Roles and responsibilities

Project board

  • Ensures strategic alignment of projects
  • Ensures a robust business case for projects
  • Reviews benefits delivered by project

Steering group

  • The Steering Group is an optional requirement which is usually recommended for projects which
  • span a number of functional areas. The group is appointed and usually chaired by the project Sponsor.

The Steering Group is responsible for supporting the Sponsor in ensuring the benefits from the project are realised

  • Steers the project through the business environment for changes which may impact the viability of the project
  • Approves the appointment and responsibilities of the project manager
  • Provides direction and guidance on matters of policy
  • Approves all major plans and authorises any major deviation from agreed plan
  • Negotiates a solution to any problems between the project and external bodies
  • Provides overall guidance and direction to the project, ensuring that it remains within specified constraints
  • Signs off the completion of each stage and authorises the start of the next stage
  • Ensures that the required resources are committed
  • Arbitrates on any conflicts within the project

Sponsor

The Project Sponsor is the project advocate and is responsible for directing a project to ensure that the benefits are achieved and that the project is viable at all times. The sponsor is the owner of the business case and primary risk taker. This is an active role and includes ensuring that the project always makes sound business sense, involving all parts of the organisation which benefit , engaging stakeholders, approving key deliverables, giving direction as and when required and making decisions or recommendations at key points in the project’s life.

  • Sets the overall business objective for the project
  • Ensures production of and adherence to the business case
  • Has overall responsibility for the ongoing funding of the project against an agreed budget
  • Ensures that the project deliverables set contains everything required for benefits realisation
  • Monitors progress regularly by conducting project status meetings with the project manager and other stakeholders
  • Takes a cost/benefit/risk perspective to the steering group
  • Co-ordinates issues resolution
  • Recommends project closure, if appropriate
  • Monitors and reports on benefits capture after closedown of the project

Project manager

The Project Manager is accountable to the Project Sponsor for matters related to the assigned project. They have single-point accountability for defining and creating a project solution which will ensure realisation of the required benefits articulated in the business case.

  • Performs the overall day-to-day management of the project to ensure that project objectives are achieved within time/cost/quality constraints, whilst managing stakeholder expectations
  • Responsible for project documentation (eg Project registry document and project plan)
  • Responsible for ensuring that requirements and acceptance criteria are satisfactorily captured by the business and agrees the strategy for the project with the steering group
  • Directs and motivates the project team
  • Reports project progress to the steering group to ensure the project’s overall direction and integrity
  • Performs management of the risks of the project, including the development of contingency plans
  • Responsible for configuration management including change control
  • Responsible for project completion and production of the lessons learned report

Team manager/leader

  • Takes direction from the project manager to create work packages
  • Prepares plans for the team’s work and agrees it with the project manager
  • Reports to and advises the project manager of success or deviation from plan
  • Initiates corrective action where necessary within the constraints laid down by the project manager
  • Motivates the team and monitors work to ensure quality control
  • Identifies and advises the project manager of any risks associated with a work package and ensures that it is entered into the risk log

Team members (subject matter experts)

  • Provide the required domain expertise to the project in terms of production of deliverables or in the conduct of specialist disciplines
  • Carry out agreed activities to agreed acceptance criteria at the assigned times
  • Communicate domain issues and risks
  • Resolve technical problems related to the domain
  • Facilitate meetings and design workshops
  • Introduce new processes, where necessary, and develop a high level implementation plan and design measures and feedback systems to ensure that the new processes work effectively