Project Management Games, Six Sigma, Business Word Games and Puzzles

A Comprehensive List

A certain amount of skill sets may be required on any given project at any given time depending on the complexity and scope of the challenge. Below is a comprehensive list of roles and responsibilities, some of which may be applicable to any given project with respect to need. These roles and responsibilities include skill sets for projects utilizing the SDLC and/or PMLC methodologies. However, the list is not exhaustive.

The Customer
The Customer is the individual or business unit requesting the development of a solution. The responsibilities of the customer will vary throughout the project phases. Their primary responsibilities will include:
• Partner with the Practice Manager to create the Project Workbook
• Partner with the MIS Practice Manager to manage the project including the timeline, work plan, testing, resources, training and documentation of procedures
• Work with the Practice and Program Manager to identify the technical approach to be used and the deliverables to be furnished at the completion of the project
• Provide a clear definition of the business need
• Sign-off on project deliverables
• Take ownership of the developed process and software.

Executive Sponsor
The Executive Sponsor is typically a high-level executive who acts as the project advocate from strategic operations. The primary responsibilities of the Sponsor include:
• Champion the project, project manager and project team
• Manage the project scope and change requests
• Approve the Project schedule
• Communicate project goals to all management levels
• Provide appropriate and timely resources for efficient and effective project completion
• Ensure sustained adherence to schedule commitments
• Provide on-going guidance and direction to the project team
• Provide regular feedback to the project team on performance vs. expectations
• Follow up to ensure project benefits defined in the Project Scope Statement are realized
• Escalate issues and project scope changes
• Act as the final decision maker on unresolved project issues.

Practice Manager (Project Manager)
The Practice Manager, also known as the Project Manager, is the liaison between technical units and the customer. The Practice Manager performs a variety of functions that include:
• Provide leadership and management to the project development teams
• Consult with customers (independently or in partnership with technical Consultant and/or Program Manager) to understand and analyze operational procedures and information generation or utilization needs, including the project objectives , as well as the project requirements and scope including the risk, time, and cost
• Oversee and actively participate in the development of the Project Scope Statement (in conjunction with the Program Manager, and Customer)
• Develop the project plan including the resource, skill and skill level requirements
• Develop procedures for changing scope and project acceptance procedures
• Develop review schedules and acceptance criteria at each phase of the project
• Work with the Program Manager and Customer to identify the technical approach to be used and the deliverables to be furnished at the completion of the project, including the development of a strategic plan, systems analysis, technical design, coding, testing, and turnover to production of the application
• Oversee and direct, in conjunction with a Program Manager, the strategic IS plan, development of business requirements, development of functional and program specifications, relational database design, programming, testing, implementation and documentation for applications
• Develop the project management approach including training needed for the project team, reporting structure of the project, frequency of interaction between managers and resources, the number and frequency of team meetings, and the need for and the extent of involvement of external project stakeholders
• Outline the responsibilities of different parties including customers, management, project team, vendors, and other stakeholders
• Work with customers and project teams to integrate new systems into the end-user environment.

Program Manager
Where there is a Program Management Office (PMO), the Program Manager provides leadership and management of technical development teams and projects. Program Managers perform a variety of functions that include:
• Oversee and direct, in conjunction with a Practice/Project Manager, the strategic IS plan, development of business requirements, development of functional and program specifications, relational database design, programming, testing, implementation and documentation for applications
• Oversee and actively develop the Project Scope Statement (in conjunction with the Practice/Project Manager and Customer) including the project objectives, as well as the project requirements and scope including the risk, time, and cost
• Work with Practice/Project Manager and Customer to identify the technical approach to be used and the deliverables to be furnished at the completion of the project
• Schedule and assign resources to ensure that applications satisfy users’ needs and are completed within agreed upon time parameters
• Monitor the status of the technical resources and tasks using tools such as the PMIS Work Database
• Work with the Practice/Project Manager to manage and oversee the system development process including systems analysis, technical design, coding, testing, and turnover to production of the application
• Develop and maintain technical documentation on computer-based information systems; compile documentation for design changes or creation criteria.

Customer Feedback Evaluation Team
The Customer Feedback Evaluation Team consists of various members of the Information Technology department. Their responsibilities include:
• Review the completed Project Performance Evaluation Forms
• Highlight ratings below “satisfied” so the Practice/Project Manager can contact the customer for additional details
• Forward copies of all forms to the Technical Director and Practice/Project Manager for review and/or follow-up
• Follow-up with Practice/Project Manager on resolution of those being reviewed with the customers
• Track the results of the forms for general trends and areas to improve.

Design Review Team
The Design Review Team will consist of the Technical Architect, the System Manager for Infrastructure and the System Manager for Development. Their responsibilities include:
• Review and approve all Design Overview Documents
• Review, prior to the meeting, design packages to be presented and be prepared with questions and comments
• Perform audit reviews on tested packages.
• Be available to provide consultative support to any developer or development team on questions of standards, procedures, techniques, etc.

Functional Resources
Functional Resources represent the business areas for which work is being performed and are usually members of that business area. The primary project activities of the Functional Resources include:
• Share their in-depth understanding of the business and system processes and their knowledge as subject matter experts
• Provide business expertise on the system functionality related to their job functions
• Participate actively in all phases of the project including planning and analysis, design, development, testing and implementation, related to their area of expertise
• Be available for the indicated percentage of their time allotted for the project.

