(^92) 97 Things Every Project Manager Should Know
One Deliverable, One Person
Alan Greenblatt
Sudbury, Massachusetts, U.S.
EvERy DElIvERABlE ShoUlD hAvE A SInglE PERSon who is responsible
for its completion. Everyone working on the project should clearly understand
who is responsible for the delivery of each item. Actual development of the item
may involve a large group of people, but ultimate responsibility for ensuring its
on-time completion, and for understanding the technical issues surrounding
that item, should be associated with one person.
Too often, especially in highly politicized environments, responsibilities are
shared, particularly when things are a little fuzzy at the beginning of a project.
People like to be responsible for highly visible items that they know are going
to be successful. No one wants to be held responsible for something that is
sure to be a failure. In the beginning of a project, sometimes responsibilities are
shared because a deliverable, and its associated risks, are not fully understood.
No one really wants to step up and assume responsibility for a vague task.
Sometimes, a deliverable is so juicy that you end up with multiple people who
want to assume responsibility for it. Yet, not wanting to rock the boat, manage-
ment doesn’t assign specific responsibility to one person for fear that others
will get upset. Either way, you are setting the stage for much larger problems
down the road.
First, if there is a problem associated with a deliverable, one individual who is
ultimately responsible for it is much more apt to notify the team early, since
she knows she will be held accountable. When time is tight, people have a ten-
dency to assume that anything for which they are not held personally account-
able will be handled by someone else. That is how things fall through the
cracks. As software project manager, you end up with a crisis on your hands.