Designing a Project Management Team

Overview

	The project needs the right people in place with the authority, responsibility and knowledge to make decisions in a timely manner.
	The Project Management Team needs to reflect the interests of all parties who will be involved including business, user and specialist interests.
	Project management requires resources and calls for a range of skills, which must be available within the Project Management Team.
	It is important that consideration is given to all the activities that are involved in managing the project so that no important aspects are overlooked. It is also important that all the skills needed by the project are made available. All the roles identified in the organisation component must be filled in some way in each project.

Context

Having identified an Chairman and the Project Manager, the next job is to review the project size, complexity and areas impacted by the final outcome, then design the Project Management Team with appropriate representation of User, Supplier Operator and project support.

In practice it is normal that this process and the next, Appointing a Project Management Team, will have considerable overlap.

Process Description

The objectives of the process are to:

	Design the Project Management Team structure appropriate to the size and nature of the project and the groups involved
	Identify candidates for each role to produce a recommended Project Management Team.
	Determine the responsibilities and requisite skills required for each position.

Where the project is part of a programme, the Programme Director has responsibility for establishing the Project Board. If this is done, most of this process will not be required. The Programme Director may, however, leave the appointment of the remainder of the Project Board to the Chairman.

There are certain steps that must be undertaken:

	Identify candidates for the Project Board roles and create their job definitions
	Assess if any members of the Project Board are likely to delegate any of their assurance responsibilities; this will assist the Project Manager to advise on the design of any assurance roles and the selection of candidates to fill them; this aspect may need to be revisited after the other Project Board roles are actually appointed
	Consider if separate individuals are likely to be needed as Team Manager(s) or whether the Project Manager will be filling this role personally; the final decision on this may not be taken until the planning of each stage
	Examine the Project Directive and Project Manager role definition and propose any project support roles required.
	Assign candidate names to all roles identified; the design should state whether each role will be allocated to one individual, shared or combined with another role.

Responsibilities

The Chairman and Project Manager are jointly responsible for the design. The Chairman will take specific responsibility for the Project Board design. If the project is part of a programme, the Programme Director may choose to appoint all members of the Project Board or leave this to the project Chairman. In the latter case, the Chairman should confirm the acceptability of the design with the Programme Director.

Information Needs

Management information	Usage	Explanation
Project Directive	Input	Indicates the likely User and Customer interests
Project Board Chairman and Project Manager appointments	Input	The Chairman and Project Manager can identify possible candidates, decide on any necessary support for the Project Manager and assurance support for the Chairman
Project Management Team structure	Output	The basis of discussion with the other appointees and with senior management

Key Criteria

	If the project is part of a programme, is there to be programme representation on the Project Board or as some part of the Project Management Team?
	Have the quality assurance functions been catered for?
	Does the design balance with the overall projected cost, criticality and importance of the project?
	Can the proposed Project Board members make the commitments required of them?
	Have all the roles and responsibilities been allocated? If not, are the exclusions justified?
	Does the design allocate roles and responsibilities to individuals with the requisite knowledge, time and authority to carry them out?
	Are all relevant stakeholders represented in the Project Management Team?
	How should the PROMISE model be adapted where the Customer or Supplier uses methods or technology that call for specific organisation and control models?
	Does the Project Management Team structure fit in with, and support, any programme management structure?
	Do any assurance and support roles fit into any overall programme or strategy assurance and support functions?