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As a project manager, you’ll often find yourself being pulled in many directions at once. You may be handling the pressure of a closing deadline, making a detailed product roadmap, or setting business goals. With so many responsibilities, you know there’s little to no room for mistakes.
Many project managers often find themselves off-track, demotivated, and just not able to get things done on time.
What went wrong?
You probably didn’t clarify the roles and responsibilities of your agile team.
Sure, agile project management is notorious for its modern approach to software development, helping you build high-value products faster. But, when you’re just starting to implement agile, it’s easy to get confused about who needs to do what.
You may have decided on a product owner or a Scrum master and outlined your development team. But arranging them in a matrix structure is what streamlines communication and gets things done, optimizing the development process.
In this article, we’ll look at what a matrix structure is, the benefits of having one, and the best practices to follow for creating one.
What is a Matrix Organizational Structure and How Does it Work in Agile Project Management?
In a matrix structure, team members report to multiple managers. In agile project management, agile teams typically report to two supervisors: the project manager and their department head. These structures encourage transparent and open communication between teams and save time on reorganizing teams whenever a different project commences.
Matrix structures have been used by businesses for a long time. They give a well-needed shift away from the traditional hierarchical structure where each position of authority sits on top with multiple subordinates beneath them.
Benefits of a Matrix Organizational Structure for Agile Team Members
Arranging agile teams into a matrix organizational structure has many benefits:
- It clarifies project objectives. It promotes cross-checking progress, ensures greater clarity on the work delivered, and enhances workflow effectiveness.
- A matrix structure puts project managers under greater responsibility for their teams. This challenges them to be cross-functional, to get things done on time, and to lead the team throughout the project lifecycle.
- Multiple managers are assigned to each team. This means that team members get assistance from department specialists, allowing them to reduce overhead costs and cycle time.
Definition of an Agile Roles & Responsibilities Matrix
A matrix organizational structure fits well in an agile organization. It ensures better communication and clarification of roles while better adhering to agile principles.
One of the main challenges businesses face when transitioning to the agile methodology is defining the roles of an agile team within the agile process. Due to its autonomous nature and the creation of self-organizing teams, it can be confusing for project managers to pinpoint exactly who needs to do what.
To help with this, project managers can use a responsibility assignment matrix, or RAM for short. RAM is a way of managing projects that ensures everyone is on the same page. It helps to clearly outline responsibilities for an agile team and helps the team deliver on project goals.
What is a Responsibility Assignment Matrix (RAM)?
A responsibility assignment matrix is a technique for arranging agile team roles. It outlines the responsibilities of each team member by tagging them with one of four labels as follows: R for responsible, A for accountable, C for consulted, and I for informed (RACI).
Project managers use RAM to guide Scrum teams. It’s also great for improving motivation since team members feel trusted and know how they contribute to the overall project. Additionally, the use of Kanban, although not directly related to RAM, can further enhance team collaboration and workflow efficiency.
RAM is implemented with the use of a RACI chart to visualize the responsibilities of the Scrum team.
What is a RACI Matrix?
A RACI Matrix is a chart that visualizes the responsibilities of the agile team at each stage of the project, using the four labels mentioned above. It maps out, in broad strokes, every task, milestone, and decision the team will make over the course of the project.
Responsible
This is the team member who is responsible for completing an assigned task. They are required to make key decisions and do the work.
Accountable
A team member who is labeled as accountable assigns tasks to team members and makes sure the work gets completed on time. People put in the responsible category are accountable to them, and they play a crucial role in ensuring that the work meets the required standards and acceptance criteria.
Consulted
The responsible party may require expert advice or input for the successful completion of their tasks. This is where the consulted members come in. These are usually technical and domain experts who play a role in the decision-making process.
Informed
Finally, the informed team members don’t participate directly, but these are stakeholders who need to be informed of the project’s progress. Team members keep this group updated through progress reports and let them know if they are facing any delays or obstacles.
Benefits of a RACI Matrix in Agile Teams
A RACI Matrix simplifies Scrum teams by clearly defining team roles. Apart from it being easy to make and simple to implement, there are other benefits that a RACI chart brings to the business.
Improves Team Collaboration
By arranging team members into a RACI matrix, team members get a better idea of how they’re involved in the bigger picture and the incremental impact of their tasks. This understanding extends to various aspects of their work, including daily stand-up meetings and sprint planning.
