9 Essential Roles In Project Management

According to Project Management Statistics (Gallup), only 2.5% of companies complete 100% of their projects successfully. One of the secrets of successful projects is the active collaboration of project team members.

Before you start a project, have a clear understanding of the various project management roles. Who are the key project team members? What are their roles and responsibilities?

This article will cover the 9 project team roles and explain in detail their key responsibilities.

Let’s get started.

1. Project Manager. Plays a Lead Role in the Project.

The project manager position is essential for running a successful project. This professional is responsible for planning, managing, organizing, executing, and completing a project successfully on time and within budget.

What separates a good project manager from a bad one is their soft skills like time management, management style, leadership qualities, and knowledge.

You need project management certifications from recognized bodies like the PMI’s Project Management Professional (PMP) to thrive in a competitive job space. A certified project manager attracts more career opportunities and better-paying jobs.

Project managers take on different titles depending on the industry and nature of the project they handle. While they perform similar roles and responsibilities, there are differences in the scope of their work.

For example, some organizations use technical project managers that have extensive knowledge of the technical aspects of project management. Also, companies that primarily deal with digital deliverables employ digital project managers.

Project Manager Responsibilities and Roles

The project manager is responsible for the project’s day-to-day operations. Everyone should have a sound knowledge of the key project manager roles and responsibilities, irrespective of the title.

The key project manager’s roles and responsibilities include:

• Plans the Project: Managers create project plans, schedule tasks, solve problems, and manage teams to achieve the set goals. A good project plan contains the project objectives, budget, timeline, and scope.
• Recruits Project Team Members: Apart from leading and managing the team, the project manager’s role is to recruit team members. You are responsible for selecting qualified members and assigning project tasks based on their technical skills and experience.
• Determines the Project Management Methodology: The project manager picks the ideal framework, such as agile or waterfall, for project management activities.
• Schedule Management: Good project managers set effective project schedules and monitor the project’s progress along the dotted lines.
• Communicates with Upper Management and Project Teams: The project manager is responsible for communicating with everyone involved in the project. Excellent communication skills are necessary for project success.
• Manages Project Stakeholders: Stakeholder management is the responsibility of the project manager. This individual identifies the needs and manages the expectations of different interests.
• Manages Project Resources: Every project manager knows how to manage resources (people, money, equipment, and materials) toward project success. You can manage multiple projects successfully by assigning employees to the right projects and giving the necessary materials and human resources.
• Manages Potential Risks: Risk management is a key part of the project manager’s job. Good project managers spot, analyze, and manage potential risks before they start a new project. They anticipate delays from the client side and take necessary actions to reduce the impact of project risks.
• Issues Project Reports: The project manager creates, shares, and presents the necessary project management reports to key stakeholders. Some key project management documentations include team availability and project status reports. A project status report shows the project's progress within a timeframe.

2. Project Team Member. The Moving Engine of the Project.

A project team member is a full-time or part-time employee that has an active role in the project. Every project management team has members that contribute to the set objectives and deliverables. Their roles may vary depending on the project.

When picking team members, select those with the right skill sets, qualities, and experience needed for the project. Your team members may be employees from different company departments or even from different geographic locations.

The limit of a project team is broader than you think. Your team can include external consultants, contractors, suppliers, and freelancers that contribute to achieving the project’s objectives.

Project Team Member Responsibilities and Roles

The key project team member’s roles and responsibilities include:

• Contributes to the Project’s Success: The number one responsibility of a team member is to execute project-related tasks and activities. In an ideal project management setup, team members get instructions and tasks from the project manager.
• Completes Project Deliverables: Every individual team member has a job description with a clear set of project deliverables attached to it. This individual is responsible for completing the assigned project tasks and expected deliverables.
• Reports Progress to the Project Manager: Team members are under the management lens of the project manager. They give a progress report on the various tasks they are handling. As a team member, your report should detail any roadblock faced while executing the project.
• Collaborates with Other Team Members: A project is more likely to be successful if there is good collaboration among team members. Every member of the project team has to work together to meet the project or business needs.
• Provides Expertise: The beauty of a good and cross-functional project team is the amount of expertise and skills available. A project team member brings a unique set of experience, skills, and expertise to the table.
• Documents the Project Management Process: Every project team member should keep a record of their activities for future reference. Without appropriate documentation, there is little room to learn from the project’s success or failure.

