Project Roles and Responsibilities
In PRINCE2 a single individual might hold multiple roles (especially in smaller projects), or a single role might be shared by several people, provided accountability is clear and conflicts of interest are avoided. The primary goal is absolute clarity on who is responsible for what, ensuring effective decision-making and communication within a structured framework.
Project Management Team Structure
PRINCE2 typically defines four levels within and around the project management structure:
- Corporate or Programme Management: Sits outside the direct project team. This level commissions the project, appoints the Executive, sets overall project tolerances, and represents the highest level of authority.
- Directing Level: This is the Project Board, responsible for the overall direction and success of the project.
- Managing Level: This is the Project Manager, responsible for the day-to-day management of the project.
- Delivering Level: This comprises the Team Manager(s) and specialist team members who create the project’s products.
Detailed Roles
Project Board
Responsibility: The Project Board is collectively accountable for the success of the project. It provides overall direction, commits necessary resources, makes key strategic decisions, and ensures the project remains viable. It operates primarily through the ‘Directing a Project’ process and manages by exception. To be effective, the Board must possess the necessary authority, credibility within the organization, the ability to delegate effectively to the Project Manager, and sufficient availability to provide timely decisions and support.
The Project Board is comprised of three distinct roles representing the primary stakeholder interests:
- Executive: Appointed by Corporate or Programme Management, the Executive is ultimately accountable for the project’s success and owns the Business Case. They ensure the project delivers value for money and remains aligned with business strategy. The Executive has the final say in Project Board decisions and represents the Business stakeholder interest. They are also responsible for Business Assurance and typically appoint the Project Manager and other team members.
- Senior User: This role represents the interests of those who will use the project’s products to achieve the intended benefits, or those who will operate and maintain the products post-project. They are responsible for specifying the project’s benefits and user requirements, defining quality expectations and acceptance criteria, and ensuring the delivered solution meets user needs. They represent the User stakeholder interest and are responsible for User Assurance.
- Senior Supplier: This role represents the interests of those involved in designing, developing, facilitating, procuring, and implementing the project’s specialist products. They are accountable for the technical integrity and quality of the products delivered by the supplier(s). They commit supplier resources to the project and ensure the feasibility of the proposed solutions. They represent the Supplier stakeholder interest and are responsible for Supplier Assurance.
Project Manager (PM)
Responsibility: The Project Manager holds the authority for the day-to-day management of the project, delegated by the Project Board. They operate within the constraints (tolerances) set by the Board. Their prime responsibility is to ensure the project produces the required products within the agreed tolerances for time, cost, quality, scope, benefits, and risk. This role is unique in its daily focus on the project and cannot be shared.
Key Activities: Includes initiating the project, planning stages, delegating work via Work Packages, monitoring progress, managing risks and issues, controlling stage execution, reporting progress and exceptions to the Project Board, managing the project team, and ensuring proper project closure. The PM is responsible for executing most PRINCE2 processes, excluding Directing a Project and Managing Product Delivery.
Team Manager (TM)
Responsibility: This is an optional role, often used in larger or more complex projects, where direct management of specialist teams by the Project Manager is impractical. The Team Manager manages a team of specialists to create specific products defined in a Work Package agreed with the Project Manager. They report directly to the Project Manager.
Key Activities: Preparing detailed Team Plans (if required); accepting, executing, and managing the delivery of Work Packages; managing team members on a daily basis; monitoring team progress and resource usage; reporting progress and issues to the Project Manager via Checkpoint Reports.
Project Assurance
Responsibility: This role provides independent monitoring and assurance to the Project Board and other stakeholders that the project is being managed correctly and that its products are meeting requirements. It functions independently of the Project Manager. Assurance responsibilities align with the three Project Board interests: Business Assurance (checking ongoing viability and value), User Assurance (checking user requirements are met), and Supplier/Technical Assurance (checking the solution is appropriate and feasible). This role cannot be combined with the Project Manager, Team Manager, or Project Support roles due to potential conflicts of interest.
Key Activities: Advising the Project Manager and Project Board; reviewing management products and specialist products against standards; ensuring risks and issues are properly managed; confirming compliance with corporate or programme standards.
Project Support
Responsibility: This role provides essential administrative services, advice, and guidance on project management tools, techniques, and configuration management to the Project Manager and the wider team. This includes responsibility for maintaining the project’s configuration management system. This role must be assigned in some form, even if combined with another role (like the PM in small projects).
Key Activities: Maintaining project documentation (e.g., logs, registers); tracking progress and maintaining plans; administering change control and configuration management; managing communications; assisting with project management tools; organizing meetings.
Change Authority
Responsibility: This is an optional role or group delegated by the Project Board to make decisions on Requests for Change and off-specifications. This delegation typically occurs when the volume of changes is expected to be high, freeing up Project Board time.
Key Activities: Assessing the impact of proposed changes; approving or rejecting changes within the limits of authority and change budget set by the Project Board; escalating decisions beyond these limits back to the Project Board.
In closing
This defined structure embodies a clear separation of concerns. Strategic direction and ultimate accountability reside with the Project Board. Day-to-day operational management is the responsibility of the Project Manager, operating within delegated tolerances. Specialist product creation is handled by the Team Manager or delivery teams. Project Assurance provides independent oversight, while Project Support ensures administrative efficiency. This separation aims to prevent conflicts of interest \– underscored by rules prohibiting certain role combinations like Project Manager and Project Assurance \– and ensures decisions are made at the most appropriate level, reinforcing the Manage by Exception principle. This layered structure is key to maintaining control within the PRINCE2 environment.
Responsibilities Table
Table: Summary of Key PRINCE2 Roles and Core Responsibilities
| Role | Core Responsibility |
|---|---|
| Project Board | Overall direction, accountability, key decisions, resource allocation. |
| - Executive | Ultimate accountability, Business Case ownership, value for money, business focus. |
| - Senior User | Representing user needs, specifying benefits & requirements, user acceptance. |
| - Senior Supplier | Ensuring technical feasibility, quality of supplied products, supplier resource commitment. |
| Project Manager | Day-to-day management, planning, controlling stages, managing team, reporting within tolerances. |
| Team Manager | Managing specialist team(s), delivering products as per Work Packages, detailed progress reporting. |
| Project Assurance | Independent monitoring of project performance, compliance, and stakeholder interests. |
| Project Support | Administrative assistance, documentation management, configuration control, tool support. |
| Change Authority | Deciding on change requests within delegated authority limits. |