null IT project management: what are the roles/responsibilities to assign to my project team?
In small projects, several roles can be cumulated by one person.
Sponsor > its role is essentially political. He/she ensures that the project is well represented in the University's authorities, chairs the Steering Committee, advises and supports the Project Leader in case of difficulties;
Project Leader > Throughout the execution and hand-over phases of the project, he/she defines the priorities and, during regular team meetings (min. 1/week), ensures the distribution and follow-up of the tasks through a task management file. He/she reports to the project monitoring and steering bodies;
Technical Leader > He/she takes the lead on the integration process of the chosen solution, ensures the follow-up of the tasks of the technical consultants as well as the respect of the architectural and security standards of the ULB. He/She ensures that the necessary work environments (dev, test, prod) are available and, if necessary, upgraded during the project. The Technical Leader reports to the Project Leader;
Technical Staff Member > The size of the technical team varies depending on the importance of the project and its priority level. Developers/engineers report to the Technical Leader;
Functional Leader > He/she defines the persons to be interviewed within the framework of the needs gathering and ensures the formality of the interviews (sending of a report/meeting minutes to the participants). He/she takes the lead on the design of both functional and technical processes (BPMN) and ensures the creation of models when required. Finally, he/she ensures the good coordination of the tests and participates actively in the organization of the hand-over. The Functional Leader reports to the Project Leader;
Business/Functional Analyst > He/she assists the Functional Leader in the tasks within his/her area of responsibility;
Tests Coordinator >He/she supervises the writing of test scenarios, based on the process BMPN, and takes an active part in them. He/she coordinates the tasks related to the tests and ensures their proper organization;
Testers > Business testers conduct pre-production tests according to the project team's instructions. Their role is essential and allows them to correct bugs/errors before going into production;
Communication Officer > The Communication Manager assists and advises the Project Leader in the organization of the Change Management related to his project: kick off, news, presentations, demonstrations, FAQs...
In projects of reasonable size, communication is often handled by the Project or Functional Leader;
Account Officer > the management of the budget is typically done by the Project Leader himself.
In largescale projects, it may be useful to assign this function to the competent person.