3. Project Sponsor. The In-House Champion of the Project.

The project sponsor is primarily responsible for providing or securing the project’s funding, approving the project budget, and appointing the project manager. Some organizations can call the individual “business sponsor.”

A project can have more than one sponsor. The sponsor is always a senior manager in the organization with a strong interest in the project’s outcome. This individual is the main driver and provides the in-house support for the project.

However, note that the project sponsor is different from the project owner. The project sponsor is the person/people responsible for financing the project, while the project owner is a company or organization that owns the project.

Project Sponsor Responsibilities

The key project sponsor’s roles and responsibilities include:

• Appoints the Project Manager and Provides Guidance: The project sponsor is the one that picks the project manager for the job. This individual works closely with the project manager and team to provide guidance and the needed support, especially in the project planning process.
• Makes Key Business Decisions: Although project sponsors do not play active roles in the day-to-day running of the project, they are responsible for many key business decisions. Sponsors identify and define the project, evaluate the initial project scope and charter, and check the project plan to ensure they are in line with the set objectives.
• Approves the Project Budget: The business sponsor is responsible for approving the budget set by the project manager. As the project champion, this individual ensures the financial resources needed to execute the project are readily available.
• Promotes the Project to Senior Stakeholders: Project sponsors champion the project’s goals and benefits to senior management to secure approval for the needed funding.
• Approves Ideas and Changes to the Project: Before a project manager can make project-altering changes, the sponsor has to approve them. In many cases, the manager can’t advance to the next phases in the project life cycle without the sponsor’s approval.

4. Executive Sponsor. The Ultimate Decision Maker.

The executive sponsor is similar to a project sponsor. In many organizations, there is no distinction between these two sponsorship roles. Large organizations are the ones that separate both roles. In such situations, the project sponsor reports to the executive sponsor.

Who is an executive sponsor? This individual is usually the highest-ranking executive manager responsible for driving the project and aligning it to the business’ vision and strategy. The executive sponsor is the project’s ultimate decision-maker.

Executive Sponsor Responsibilities

The key executive sponsor’s roles and responsibilities include:

• Aligns the Project to the Organization’s Vision and Strategy: The executive sponsor ensures the project sticks to the laid-down organizational strategy.
• Approves Changes to the Project Scope: Before a project manager can execute changes to the project scope, the executive sponsor needs to approve them.
• Provides and Monitors Project Financing: Executive sponsors provide the extra funds needed to execute changes to the project scope. They closely monitor the budget and ensure that project spending does not stretch beyond what is necessary.
• Approves Project Deliverables: This C-level executive is responsible for approving the final project's outcome or deliverables.
• Holds the Ultimate Responsibility for the Project: The executive sponsor has the highest interests in the project. This individual gives the final approval on project phases, resources, deliverables, and changes.

5. Business Analyst. Plays a Problem-Solving Role.

A business analyst is a professional that defines the business’s requirements, identifies existing problems, and recommends changes to meet the set goals.

When you add business analysts to your project team, they help you check that your objectives solve key problems and provide value to stakeholders.

You may be wondering why business analysis is an essential project management role. Here’s the answer. According to the Project Management Institute (PMI), inaccurate requirements gathering accounts for 39% of project failure.

Guess which professionals excel at gathering requirements for your business or project. The business analysts.

Business Analyst Responsibilities

The key business analyst’s roles and responsibilities include:

• Gathers Requirements: Business analysts excel at analyzing data. They are responsible for understanding the project needs and turning them into requirements before handing them to the project manager. The involvement of business analysts leads to better requirements gathering from stakeholders.
• Documents Requirements: The business analyst documents the project requirements for further planning. This professional creates a document that contains the project deliverables. The project manager uses this document to track progress.
• Identifies Improvement Opportunities: Spotting and solving problems, gaps, and opportunities is what comes naturally to business analysts. They research potential opportunities, identify gaps, and suggest actions that can improve the project process and deliverables.

6. Client or Customer. The Initiator of the Project.

Clients or customers are the people, business units, departments, and organizations that are the reason for the project. They are the ones that initiate and provide the financing for the project. Without them, there is no project.

Every project has the core objective of fulfilling the client’s need at the end of the project lifecycle. If the project fails to satisfy client expectations, it is automatically a failure.

The perfect client has a good grasp of project management, is highly interested in a successful project outcome, and finds time to support and track the project.

