4 simple, yet powerful steps & a ready template, to effectively define “Roles & Responsibilities”

Look at a car. It has a steering wheel, brakes, accelerator, engine, fuel tank, silencer, gearbox, Stepney, windshield, wipers, headlights, armrest, music system, number plate etc. Each one is a role and a definitive function. While some of them are mandatory for the main functionality of the motion, some are a factor of convenience, some are for luxury, and few take care of aesthetics. And some are for purpose of law & order (insurance, number plate etc).

Imagine, if each of these car parts, start interfering in each other’s role OR a few parts had NO clarity of what is supposed to be done. Just suppose, if the brake pedal does brake at times and accelerate at some other times. Would you ever want to drive that car? Even though all parts are built with the intent to help motion, however, if clear functions are not defined, then it doesn’t add to a good experience & success. Meeting with an accident is nothing but obvious.

Similarly, Look at a football match. Imagine, all 11 players run behind the ball, in all directions, without having a proper defence and attack strategy. All of them will drain out quickly and losing a match is nothing but obvious.

Now, suppose each of the 11 players’ positions is properly defined as that of a Goalkeeper, Center-Back, Central-Midfield, Right-Forward, Left-forward, Striker etc. In this case, each one knows their area of operation and is focussed on it. As a result, they together will be able to play more efficiently. Even though in either of the cases, the intention was to win, it was a mad rush in the first scenario and a well-planned game in the second scenario.

The same is true for IT projects or anything in the world. The car parts and player positions in football matches/ IT projects are nothing but Roles. Clearly defining the Roles & their Responsibilities are critical parameters to set the right tempo, strategy & pathway, from the very beginning of the project.

One of the most common myths for not defining clear Roles & Responsibilities is the misunderstanding of the term collaboration. Some think the whole team must work collaboratively & contribute to every single task of the project. This leads to a lot of confusion, on who does what part of the task, and when to hand over it. At every point, there is a discussion on the next steps, and eventually, there is a huge loss of productivity. Also, some tasks might be left out. All of this is nothing but the biggest step to falling & fail permanently. Instead, each member must be aligned to a specific role and accountable for respective responsibilities.

In this article, we will look at the benefits of Roles & Responsibilities (R&Rs), and 4 simple steps to effectively define R&Rs, and successfully implement them.

What are Roles & Responsibilities?

The term “ROLE” refers to a POSITION, in a company/team/family etc. Remember, a ROLE is less of a label or a person. Ex- In an IT project, roles can be Project manager, Developer, Tester, Sponsor, Approver, Deployer, Delivery head, etc. In the context of a family – roles can be of a father, son, teacher, friend, mother, grandparent etc.

The term “RESPONSIBILITIES” refers to TASKS, a role is expected to own & perform. It specifies the boundaries, handover points etc. so it is very clear where the responsibilities start & end for each role. Ex- In the context of an IT project – a developer’s responsibility could be to develop code, address review comments, do unit testing, and a KT to a tester. A tester’s role will only start after the KT is done by a developer, and might end when the code is pushed into production.

Anyone can play multiple roles, but ONLY ONE AT A TIME. Education, experience, exposure, soft skills, hard skills etc, determines the variety of roles one can perform. Ex- In corporate, a person can take a project manager role to lead the project objectives, be a mentor to groom his next level, and be a leader to guide the entire team and organization.

While the terms “roles” and “responsibilities” are interchangeably used, they portray distinct features.

It not only applies to the corporate but also the personal world. Within a family, one’s responsibilities, in the role of a father, grandfather, teacher, and mentor are different. As a parent, you might refrain from punishing your kids or avoid some tough conversations with them. However, as a teacher, some punishments are necessary to correct students’ mistakes. As a mentor, it’s essential to open up and discuss frankly the wrongdoings.

Professionally, I have grown through various roles, from a developer to a tech lead, to SME, to a project manager and program manager. Responsibilities for each of these roles were quite distinct and targeted a clear objective. Currently, as a Program Director, my responsibilities include leading a gamut of strategic large programs. Thus, clearly defining Roles & Responsibilities is like adding an accelerated trajectory, to every employee’s career and the success of the project & organization.

6 key benefits of clearly defined Roles & Responsibilities

Consciously defining each member’s role, responsibilities and success criteria, can have an immediate positive impact and set a path for everyone’s success. Here are 6 prime benefits.

