Summary

Assign responsibility and authority for performing the process, developing the work products, and providing the services of the process.

Description

The purpose of this generic practice is to ensure that there is accountability for performing the process and achieving the specified results throughout the life of the process. The people assigned must have the appropriate authority to perform the assigned responsibilities.

Responsibility can be assigned using detailed job descriptions or in living documents, such as the plan for performing the process. Dynamic assignment of responsibility is another legitimate way to implement this generic practice, as long as the assignment and acceptance of responsibility are ensured throughout the life of the process.

Subpractices



  1. Assign overall responsibility and authority for performing the process.
  2. Assign responsibility and authority for performing the specific tasks of the process.
  3. Confirm that the people assigned to the responsibilities and authorities understand and accept them.




OPF Elaboration

Two groups are typically established and assigned responsibility for process improvement: (1) a management steering committee for process improvement to provide senior management sponsorship, and (2) a process group to facilitate and manage the process improvement activities.


PPQA Elaboration

Responsibility is assigned to those who can perform process and product quality assurance evaluations with sufficient independence and objectivity to guard against subjectivity or bias.


TS Elaboration

Appointing a lead or chief architect that oversees the technical solution and has authority over design decisions helps to maintain consistency in product design and evolution.