According to the PMBOK® Guide, specifically within the Plan Resource Management process, defining roles and responsibilities is a critical step in ensuring the project team is equipped for success. The specific attribute that addresses the skills and capacities of the team is Competency.
In a professional project management context, roles and responsibilities are broken down into four key components:
Role: The label describing the portion of a project for which a person is accountable (e.g., Civil Engineer, Business Analyst, or Tester).
Authority: The right to apply project resources, make decisions, sign approvals, or accept deliverables.
Responsibility: The assigned duties and work that a project team member is expected to perform.
Competency: The skill and capacity required to complete project activities. If a team member does not possess the required competencies, project performance can be jeopardized.
A. Authority: This refers to the power granted to an individual to make decisions or use resources. While a person may have the authority to act, it does not guarantee they have the technical skills (competency) to do the work correctly.
B. Role: This is simply a title or designation. It describes who someone is in the project hierarchy, not their specific level of skill or ability.
D. Responsibility: This is the obligation to perform the work. A person can be responsible for a task but still lack the underlying competency needed to execute it to the required quality standards.
In PMI standards, if the team members do not have the required competencies, the project manager is responsible for initiating proactive responses, such as:
Training: To develop the necessary skills.
Hiring/Acquisition: Bringing in experts who already possess the competency.
Schedule/Scope Adjustments: Adjusting the project to align with the available skill sets of the current team.