Client or Customer Responsibilities

The roles and responsibilities of a project client or customer include:

• Initiates the Project: The client or customer is the main initiator of the project. This individual/organization is responsible for setting the project’s goals and objectives and providing the financing needed to execute it.
• Appoints and Discharges the Project Manager: Clients, especially departments, business units, and organizations, appoint the project manager to plan, organize, implement, and deliver the project. After the successful completion and approval of the project, the client discharges the manager.
• Makes and Approves Important Decisions: The client makes and approves project decisions, while this individual reviews and approves project plans, scope changes, and milestones. The responsibilities also include requesting changes, releasing resources, and accepting the final deliverables.
• Provides Project Resources: Resources can make or break a project. While the project manager is responsible for managing them, it is the client that provides the resources needed to execute the project successfully.
• Provides Regular Feedback: As the project initiator and owner, the client provides regular feedback to ensure the project stays on track. Clients answer the project manager’s questions, review the deliverables, and track the project’s progress.

7. Steering Committee. Oversees and Controls the Project.

The steering committee is a group of managers and high-level stakeholders that governs the project from start to finish. This committee provides the guidance needed to ensure the project delivers its expected outcome. Its members usually don’t do project work but have high stakes in the project.

Who is on a project steering committee? The members of a steering committee depend on the project scope. Members include senior stakeholders and management representatives from different departments, external representatives, and customers most affected by the project.

Steering Committee Responsibilities

The roles and responsibilities of a steering committee include:

• Provides Leadership Support for the Project: The steering committee provides advice and direction for the project. Since members have extensive experience and knowledge, they use their expertise to guide the project to success.
• Makes Important Decisions: Some decisions are beyond the project manager, such as adopting a new business model. The steering committee is responsible for deciding to approve or disapprove all requests to change key project elements like schedule, budget, and deliverables.
• Resolves Issues: This committee steps in to resolve issues that the project management team can’t solve. Members provide their expertise to ensure that the issues raised or encountered don’t lead to project failure.

8. Delivery Manager. Leads the Project Delivery Team.

A delivery manager is a professional that leads the project team to successfully deliver a product within the set time frame and required quality.

In some organizations, a delivery manager bears the title of an information technology (IT) service manager or service delivery manager. This role is popular in the technology and software development industry.

Does the delivery manager perform the same role as the project manager? The main difference between them is that the project manager manages the project as a whole, while the delivery manager oversees the project team.

Delivery Manager Responsibilities

The roles and responsibilities of a delivery manager include:

• Ensures the Prompt Delivery and Quality of Products: The delivery manager ensures the project team delivers the final deliverables at the agreed deadline. This professional ensures that the final product aligns with the project’s goals and meets the required quality.
• Sets Project Goals: This responsibility primarily belongs to the project manager. However, the delivery manager can set individual and team targets for the project team to ensure they deliver quality products.
• Creates and Maintains a Positive Workplace Culture: A project can not be successful in a negative team environment where there is a lack of cooperation. The delivery manager ensures that team members enjoy working together and resolves workplace conflicts.

9. Project Management Office (PMO)

The Project Management Office (PMO) defines and maintains the best standards, policies, and practices for internal project management within an organization. This body ensures that the project follows set guidelines and stakeholder goals.

PMOs serve as the link between the executive and project team. Members of a PMO can either be internal or external personnel. In some organizations, the PMO takes other names like the project or program portfolio management office.

Project Management Office (PMO) Responsibilities

The roles and responsibilities of a PMO include:

• Provides Project Governance: The PMO oversees the organization’s projects and ensures the budgets and resources align with its strategic vision. This body sets up a project governance framework involving key stakeholders to govern the project.
• Provides Consultation Services: PMOs advise senior management on the projects with the best cost-benefit ratio. They provide guidance to project teams and create a solid PM blueprint of methods, tools, and processes, which guarantee successful execution and results.
• Plans and Schedules Resources: Resource planning and management is a key responsibility of a PMO. Successful PMOs excel at sharing the right resources for different projects to improve the chances of success.
• Provides Project Management Training and Coaching: The PMO provides training and coaching programs for project management teams and other stakeholders. Training areas include software tools, leadership, and project management basics.

Explore Further

• What Are the Roles and Responsibilities of a Project Manager?
• What Is an Agile Team? Roles, Work Style & Methods
• 18 People Management Skills Every Manager Needs
• 23 Essential Project Management Skills
• 22 Best Project Management Software
• 13 Essential Components of Project Management

Source

1. Pulse of the Profession 2017 (PMI)

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