The Team Manager’s primary responsibility is to ensure production of those products allocated by the Project Manager.
The Team Manager reports to, and takes direction from, the Project Manager.
The Team Manager role may be assigned to the Project Manager or a separate person.
There are many reasons why the Project Manager may decide to appoint other people to be Team Managers rather than undertake the role themselves.
Among these are the size of the project, the particular specialist skills or knowledge needed for certain products, geographical location of some team members and the preferences of the Project Board.
The Project Manager should discuss the need for separate individuals as Team Managers with the Project Board and, if required, should plan the role at the start of the project during the Starting up a Project process, or for each stage in the Managing a Stage Boundary process.
PRINCE2® uses Work Packages to allocate work to Team Managers or team members.
They can be used formally or informally depending on the needs of the project.
In addition to the information included in Appendix A (Product Description outlines, in the product package), a Work Package can include items such as resource costs, accounting codes, allocated resources and other management information.
Defining the deliverables at the appropriate level will also assist new Team Managers in becoming more effective as it is clear what has to be produced, and with the definition of reporting frequency and method, the feedback from the Team Manager can be clearly controlled.
If the Team Manager comes from the supplier corporate organization, there could be a reporting line to a Senior Supplier.
It is vital that any such links are understood to avoid conflicts of interest and any undermining of the Project Manager’s authority.
The structure of the project management team does not necessarily reflect line function or seniority but represents roles on the project.
A Team Manager, for example, may be more senior in the corporate organization than the Project Manager, or may be a senior representative from an external supplier.
In the context of the project, however, the Team Manager reports to, and takes direction from, the Project Manager.
Note:
PRINCE2 2009 describes the roles and responsibilities of key positions in the Appendices.
[see Appendix C Roles and responsibilities]
Further details of project management team roles and their associated responsibilities are provided in the folder ‘roles and responsibilities’ as part of the product package. These include role description outlines, which should be tailored to the needs of the specific project and each specific appointment.
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