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The Various Roles Within a Project
January 3, 2010 | Author: PM Hut | Filed under: Role of the Project Manager
The Various Roles Within a Project
By Wouter Baars
This articles provides definitions for the various roles of people who are part of a project.
- Project members/Project team
The project members are the team members of the project – those who actually carry out the project and those who have tasks within the project. Team members often have differing areas of expertise. Team members can be internal (company personnel), external (from project partners, customers, users or temporary personnel) or both.
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Project leader
The project leader is the one who directs the project team and has ultimate responsibility for the project result. Depending upon what has been agreed, a project leader can obviously delegate responsibility to team members, and external managers may be responsible for some components of the project.
In cyclical projects, the project leader represents the interests of both the customer and the programmers. Project leaders ensure that customers receive adequate technical explanation and help them to choose and prioritise functionalities.
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Project manager
The terms ‘project leader’ and ‘project manager’ are often used interchangeably. A project manager is usually responsible for multiple projects, while a project leader usually has only one. Project leaders are thus located ‘closer to the work floor’ than are project managers, who are usually more involved with direction and numbers.
Other meanings and definitions also exist, and the terms are often used interchangeably.
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Programme manager
The programme manager is the one who evaluates a number of projects within an organisation. Project leaders and project managers report to the programme manager, who is often a member of the management team.
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Customer
The customer is the entity that has ordered the project result. Customers may participate actively in the project or maintain a greater distance. Although customers are sometimes also the users of the project result, this is not always the case. Consider the example of a university that wants a web application for its employees and students. In this case, the university is the customer, and its employees and students are the users.
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Users
Users are the people who will actually use the project result. It is important to involve the users in the definition phase, design phase and in the testing of the project result
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Project partner
The project partner is a third party (organisation) with whom the project is conducted. If several parties are participating in the project, it is obviously important to define and delimit responsibilities clearly.
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Client/customer/sponsor
The party or parties that make the project financially possible. In many cases, this is also the party that will use the project result. The client ensures the financing for the project and is also the party to whom reports on the project result are directed.
Wouter Baars has a Master of Science degree in Industrial Engineering and Management Science. He has been a project manager for several years for The European commission, Waag Society, KPN (Dutch telecom provider) and many smaller organizations. He is specialized in creative projects such as serious game development, e-learning and software development. Currently he is teaching project management and coaching organizations that are working on their project management. More info on his work: www.projectmanagement-training.net.
Originally published by DANS – Data Archiving and Networked Services - The Hague
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