{"id":12210,"date":"2019-02-04T14:05:59","date_gmt":"2019-02-04T02:05:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.psoda.com\/global\/?p=12210"},"modified":"2024-03-19T02:08:30","modified_gmt":"2024-03-19T02:08:30","slug":"who-does-what-in-a-project-key-roles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.psoda.com\/global\/2019\/02\/04\/who-does-what-in-a-project-key-roles\/","title":{"rendered":"Who does what in a project?"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

Welcome to our new blog series ask a project manager, where I\u2019ll be answering any portfolio, programme or project management related questions.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

I\u2019m Rhona Aylward, Deputy Everything Officer at Psoda and\u00a0I\u2019ve been involved with portfolio, programmes and projects for over 20 years.\u00a0I\u2019ve set up PMOs, been a project manager, worked as a subject matter expert, have been a sponsor and more.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

You can submit questions via the comments section so ask away!<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

So let\u2019s kick off with our very first question.\u00a0 It is:<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

What does everyone actually do?<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

I\u2019m new to project management and I\u2019m getting confused with all of the different project roles. I keep hearing things like Senior Responsible Owner, Business Analyst and Senior Supplier and I\u2019m really confused. Can you tell me what they all mean please?<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Like every industry, project management has its own unique vocabulary and it can take a while to get your head around all the different terms. It\u2019s made more confusing by the same roles being called different things. So in no particular order<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Sponsor<\/h3>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The first role is Sponsor. It can also be called the Senior responsible owner or the Executive<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

They\u2019re the one person with ultimate responsibility for the project. They \u201cown\u201d the business case and it\u2019s their job to see that the project delivers what it says it will. They also chair the project steering committee.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Business Analyst<\/h3>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The business analyst is a key project role. They\u2019re responsible for documenting the project business case and gathering the project\u2019s requirements. They work very closely with the project manager.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Project Manager<\/h3>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The project manager is responsible for delivering the project within the parameters outlined in the business case.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Stakeholder<\/h3>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

This is someone, or a group of someones, who will be, or who think they will be, directly or indirectly affected by what the project is supposed to be delivering.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Senior Supplier<\/h3>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The senior supplier(s) represent the organisations or departments that are providing products or services to the project. They\u2019re responsible for making sure the organisation or department they represent does what they say they will do. They approve supplier product descriptions and resolve any supplier related conflicts.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Senior User<\/h3>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The senior user is a representative of the people who will use the final product. Their role is to make sure that the users\u2019 interests are heard and to help resolve any user related conflicts. They\u2019re a member of the project steering committee<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Team Manager or Work Package Owner<\/h3>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The team manager or work package owner is responsible for producing the products outlined in the work package. They receive the work packages from the project manager and then issue the work to the team members. They\u2019re responsible for reporting progress to the project manager and attend stage gate reviews as and when required. They don\u2019t go to the steering committee meetings<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Steering Committee<\/h3>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

A group of people that have been tasked with providing strategic guidance to the project and are there to support the project manager. They make sure the project stays on track and decide on any changes that are outside the pre-agreed tolerances.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Project Assurance<\/h3>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Project assurance are there to make sure that the project follows the correct procedures, the product(s) they produce are an acceptable quality and that it adheres to any applicable legislative or quality standards. They conduct regular health checks or quality audits at pre-agreed stages in the project\u2019s lifecycle.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Customer<\/h3>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The last project role, but by no means the least one.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

This is the person or group of people who commissioned the work and will use the end product.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\u00a0<\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

These are the main roles you\u2019re likely to come across in a project environment. There are more so if there are any titles you don\u2019t understand let us know in the comments and we\u2019ll add them.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Also, if you have any questions you\u2019d like to ask a project manager please send them through in the comments below. Your question could feature in the next ask a project manager blog!<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

And always, if you\u2019re looking for a fabulous PPM tool, check out Psoda. You can sign up for a free personalised demo here<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Welcome to our new blog series ask a project manager, where I\u2019ll be answering any portfolio, programme or project management related questions. I\u2019m Rhona Aylward, Deputy Everything Officer at Psoda and\u00a0I\u2019ve been involved with portfolio, programmes and projects for over 20 years.\u00a0I\u2019ve set up PMOs, been a project manager, worked as a subject matter expert, … Who does what in a project?<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":17799,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12210","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ask-a-project-manager","category-project-management"],"yoast_head":"\nAsk a PM: Key project roles you need to know | Psoda<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Understanding the different roles in a project is really important. 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