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Copyright 2010 by Rita Mulcahy, PMP. All rights reserved.

RMC Project Management, Inc. 10953 Bren Road E. Minnetonka, Minnesota 55343
info@rmcproject.com www.rmcproject.com (952) 846-4484
The copyright owner hereby grants permission to make copies of this handout for personal, noncommercial use only.
Clearly Assigning Roles and Responsibilities
Clearly assigning roles and responsibilities begins with
knowing what needs to be done. Terefore, the project
charter and the WBS are key elements. Do you have a
charter and a WBS? Do you know that a WBS is created
with the team, using Post It Notes and may take a form
similar to the picture at right?
Once all the work needed to accomplish the project is completed for each work package, it is
easy to enter the work packages (the lowest level of the WBS or some other strategy) into a
Gantt chart. But why not also include the name of the person assigned to each work package?
Yes, one person must be made responsible for each work package, even if a group is doing it.
Tricks of the Trade

Whenever I teach project management classes for team members, they always say, Please
tell project managers to clearly assign roles and responsibilities on the project! Most project
managers are surprised, believing they already do this. Obviously, there is a problem. Something
is missing! Lets explore what contributes to clearly assigned roles so you can evaluate your
project and make sure you do not fall into this trap.
Tricks of the Trade

for Clearly Defining

Roles on Projects
by Rita Mulcahy, PMP
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Copyright 2010 by Rita Mulcahy, PMP. All rights reserved.
RMC Project Management, Inc. 10953 Bren Road E. Minnetonka, Minnesota 55343
info@rmcproject.com www.rmcproject.com (952) 846-4484
The copyright owner hereby grants permission to make copies of this handout for personal, noncommercial use only.
Once everyone knows who is doing what, we are still missing something important. If we ask a team
member to complete a work package that is only defned as a two-word description from the WBS,
we will be in trouble. Why? Because all people tend to add work or functionality (gold plate) to work
packages instead of providing only what is required. Te use of a WBS Dictionary will help keep
everyone on track. It is created by the team member for each of his or her work packages and reviewed
by the project manager. It describes the work package eforts in advance, so the team member and the
project manager can make sure that the level of efort, quality, time, and cost are appropriate for the
priority, complexity, and charter of the project. A WBS Dictionary can be thought of as a charter for
each work package.
Lastly, lets use common sense and check with our team members before the project management plan
is fnalized and also throughout the project by asking, How clear are the roles and responsibilities
on this project? What still needs to be clarifed? Te team can always tell you more than you expect.
With these tools in place, the problem of unclear roles and responsibilities is greatly diminished or
eliminated. Good luck!
PMPand the PMI REP Logo are marks of the Project Management Institute, Inc. RMC Project management has been reviewed and approved as a provider
of project management training by the Project Management Institute (PMI). As a PMI Registered Education Provider (R.E.P.), RMC Project Management has
agreed to abide by PMI-established quality assurance criteria.