Functional Lead (from the customer)
The Functional Lead represents the customer’s business area for which work is being preformed. The Functional Leads responsibilities include:
• Provide expertise on the overall business processes around which the project is focused and provide needed business expertise in those areas
• Provide direction to the functional resources on managing day-to-day activities and adhering to project deliverable due dates
• Participate actively in the development of the Project Scope Statement (in conjunction with the Program Manager and/or Practice/Project Manager) including the project objectives, as well as the project requirements and scope including the risk, time, and cost
• Participate actively in all phases of the project including planning and analysis, design, development, testing and implementation, related to their area of expertise
• Help identify change barriers within the business areas
• Provide two way communication between the affected business area and the Project Team
• Be available for the indicated percentage of their time allotted for the project.

Help Desk & End User Support Group
The Help Desk and End User Support Group provide training and support during the implementation and production support phases of the project. This team is led and managed by the Systems Manager responsible for End User technical support activities. The Help Desk and End User Support Group responsibilities include:
• Provide team and end user training during implementation
• Provide help desk support after implementation
• Assist in the distribution and configuration of workstations for the business units or customer organization
• Provide support for network problems, firewall problems, security problems, and access issues.

Maintenance and Enhancement Unit (Production Support)
The Maintenance and Enhancement Unit provides on-going support for systems after implementation occurs. There may be two Production Support Groups defined: Business Operations and Business Systems. The Production Support Groups are led and managed by the Systems Manager responsible for either Business Operation activities or Business System activities. Primarily, the Production Support Groups responsibilities include:
• Provide day-to-day technical support in maintaining the information system, including responsibility for ensuring processes and outputs are complete and error-free
• Develop an in-depth understanding of the business processes supported by the system
• Consult with customers (independently or in partnership with other members of IT) to evaluate, design, test and install requested enhancements to the new system
• Run production-level programs to obtain output when necessary
• Identify, analyze, and resolve problems with production applications independently or in partnership with other technical teams and/or functional resources
• Develop and maintain technical documentation and operational procedures on the new information system
• Provide support for the legacy systems
• Manage the System Enhancement Request Form process.

Technical Architect
The Technical Architect is a member of the IT department who manages the overall technical architecture of the department. Their responsibilities include:
• Continually research the information technology marketplace for new and innovative technologies and application development practices. Proactively propose these new technologies as solutions to business problems.
• Review proposed projects to ensure that they adhere to MIS strategic technology vision
• Review on-going and proposed projects to identify opportunities for reuse, process improvement
• Serve as a resource to all teams in evaluating and proposing technical alternatives for resolving project issues.
• Serve as technical lead for pilot projects in areas of strategic significance in which IT does not yet have established skills and methodologies.

Technical Lead
The Technical Lead provides leadership to the technical resources and works in conjunction with the Program Manager and Practice/Project Manager to ensure that project milestones are met. The Technical Lead performs a variety of functions that include:
• Provide technical leadership to technical resources and customers to meet project deadlines and ensure project objective are met
• Plan, schedule, and coordinate activities related to system development projects
• Consult and mentor technical resources concerning methods, procedures, and standards to be used during design, development, and unit testing phases of system development projects
• Provide system or technical development expertise to the technical resource team
• Communicate issues and status information to the Program Manager and Practice/Project Manager concerning system development activities.

Technical Resources
Technical Resources may be either employees of the performing organization or external consultants specifically hired to do development work. The Technical Resources responsibilities include:
• Consult with members of the project team to analyze operational procedures and information generation or utilization needs, which may include analyze, design, test, and implement enhancements to complex production information systems
• Provide consultation on business process design, database administration functions for project implementation teams, maintenance and enhancement teams, and training teams
• Design computer programs, forms, reports, and interfaces
• Create innovative software applications from scratch using state-of-the-art languages, protocols, and software methodologies
• Perform unit testing on computer programs, forms, reports, and interfaces
• Create and maintain technical documentation on computer-based information systems; compiling documentation for design changes or creation criteria
• Update systems data and prepare conversion requirements
• Provide assistance to users with software-related issues or problems.

Technical Infrastructure Team
The Technical Infrastructure Team is the group responsible for supporting the hardware and software components required by a system implementation. This includes the servers, network printers, operating system, databases, user security, and network connectivity. The primary responsibilities of this team include:
• Ensure the application software/hardware is consistent with the technical environment and standards
• Provide technical system and database support for:
    o Capacity and planning
    o Space management
    o Backup and recovery
    o Performance tuning and monitoring
• Provide application software change control across the different environments
• Install and upgrade server and application software
• Assist technical resources with database design
• Provide database administration support for systems development and upgrades.

Business analyst
Tasked with understanding and representing stakeholder needs, leading and coordinating the collection and verification of customer and business needs, documenting and organizing the requirements for a system, and communicating requirements to an entire team. Other titles or roles that might do these tasks are systems analysts, project mangers, program managers, or product managers.

Software architect
Responsible for creating and maintaining the overall structure and layout of a software system's components and their interfaces within and outside the system.

Systems engineer
Responsible for analyzing the role of the system in the broader enterprise, defining the requirements the system needs to meet, in terms of services and nonfunctional requirements, and defining the architecture of the system to meet the requirements. Systems architects may also perform similar activities in their roles.

Database designer
Responsible for leading the coordination and collection of database requirements, documenting, organizing, and communicating the requirements for the database, modeling the database architecture, and ensuring it supports the business needs.

Examples of other titles or roles that might do these tasks are database analysts, data modelers, or data architects.

PM - Project Roles and Responsibilities