Rather than thinking about why they’re repeating mundane tasks such as cold calling, by looking at the chart, the entire project team can understand why they have to call up multiple clients and how the completion of their tasks enables others to proceed.
Also, since managers are heavily involved in the process, they work closely with team members to ensure projects get done on time. This promotes cross-functional communication between departments and encourages the whole team to work together.
Removes Confusion
The RACI chart clearly defines agile team roles, which enables team members to stay on track. It removes confusion on what’s expected from individuals and helps better understand where delays may arise.
Promotes Positive Work Culture
With a RACI matrix, all team members feel involved in the project. They have an idea of what their colleagues are working on and how it relates to their tasks. The team gets to know the full picture, which encourages them to be productive and see the positive results of their work. This improves efficiency and encourages team bonding within the organization.
Creating a RACI Matrix for a Scrum Team with the Scrum Master.
A RACI matrix is created in a table format with an x-axis and a y-axis. It’s easy to make, so just follow these steps, which may be facilitated by the Scrum Master, including the involvement of the Product Owner, to ensure you get it right the first time and effectively manage the product backlog and user stories. This process is relevant and helps ensure effective implementation and collaboration within the Scrum team.
Identify Tasks
First, you need to go over who will be involved in the process, with the facilitation of the Scrum Master, who plays a crucial role in facilitating the Scrum framework. The Scrum Master ensures that the Scrum Team adheres to the principles and practices of Scrum projects and helps create an environment conducive to collaboration and productivity. Next, you have to figure out which tasks and backlog items need to be completed and what decisions, with input from the Scrum Master, will help you reach your objectives. When creating the list, it is essential to include every project activity, including Scrum ceremonies and deliverables, to ensure comprehensive coverage and alignment with the Scrum methodology.
Define Roles
After knowing which tasks need to be completed, you need to assign roles to your team. These sit on the top row of your RACI chart and may include job positions such as project manager, business analyst, development team, etc. ensuring clear accountability and defining how the team works together.
Allot RACI Responsibilities
With your tasks and stakeholders in place, you need to map out key responsibilities by assigning RACI labels (responsible, accountable, consulted, and informed) to each team member.
Revise and Finalize
After completing the RACI chart, share it with your staff, including all necessary stakeholders, like the tester, and gather their feedback. Make necessary changes and revise the chart until everyone’s on board and the chart is approved. This collaborative process can also be followed during the retrospective to ensure continuous improvement and alignment within the team.
Best Practices for Creating a RACI Matrix
When making a RACI matrix, it’s important to keep a few things in mind to maximize its effectiveness. Following some best practices is essential to creating well-defined and accurate charts. If you avoid doing so, you risk creating a chart that is unclear, which would lead to confusion and frustration from your team.
Only Include Necessary Roles
Some tasks may not always have to include the same roles as defined by the RACI matrix. For example, when handling a simple, non-technical task, development team members won’t necessarily need any expert advice from consultants. For larger projects with multiple separate teams, it may be best to keep things simple.
Using an alternative such as the RACIO chart may better suit such projects. RACIO has an additional Omitted label (O) which you can assign to those members that aren’t needed for a specific task.
Avoid Assigning Too Many Roles
For every task you assign to a team member, you have to make sure that there is at least one responsible party that reports to an accountable party. However, managers may often assign too many people to the responsible role, which can overburden the process and slow things down.
To avoid this, carefully look at the task at hand and only assign roles as needed to prevent errors and inefficiencies.
Keep the RACI Chart Flexible
It’s common for project requirements to change or for projects to meet obstacles which is why you need to keep your RACI matrix flexible. You should be able to anticipate changes and adapt to them by making timely updates to the chart.
It’s also crucial to inform your team members, with special attention to the team lead, of the new changes so they can stay on track.
Conclusion
Clearly defining what roles an agile team needs to undertake is one of the many challenges businesses have when transitioning to an agile framework and implementing effective product management practices. By arranging team members into a matrix organizational structure through RAM, you can remove confusion and clearly outline what each team member needs to do for the project to progress, ensuring alignment with customers’ needs. This ensures better coordination and collaboration within the team, leading to the successful execution of complex projects.
