The SRO's role in agile delivery and governance

In an agile programme the senior responsible owner (SRO) sets the outcome, gives the team authority over how to reach it, watches the work first hand and takes the decisions the team cannot. Day-to-day governance relies less on written status reports and more on short, frequent checks of the working service and the team’s evidence. The Government Digital Service (GDS) sets this out in its governance principles for agile service delivery, and this guide explains what GDS asks of you.

What GDS asks of an SRO

The principles are part of the Service Manual, and GDS names SROs among the people a delivery team relies on. There are six. They cover the pace of delivery, who takes which decision, the people on the team, seeing the work first hand, value to users and trust. For an SRO they come down to four jobs.

Keep decisions moving

GDS wants the team and the service owner, the person who runs the service, to make decisions themselves and to escalate only when they have to. They can do that only if someone has told them where their authority stops and who helps beyond it. Write those boundaries down. When a decision does come to you, take it within days, because GDS’s first principle is that the people who govern should not slow delivery down.

Go and see for yourself

GDS says SROs should visit teams regularly and take part in their meetings, particularly sprint reviews or show and tells, the regular meetings where the team demonstrates what they have built. The reason GDS gives is that you will be fully informed and able to decide quickly. If those meetings are not happening, GDS tells you to find out why.

Give the team what they need

GDS asks you and the service owner to make sure the team has the skills, the workspace and the tools to deliver. That can mean finding a specialist the team is missing or clearing an obstacle that sits in another directorate.

Check a little and often

GDS’s last principle is to trust the team and verify. GDS asks the people who govern to speak to the team regularly and to monitor with a light touch, which it describes as checking “a little, but often”. GDS also says you cannot remove every risk. Own the ones that could affect delivery, and deal with each one at the right time.

How your board changes

A monthly board that reads a status pack is too slow for a team that learns something new each week. Shorten the meeting and hold it more often. Bring the work to it: the service itself, the team’s list of work in progress and their forecast.

Ask the team for one page in three parts. Now is what they are working on. Next is what follows. Later is what they intend to do but have not started. Add a forecast with odds for the next milestone, such as “an 85% chance by 6th October”, and a list of what the team is not doing. We advise against red, amber and green ratings and percent-complete figures, because both are somebody’s judgement, and the count of finished work comes straight from the team’s board. Our guide to reading a delivery forecast explains the odds.

In its guidance on measuring and reporting progress, GDS makes the same point from the team’s side. Reporting should give a clear view of progress without making extra work for the team, and you should add a report only when you are sure it adds value.

What assurance reviewers look for

If the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority (NISTA) reviews your programme, the reviewers will test your part in it. In its guide to assuring agile delivery, updated in August 2026, NISTA tells reviewers to rely more on watching the team and talking to people than on reading documents. NISTA suggests they check whether the SRO and programme director keep up with progress by attending the team’s meetings, whether teams have delegated authority to build what users most need and whether the team’s speed of delivery supports its future plans.

NISTA also asks departments to agree an Integrated Assurance and Approval Plan during discovery, the first phase of the work. The plan sets out when each review will happen and which approval it supports. Do that early. NISTA notes that its usual twelve weeks’ notice for a review does not suit a team working this way.

What does not change

You remain the SRO. Government Project Delivery’s guidance on the role of the senior responsible owner, last updated on 23rd February 2026, covers what the role involves, how SROs are appointed and the extra requirements for projects in the Government Major Projects Portfolio. Working in an agile way changes how you find out what is happening, and you still answer for the result.

We work through boards, assurance and spending approvals with SCS and G6 leaders on our one-day Agile Leadership programme, and one to one through coaching.

What to do this month

Write down what the team can decide without you and share it with them. Put their next show and tell in your diary. Before your next board, ask for the one-page report with a forecast and drop the pack it replaces. Then take our ten questions with you when you visit.