Assigning Project Responsibilities

Kenneth has 14 years of healthcare experience in government and private industry. Over eight years of experience managing healthcare IT projects, operations, contracts, and personnel. His work experience includes project management, contracts and procurements, data analysis, claims adjudication, business writing, and business process modeling. Kenneth was certified in 2006 as a Project Management Professional.

 

When a project begins, there should be a clear plan for who is going to do what. This plan does not stop at the team executing the project, but should also include the stakeholders, the management team, the project manager(s) and the host of connected people who all will work to make the project succeed.

Assigning these responsibilities as early as possible will help everyone know what they need to do for the project to get started and be a success. There is no shortcut; the project manager needs to carefully consider every part of the project to ensure that nothing is left to chance or misunderstanding.

The Blob
One of the things you want to avoid when assigning responsibilities is an organizational chart that looks like a big blob where everyone is doing everything. If people are just bouncing around in the organization with no clear idea of where they belong or what they should be doing, then nothing will get done. The blob will just roll around without truly getting anywhere.

One of the best ways to avoid this is to be specific when talking about responsibilities. Certainly there are going to be things that come up unexpectedly that need to be handled by someone, and there will be the catch all ("other duties as assigned"); but beyond those unusual situations, you should be as clear as you can and communicate the what and where that the team members …

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