Responsibility Assignment
Responsibility assignment is a procedure that defines and ensures continuous validation of roles, delineating clear responsibilities and accountability throughout the full problem lifecycle.
The objective of Responsibility Assignment is to ensure ownership, roles and accountability are clearly and continuously defined and communicated throughout the full project lifecycle.
Responsibility assignment includes the assignment and continuous review of Problem Ownership and stakeholder responsibilities stored in a responsibility matrix commonly referred to as a RACI.
Responsibility Matrix¶
A responsibility matrix is a single artefact produced and maintained by the delivery team, and is used to clarify, continuously monitor and review the roles and responsibilities of individuals or groups involved in the delivery of a solution.
A responsibility matrix should detail key information that enables more effective collaboration with stakeholders and includes: a list of stakeholders, clarity on their type of involvement, potential impact on project, availability and any other additional details that help optimise collaboration.
Responsibilities¶
| Owner | Responsibility |
|---|---|
| Delivery Owner | The Delivery Owner is accountable for ensuring that responsibility assignment is conducted, occurs at appropriate times and the responsibility matrix produced is valid and easily accessible |
| Delivery Team | The whole Delivery team is collectively responsible for conducting responsibility assignment events, producing and maintaining responsibility matrix, ensuring it's accessible and continuously communicated with stakeholders |
| Product Lead | Responsible for participating in any responsibility assignment events, ensuring that product ownership is defined, remains valid and the responsibility matrix lists any key product stakeholders |
| Engineering Owner | Responsible for participating in any responsibility assignment events, ensuring that engineering ownership is defined, remains valid and the responsibility matrix lists any key engineering stakeholders |
| Design Owner | Responsible for participating in any responsibility assignment events, ensuring that design ownership is defined, remains valid and the responsibility matrix lists any key design stakeholders |
Triggers¶
The responsibility matrix must remain valid throughout the full problem solving lifecycle, and therefore should be routinely reviewed and updated when any change occurs that impacts problem ownership or any individuals or groups involved in the delivery of a solution.
Problem ownership must be defined as soon as enough is known or early in the discovery zone. The team responsible for delivering a solution will need to determine and document when a responsibility matrix should be produced, reviewed and updated, and therefore when any responsibility assignment events should occur.
Communication Plan¶
The team responsible for delivering a solution will need to ensure that the responsibility matrix and any accompanying guidance is easily accessible, and expectations continuously communicated with all stakeholders.
Considerations¶
A responsibility matrix is a valuable tool primarily used by the delivery team rather than stakeholders. While stakeholders may have an interest in understanding who is responsible for specific aspects of a solution, they typically rely on other forms of communication, such as synchronous or asynchronous Delivery Status Reporting rather than directly referencing the responsibility matrix.