Organise proportionate responsibilities

What you will understand

• Explain how role descriptions and team structure support decisions.
• Recognise constraints on combining responsibilities.
• Describe the purpose of the commercial management approach.

The idea

A small internal improvement and a multi-supplier infrastructure project need different management arrangements. Proportionate organising means enough structure for competent decisions and oversight, with relationships people can actually use. It does not mean erasing responsibilities because the project is small or assuming a supplier contract replaces the project management method.

Begin by understanding the organisational context, the products and the people affected. Identify the business, user and supplier interests, the management work required and the skills available. Design the project management team structure around those needs. Appoint people who have both the capability and sufficient authority to fulfil their roles, agree their responsibilities and establish working relationships rather than merely sending everyone a diagram.

Some people may hold more than one role, and one role may need several people to represent different user or supplier groups. Combining roles must preserve accountability and avoid conflicts of interest. The executive and project manager cannot be the same person, and the project manager cannot provide project assurance over their own management. Keeping every responsibility explicit matters even when reporting is simplified or the team is very small.

Role descriptions should make the practical boundaries clear: what decisions can be made, what must be escalated, which reports are expected and with whom the person must collaborate. Organisational line-management authority does not automatically equal project authority. A department head may supply staff but still need to agree the capacity committed to a project. Team design should be revisited when delivery stages, products or stakeholder interests change.

A work breakdown structure can help organise the work and relate it to responsibilities. It should not be confused with a product breakdown structure, which decomposes what must be produced. Once the required work is visible, make sure each responsibility has a suitable owner and that dependencies between teams have working communication routes. Avoid gaps where every supplier assumes that another organisation will perform an essential integration activity.

The commercial management approach describes how commercial relationships will be established and managed, including relevant procurement and contractual arrangements. It helps align supplier commitments, responsibilities and the project’s controls. A fixed-price contract does not remove uncertainty, guarantee user acceptance or transfer every business risk. Work packages, acceptance arrangements, reporting and changes still need agreement. A request that is approved through project governance may also require a separate contractual action by someone with the appropriate commercial authority.

Use a five-part organising route: understand the organisational ecosystem, design the project ecosystem, develop that project ecosystem, manage changes to it, and transition the project into the organisational ecosystem. In practical terms, understand the setting, agree responsibilities, help people work together, adapt the arrangements, and make the return to ongoing business work explicit. At transition, confirm who will operate and support the result and own remaining responsibilities after the temporary project team leaves.

A small team still needs clear responsibilities

Points to remember

• Role combinations must preserve independence and accountability.
• Product and work breakdown structures organise different things.
• Commercial approval and project approval may require different authorities.

Your takeaway

Organising is an ongoing design task: understand needs, create a suitable team structure, appoint capable people and maintain useful relationships. Tailor the administration while keeping decision rights and supplier interfaces clear.