Within the project environment, a clear definition of the roles and responsibilities that individuals play will be critical to the success of the project. Throughout the course of the project, the role an individual plays, or the “hat” that is worn, may change. In addition, an individual may play more than one role simultaneously. Individuals must understand the roles they play to know what responsibilities they have in making decisions, taking actions, reporting, and reviewing. Role definition benefits the project by:
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Bringing order to the chaos of a normal project
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Allowing the team to reach “perform” stage of development faster
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Keeping people from performing redundant activities
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Creating a “job description”
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Predetermining decision-making responsibility
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Identifying personal responsibility for success at the beginning of the project
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Reducing confusion about who does what when
Everyone on the project team holds the role, or wears the hat, of a project team member. Each team member is responsible for understanding the other roles and responsibilities. Each project team member should refer to the matrix when assigned a role on the team.
Project Roles
A project role is an assignment on the project team. It’s similar to a job description. A team member can have one or more roles at the same time. A person’s role may be temporary or last for the life of the project. For example, one person may have the role of team lead, artifact owner, and SME. When the artifact is completed, baselined, and the project phase is complete, the person would relinquish those roles and take on the responsibility of the next role assigned.
Some roles, like project sponsor, project manager, project control office, or project track lead, will last over the course of the project track, project, or program. At certain times, the persons wearing these hats may be asked to put on the hat of a different role, like business analyst (BA) or SME. While assuming that role, the responsibilities also change.
To facilitate smooth team interactions and clear lines of authority and responsibility, every person on the team should identify which role he or she is filling when giving direction, making decisions, calling meetings, or reviewing artifacts.
Project Responsibilities
When a team member is assigned a role on the project, he/she is given certain responsibility and the authority to take action or make decisions. On most projects, responsibilities usually fall into process steps:
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Initiate: Start action on a project track, project phase, artifact, or task. As long as the action taken is within the scope of the project, the person who is given authority to initiate action can do so without being directed by management. Usually, initiating action takes place before a completed plan is in place. The major output of initiating is moving to the planning responsibility. The same person may or may not also be involved with the planning role. For example, the project manager may initiate a project track and turn it over to the project track lead for detailed planning.
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Plan: Some roles require planning. The roles associated with planning are project manager, project track lead, and artifact owner. The person doing the planning can use other persons (business process SME, technical SME, project sponsor) to create effective plans. Major outputs of the planning responsibilities are an approved plan, an artifact, or the project.
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Implement: Roles that are responsible for implementing a plan are usually those associated with completing tasks on the project plan. Some of these roles are: team lead, artifact owner, author, developer, and tester. The output of implementation is work produced to create an artifact that leads to building the finished product.
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Monitor: The monitoring responsibility is assigned to a variety of roles. Monitoring is not to be confused with reporting. A status report may capture some of the results of monitoring. However, monitoring may also involve problem solving and coaching. Monitoring is an active responsibility. For example, a team lead will monitor the progress of the artifact owners and developers working on the tasks of the plan. If the artifact is not being produced to plan, that person has the responsibility of understanding what problems exist that prevent implementing the plan. It may be that the plan needs revision. If that's the case, the problem can be escalated to the role that had the planning responsibility and those who approved the plan. Conversely, the individual who is implementing the plan may not fully understand the specifications, plan, or objectives of the project. In that instance, the monitoring individual can coach the implementer with a review of the specifications, plans, or project objectives. Outputs of the monitoring responsibility are verification that the plan is on track, minor coaching, reporting, and requests for assistance.
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Control: The roles that assume responsibility for controlling are those that own a process or artifact. For example, the project track lead, team lead, or artifact owner can take corrective action when the monitoring indicates the project or artifacts are not being created or produced as designed or planned. Controlling is a reactive responsibility. The same person may have the role of monitoring and controlling an artifact. Once monitoring responsibilities are fulfilled, the request for assistance can lead to a decision, counseling, new planning, and resetting scope. One aspect of controlling is the responsibility for preventing the project scope from changing after it has been baselined. This is accomplished through the core processes of change management and risk management. The owners and administrators of these two core processes have the responsibility for administering the processes. The scope change control and responsibility is built into the process and is not assumed by an individual. However, within the process, certain roles are identified that have the responsibility of making scope change decisions.
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Close: It is the responsibility to close out anything that was initiated. A project track, project phase, artifact, or task needs closure. It is usually the responsibility of the role of owner to conduct closure. Some tasks associated with closure are archiving drafts and baselined artifacts, contract closure, celebrating, reviewing, lessons learned, knowledge transfers, and hand-offs to the next user of the artifacts.
Roles & Responsibilities Example
Following is a simple Roles & Responsibilities Matrix:
| Role | Responsibility |
| Developers | Design
Development
Bug Fixing |
| Quality Team | Testing Activities
Requirements Review
Design Review
User Guides Review
Test Reporting |
| Designer | Graphics Design |
| Team Leader | Team Management
Business Validation |
| Architect | Architecture
Technical Standards Definition
Environment & Deployment Planning |
| Technical Writer | User Guide Documentation
Online Help Documentation |
| Business Analyst | Business Analysis
Client Management |
| Project Manager | Project Management
Client Management |
Roles & Responsibilities Matrix
The roles and responsibilities for the X project are presented in the chart below. To read the chart, a project team member should determine what role one is playing at any point and what area of responsibility is of concern. See the chart legend for letter designations. They correspond to the responsibilities described in this document. For example, if a person is assigned as an requirements owner and wants to determine his or her responsibilities for the tasks to create the artifact, he or she would read across and find the letters: C, F, G, I. Referring to the chart legend, the requirements owner is responsible for C = initiating the task, F = controlling the task, G = monitoring the task, and I = approving the task.
Roles & Responsibilities Matrix Legend
Roles & Responsibilities Matrix
