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10 essential project management roles

Core project management roles. Sponsor offer support and guidance. The manager plans and delegates work. Team members complete project tasks.

  • Discover CATWOE and transform your approach to problem-solving
  • Simon Buehring

19 Feb 2026 Discover how CATWOE can transform your problem-solving approach. Learn its components and see real-world applications. Scroll down to enhance your decision-making skills.

Guiding your team through change using the Satir change model

  • Securing funding and resources for the project
  • Approving the project charter and project scope Simon Buehring the fundamentals of ITIL service management.
  • Making high-level decisions related to the project 23 Feb 2026Strategist DPI
  • Providing resolution to any escalated issues.Unlocking organisational potential with the POPIT model 3-day ITIL Strategist: Direct, Plan & Improve (DPI) course.

Project sponsors act as the connection between the project team and senior-level stakeholders. They are responsible for clearly communicating the value and progress of the project to these stakeholders. The project sponsor is also the final person with accountability for the project budget and results. Learn how the Satir change model can guide your team effectively. Discover practical steps to minimise resistance and enhance engagement. Scroll down to unlock strategic insights.Specialist: DSV

The relationship between the sponsor and the PM is vital to the success of the project. This role oversees the day-to-day operations of the project, while the sponsor provides strategic guidance and support by:Simon Buehring 3-day ITIL Specialist: Drive Stakeholder Value (DSV) course.

  • Offers strategic direction19 Feb 2026 Specialist: CDS
  • Provides political support 3-day ITIL Specialist: Create, Deliver and Support (CDS) course.
  • Eliminates organisational barriers.Discover how the POPIT model can enhance organisational efficiency and effectiveness. Read on to find practical insights and strategies for successful implementation. IT Learning Library (ITLL)™

This strong partnership guarantees that the project is on track, has enough resources and is well aligned with business goals. By actively engaging with and supporting project sponsors, the PM increases the likelihood of project success and stakeholder satisfaction. BUSINESS LEARNING LIBRARY (BLL)™

Project team members Agile Learning Library (ALL)™

Project team members are a collection of skilled and experienced professionals who apply their specialised knowledge to help projects meet their goals. These team members can take on many different titles or roles, including: Business Analysis Learning Library (BALL)™

  • Developers and engineers What is a business change manager?Compliance Learning Library (CLL)™

Puzzle pieces showing supporting roles: Assistant Project Managers, Coordinators, Administrators, PMO.

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Pyramid showing senior roles on top: Directors oversee projects, Senior Managers handle project portfolios.

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Illustration of specialised project management roles: Consultants with gears, Governance Teams with a chart.

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Project management roles infographic

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: By the way, just in terms of this chart, every action, every task should have both an R and an A, the C and the I are optional. So, if you do create a RACI matrix, it’s nice because it helps you just to see where we’ve got gaps for this. You can see from my example on the screen that sometimes the R and the A can be the same person; that’s not a problem. So, this last one was take responsibility, it’s not just one member, it’s not just a project manager that has this responsibility, as we’ve said earlier, get everyone involved. Make sure that the team are fully equipped, that they’ve got the right communication tools and access to them, and also that they’ve all got access to this RACI matrix as well, there we go. In just a little short while, we’ve covered the 10 key principles of stakeholder engagement, and we also did a little bit of an exercise just prior to that around identifying our stakeholders. I’m going to hand it back over to Sevcan in a moment, but just finally, thank you so much for all your input. That was very helpful, and I do appreciate that. It’s your involvement that makes this a success. So, oh, let me just, while Sevcan’s just kind of returning on to this, can I just quickly look at that last comment? One of my biggest challenges is getting high-impact, senior stakeholders to engage or respond on time. They directly influence project and delivery time scales, but sometimes emails go unanswered, and they’re not reachable by phone because they’re so busy. I’m wondering if you have any suggestions or tips on how to get them to engage more. And it sounds like it’s not an isolated problem because look at people now adding here, thumbs up.  00:53:19 David Longstaff  : Yeah, thank you. Well, I say what, I will give some comments, but do you have any observations of what you have found helpful? Now, I would say just a nice point that is made about it does link back to if stakeholders are too senior and too busy, they may not engage as well. How can you engage them? I suppose if I was to give you my tip, but if you’ve got tips, feel free to feed them in. Is making sure that there is clear accountability. That’s why, actually, I know we looked at it at the end there, but if you in a meeting can make sure that everyone’s clear on their actions and have a due date when this needs to be done by and take a, do track it as well. Having in your task management system, having a category for waiting fors, is really important. So at least you’re aware of what needs to be done by who and by when. The when is clear, but to get that accountability, sometimes a meeting can be helpful, where there’s a wider group. But do document it and do document, if for example, you’ve had a brief Teams call or a phone call with them and you think that you’ve agreed what the action is and when it was to be done by, you might want to follow that up with an email to say, hey, thanks for that discussion. Here’s what I think we’ve agreed, you’re going to contact soon, and so by, you know, December the 10th. You know, I look forward to your response. So, it is clear and it’s there’s an audit trail in there. So that can be helpful, and I see Helen said, physically just go and stand by their desk if necessary. 
: Excellent, thank you. Thank you very much, everyone, for your input tonight, because it’s actually, it’s kind of your input that makes these sessions a success as much as anything. So, thank you for that, particularly given it’s the end of the day, probably a long day for many of you. So, thank you for joining us. Enjoy your evenings as well.  00:58:47 Sevcan Yasa  : And those who are just about to exit, Merry Christmas, definitely a festive season.  00:58:53 David Longstaff