Roles & Responsibilities

Step 1

Draw a large table on a whiteboard with the following columns:

Role
Responsibilities (what I think)
Responsibilities (what others think)
Add a column to capture responsibilities that are unassigned.

LINK TO IMAGE

Step 2

Identify roles (5 min)

Define which roles are in the team (e.g., team lead, developer, designer, facilitator) and write them in the "Roles" section of the table you prepared. Keep these fairly high–level if you have a front-end developer and a back-end developer on the team, just write "developer" in the table. (You can get more specific later in the session if needed.)

If possible, have people who share the same role sit next to each other.

Step 3

Clarify your own responsibilities (10 min)

Identify the top 3 - 5 things your role is responsible for. Write each responsibility on a sticky note, then rank them in order of priority.

Step 4

Teammate's responsibilities (5 min)

For each of the other roles identified, write 1-2 responsibilities you believe are their top priorities.

As you are brainstorming, you may think of responsibilities that don't have a clear owner, write those down and surface them when the group discusses in step 6.

Step 5

[optional] Refine and consolidate (5 min)

(Do this step only if you have 3 or more people who share the same role.)

To same time in the next step, discuss with teammates whose roles are similar to yours, and refine the list of responsibilities. E.g., if there are five developers in the room, they should create a unified list of developer responsibilities.

Step 6

Discuss each role (25 min)

For each role, have the role owner(s) describe what they believe their role is and place their sticky notes in the "what I think" column in priority order. Then go around the room to find out what others think the role is all about, and have them place their sticky notes in the "what others think" column.

Next, the role owner either "accepts" or "politely declines" the responsibilities identified by others. If they decline, they must suggest which role ought to own it.

You'll likely uncover responsibilities with no established owner. Note those in the "unassigned responsibilities" section below the table. Where responsibilities overlap, be sure to define who is the primary owner (vs. who is a contributor or a back-up).

Step 7

Summarize and identify next steps (5 min)

Well done, you've just created clarity for the team! Summarize the roles and their responsibilities to be sure everyone is in agreement.

Then, find an owner for documenting it, as well as someone to figure out how you'll fill any skill gaps you identified.

Supporting Methods:
Who/What/When Matrix
Stakeholder Analysis