Team Hierarchy—Stacked to Succeed

When establishing a functional team for your HIS project, take the time to outline the hierarchy and clearly define the roles.  We recommend a structure that covers all levels from the Executive level down to the Team Member level.  The responsibility for members at each level should be clear.

The Executive Level is responsible for providing overall support, serving as the Champion for the project with Administration, the internal user community, and the external users and customers of the project.  This level usually consists of a Steering Committee, but can be a smaller group of Executive representatives.  This level sets the tone for the project by providing stable, consistent guidance, decision making, budget review and support, and leadership.  The Executive Level gets reports and escalation events from the Program Manager. 

 The Program Level is headed by a Program Manager who drives the project, maintains the Master Project Plan, assigns Project Managers, attends and chairs key committee meetings, serves as the voice of the project to various hospital areas / committees, and maintains communication with the vendor.  This position sets project standards with regard to status collection, issue handling, risk review, and guides the Project Managers through the various phases of the project.  The Program Manager utilizes the Project Managers as his/her key team to assign, strategize, and carry out all the duties necessary for the project.

The Project Level consists of Project Managers who serve as the primary oversight body of all the various sub-teams for the project.  Project Managers help assign critical Team Lead positions, maintain their teams’ project plans, provide plan % status to the Program Manager, and control the speed and quality of all facets of their team.  These individuals work closely with one another, monitoring issues, insuring cross team functionality, projecting resource needs, and setting the pace for delivery and quality of the project.

The Team Level is made of Team Leads who are responsible for insuring that all project tasks are completed in accordance with the project timeline.  Team Leads are instrumental in determining the necessary makeup of their teams and utilizing the project sub-plans developed by their Project Managers, enhancing that plan to contain the detailed tasks, so all tasks are completed on time.  The Team Leads utilize Liaisons and other committees to gather feedback, gain signoff / approval, and oversee their applications and/or areas of responsibility to validate they are being handled with the utmost quality.  Team Leads take direction from the Project Managers and work with other Team Leads to insure consistency and cohesiveness within the project.  Team Leads maintain the issues for their respective areas of the project in the project issue tracking system.

Finally, the Team Members take direction from the Team Leads and conduct all the tasks assigned, reporting and working through issues as they arise.  Team Members must follow guidelines set forth with regard to reporting, tailoring, approval, and all other project-related policies and expectations.  Team Members may serve on multiple teams and must work with other Team Members to gain knowledge and assist as needed.  Your project will be much more successful and your teams more functional and empowered once everyone knows their roles and limits.