High Visibility of everyone’s Role, tasks and expectations from each other

Clearly defined R&Rs help to understand what everyone will work on, how & where their activities overlap with others’ tasks. It gives visibility into every person’s work and the expectations they hold from each another. It promotes more accountability & ownership.

Also, team members know exactly who is responsible for carrying out borderline/overlapping tasks. Thus, the probability of missing tasks in a project, due to miscommunication, is completely reduced.

High focus & improved productivity

The ambiguity of each other’s roles & contributions causes a lot of confusion. People waste energy & time, debating at every step, on who would pick the next task and from what point. As a result, productivity is stumped.

Clearly defined R&Rs sets high focus and vested interest to complete tasks, of their roles. It implicitly channelizes energy, towards a common goal & set process. It helps boost operational efficiency by reducing chaos and redundancies.

Clarity of reporting & org hierarchy

Clearly defined roles, showcase transparent hierarchy reporting & supervisory relationships. It sets implicit guidelines for approachability & gives visibility to the escalation matrix. At the same time, it curtails members from overstepping their authority and decisive boundaries. Thus, it also lessens the likelihood of interpersonal conflicts.

Association to overall big picture view

Clear R&Rs help understand how each one will contribute to the overall goal/ objective of the project. Individuals have far more respect & feel associated when they can envision their contribution to the group’s overall objective. A respectful environment is more positive, collaborative and creative.

Improved work experience & employee satisfaction

Clear R&Rs help find apt persons for each of the roles, based on their experience, skillset etc. Team members are generally motivated, and aspire to excel in their roles, as they clearly understand their expectations of them.

As members aren’t expected to do everything, everywhere, there is less stress. This leads to improved work experience & employee satisfaction. Thus, it makes operational efficiency less of a forcible mandate, but a natural outcome of all. Projects & employees will automatically inch towards success.

Easier Governance, Delegation & Better Control

The R&R document is a critical, useful project management artefact, that shows each stakeholder’s responsibilities and influence on the project. It is a good communication tool to delegate tasks, as per the roles and track the progress. It also helps monitor the team members’ workload, and accordingly realign, if required.

Benefits-of-clearly-defined-Roles-Responsibilities

Who should draft Roles & Responsibilities and When?

The project manager, or whoever is leading the project/ program/ event must draft the Roles & Responsibilities document and own it. This can be a running document and can be revised as per the changing needs.

One of the most important steps at the start of a project is – to clearly define the R&Rs and detail them to the team with extended clarity. It is ideal for presenting the R&R doc as part of the Kick-off meeting. At the latest, it must be done within 2 weeks from the start of the project.

This will set the project in the right direction for success, and you’ll see the project’s goals and objectives being met with a lot more ease & efficiency.

4 simple steps to effectively define & implement Roles and Responsibilities

Key elements for effective Roles & Responsibilities doc

Don’t get bogged down & scared of defining R&Rs. Just follow the below 4 simple steps.

Step1: Understand the Scope of work & identify the roles required to accomplish it

The first step is to understand the big-picture scope of work to be done. Determine what roles & tasks are necessary to accomplish a given objective/project. Keep the roles as independent as possible. At this point, DO NOT map any person to any of the roles. Role allocation will follow at a later stage.

After roles are identified, start weaving the responsibilities/tasks for each of the roles. This must include-

All the high-level tasks are to be completed by each role.
Be as specific as possible, in defining roles & their respective responsibilities.
Mention the boundary conditions & handover aspects, between the roles.

The handover sequence must call out which role will pick up the next tasks, and at what point so that there is no gaps/ confusion in between.

Associate deadlines and time-frames for each R&R.
If required, add a factor of priorities & criticality for roles.

This will help to drive conflict resolutions more effectively.

Add decision-taking capabilities & associated boundaries for each role (if applicable)

Enabling the roles to take independent decisions, within their boundaries, gives members a sense of complete ownership, and feel more accountable for the outcome of their decisions.

Add hierarchy & reporting structure of roles

They help to minimize confusion and friction over authority issues. It ensures all team members are on the same page and they are clear on what kind of info is to be communicated to what levels and at what frequency.

Step2: Discuss, Debate & Agree on the Roles & responsibilities

Set up an open discussion with the team. Convey more details on each of the Roles available for this project, and what would be their respective responsibilities. DO NOT suppress any questions & try to add more clarity. As a team, review the R&Rs and refine them if required. Encourage team members to articulate their understanding of the roles.

