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Roles and Responsibilities in a Project Management Environment

April 8, 2009 | Author: PM Hut | Filed under: Project Management for Beginners, Role of the Project Manager

Roles and Responsibilities in a Project Management Environment
By The Office of Government Commerce - OGC, UK

Essential roles and responsibilities in a Project Management Environment are:

  • Investment decision-making - takes the investment decision based on affordability and cost justification (may be known as the Investment Decision Maker or IDM)
  • Ownership - defines the scope and content of the project for delivering the benefits; personally accountable for the success of the project (usually known as the Senior Responsible Owner or SRO, as this role must be taken by a senior individual in the organisation). The SRO should have the status and authority to provide the necessary leadership and must have the clear accountability for delivering the project outcome
  • Interface between ownership and delivery (sponsorship/directing)- ongoing management on behalf of the owner to ensure that the desired project objectives are delivered; must have adequate knowledge and information about the business and the project to be able to make informed decisions (may be known as the Project Sponsor; sometimes referred to as the Project Director)
  • Project management - leading, managing and coordinating the project team on a day-to-day basis (the Project Manager)
  • Project team - delivers the required outputs or deliverables (the Project Team)

In addition to the essential roles described above, there will be a requirement for specialists, design consultants such as architects, and others who are appointed by the Project Sponsor/Project Director or Project Manager.

For larger or more complex projects there may be a Project Board chaired by the SRO. Membership of the Project Board, which is through formal appointment by the SRO, should be a single role representing key stakeholder interests (described in more detail below) and a single role addressing technical/supply issues (typically a representative from the supplier organisation). The Project Board provides the owner with stakeholder/technical input to decisions affecting the project; ultimate authority and accountability resides with the SRO.

There will always need to be active project assurance - to assure the owner that the project is employing good practice - making sure stakeholders are being consulted appropriately and their needs are being addressed, for example. Project assurance is ultimately the responsibility of the SRO and will be included in the responsibilities of project board members, or may be fulfilled by individuals external to the project acting on behalf of the owner.

In practice, some roles may be combined, subject to an overriding proviso that the person combining the roles possesses the requisite competencies, experience, expertise and time. For example, the roles of Project Sponsor/Director and Project Manager can be combined for smaller or straightforward projects, or project ownership and project sponsor/director combined where the responsibilities of both roles can be fulfilled by a single individual. Where roles are combined the allocation of the functions must always be absolutely clear, with delegations and responsibilities that do not overlap. The role of Project Manager should be clearly defined and implemented, and not simply another member of the project team. Where two roles are combined, the person appointed must have at least the authority and status of the ‘higher’ role; however, it is important to note that the roles of Investment Decision-Maker, Senior Responsible Owner and Project Sponsor/Project Director cannot be allocated to a single individual.

Successful delivery toolkit, the Office of Government Commerce - © Crown Copyright 2009

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 8th, 2009 and is filed under Project Management for Beginners, Role of the Project Manager. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

1 person has left a comment

[...] Management structures to support decision makers and undertake the day-to-day activity of project delivery should have clear lines of reporting and decision taking. The figure below shows a structure that illustrates the relationships between the roles. Note that it may not be necessary to include every role, as previously described in the article “Roles and Responsibilities in a Project Management Environment“. [...]

Project Organisation - The Management Environment - PM Hut wrote on April 14, 2009 - 11:07 pm | Visit Link

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