10 - Organization roles

Abstract

Every project has a number of key people, who have key roles to play. Some of the major organizational roles are project sponsor, program manager, project manager, project planning manager or project planner, cost manager or cost control manager, risk manager, procurement manager, configuration manager, quality manager, project board or steering committee, and project support office. The need for some of these roles depends on the size and complexity of the project and the organizational structure of the company or authority carrying out the project. A project board or steering committee is sometimes set up for large projects to act as a supervising authority and, sometimes as champion, during the life cycle of the project. Its job is to ensure that the interests of the sponsoring organization (or client) are protected and that the project is run and delivered to meet the requirements of these organizations. The project support office is in fact the secretariat of the project and its size and constitution will therefore depend on the size of the project, its technical complexity and its administrative procedures and reporting requirements. The project support office can play a vital role in this accounting function provided that the office staff includes the project accountants.