Unless people clearly & distinctly understand the R&Rs, they will not be 100% efficient & effective.

NOTE – Refrain from mapping/allocating people to the roles, in this step.

Step3: Map roles to every team member & socialize it

Allocate team members to each of the roles, based on their skill set, work experience, exposure, strengths, interests etc. This exercise will help discover any gaps in talent, redundant roles, tasks falling outside of any roles, etc. Put the tasks that do not fit under any specific role, on a list and check if you need to create a new role or if these tasks can be temporarily aligned to any existing role. Also, look out for opportunities to merge similar roles.

Every member of the team MUST fit into one of these defined ROLES. If a person needs to juggle different roles at different times, then better to design a separate role for him/her. If there is any special role created, then explain to the team, the reason for this unique role & the criticality of the role. Also, explain how it integrates with the rest of the conventional roles.

Reveal the reasons, strengths & skillsets etc, that were considered, to handpick each of the team members & map them to specific roles. Understanding the purpose of an assignment will increase the team’s commitment.

When the mapping is formalized, publish the doc. Try using mind-map diagrams/ flow diagrams/ any creative form of representation to make the document more interesting, rather than plain text.

Refer to the attached template at end of this article OR check the below link

https://miro.com/app/board/uXjVPPGobQk=/?moveToWidget=3458764535452604314&cot=14

Step4: Monitor the fitment of people into different roles & be flexible to change

Set realistic expectations for individuals, set team goals and effectively delegate responsibilities. Be vigilant in the performance of individuals, especially in the starting phase of the project. If there are lags, try to understand the reason. It could be a skill issue or might need some more handholding or it could be a lack of interest in the role etc. Accordingly, be flexible to tweak the roles or change the allocations.

Forcing someone into a role, in which they either don’t have the skillset or are not interested, will only make more harm than help, to the project.

Especially, if the project is long-tenured, it is mandatory to review the R&Rs timely. And as per requirement, be open to changing them accordingly.

A Bonus tip –

For each of the critical roles
1. Map a primary & secondary/backup person (to cover for the primary, when he is off)
2. Authority and sign-off levels
3. Budget associated with that role

As an advanced level of defining R&Rs, you can also associate RASCI to each of the critical roles, to further add more clarity

Benefits of the RASCI matrix and how to effectively define RASCI will be covered in the next article.

Here are some DON’Ts

Key DONTS to follow, while drafting Roles & Responsibilities — Key DONTS, while drafting Roles & Responsibilities

Don’t delegate this work of formalizing R&Rs

It is the prime responsibility of the manager/leader. Delegating it will loosen the control of the project, right from the beginning

R&Rs don’t need to include every small task. They should highlight the major responsibilities.
Don’t Overlap responsibilities, between different roles

Try to keep roles, independent of overlapping responsibilities. If more than one role needs to handle the same responsibility, then assign a primary role.

Don’t generalize R&Rs

Each R&R needs to be as specific as possible & each project must have tailor-made R&Rs, as appropriate for the project tasks.

Not necessary that for each role, a separate person is to be onboarded.

It’s ideal if we have a separate person for each role. However, whenever there is less work/constraint of budget, a single person can take over multiple roles, BUT not simultaneously.

Don’t play multiple roles simultaneously

It’s common for people to pick up multiple roles on a project. However, they shouldn’t perform them simultaneously and play ONLY 1 role, at any given time. Ex- A person can take a developer role during the development phase, and the same person, if hones testing skills, can take a tester role, during the testing phase. Similarly, a Project manager can also be a Mentor, a Sponsor, an Approver etc, at different times of the project.

Conclusion:

Defining clear Roles and Responsibilities, at the start of the project, helps to find an apt fitment for each of the roles. It improves employee experience and job satisfaction. Ultimately, this promotes efficiency, productivity & success factor for the project, organisation & employees’ career growth.

Clear R&Rs are like setting clear directions and a track for the team to run. It promotes & motivates the team to run faster & efficiently on that track. If R&Rs are neglected at an early stage, then the team members are clueless about what tasks/ objectives they need to focus on, and the project gets derailed & far from being successful.

If a wrong track is chosen, then no matter how fast the team runs, you can never reach the right destination.

To summarize, Together Everyone Achieves More when each one knows what they are responsible for & contributing towards. Together Everyone Achieves Too Little when no one knows what they’re supposed to be focussed on.