Every/Some/Any/Nobody…

 

This is a story about four people named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody and Nobody. There was an important job to be done and Everybody was rushing to own it thinking that Somebody would do the job. Anybody could have done it, but Nobody was authorized to work on it. Somebody got angry about that, because it was Everybody's job but Nobody was responsible for it. Everybody thought Anybody could do it, but Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn't do it. It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody was accountable for what Anybody could have done.

Does this sound familiar? It happens to us every now and then in work whenever the roles and responsibilities of individuals are not properly defined. On a similar note, it is crucial for us to have the RACI chart correctly defined in each project to avoid confusion and dispute among the team members. Failure to do so will have adverse impact and in the worst case, jeopardize the entire project. However, before we can even define a meaningful RACI chart, it is important for us to have a good understanding on the definitions of authority, responsibility and accountability in the context of project management and the differences as well as interrelationships among them. They are the fundamental concepts of roles and responsibilities in project management.

Responsibility relates to one's duty or mission. It is an obligation to answer for actions, to ensure that a task is accomplished. A "responsible" individual is one who gets the job done. Authority is the power that is vested in an individual or organization to accomplish a given task or responsibility. It is the ability to act that exerts the necessary control or influence to make things happen. Accountability is being liable for an outcome. It is not just about whether the job gets done, but also how it gets done. Know your Authority, Responsibility, and Accountability in each project. Make sure you have the right Authority to be Responsible for what you are Accountable!