Project Management Roles - let's get them right

I was watching a police ‘soap’ TV recently and during the programme great play was made of organising the structure for the enquiry. An investigating officer was appointed and a team established. While this was a TV programme it showed that the roles and responsibilities were clearly of importance, worthy of taking time to identify and develop.

This led me to think about project management roles which people tell us are often unclear. This they tell us leads to problems of decisions making, governance and obtaining the right resources at the right time among many other issues.

On project management events we ask people to look at the role they play in a project. It is interesting that a lot of people find this activity difficult. Why? Because the person carrying out the activity is not clear who does what.

It is even more interesting for those that think project roles are clear. Some people have sat back and smiled saying all is well; until I ask a series of questions such as:

1. Do the named individuals know that the role you have given them is theirs for that project?

2. What do they actually do in the project?

3. Do they carry out the role of (say project manager) effectively?

4. What authority do these people have within the project?

I usually end up suggesting that people go back and start to ask some questions about roles and do this quickly. The questions are not easy to ask and the answers sometimes really difficult to come by.

If you are not clear about your role in a project how likely is it that the project will be delivered on time and to budget with the right results? Spend time up front identifying the role you play, make life easier for those trying to deliver projects and if you are one of those who is faced with not knowing what your role is then I suggest you raise your head above the parapet and ask some tough questions, and keep on asking until roles are clear AND documented.