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ITIL® 4 and the Evolving Role of Roles

By Donna Knapp In the context of work, a role is typically defined as a set of responsibilities, activities and authorities granted to a person or team. While a role can, at times, represent a full-time job, this is not always the case. In the course of our work, many of us play different roles (i.e., we wear different hats). For example, we may play different roles within our teams (e.g., team lead or team member), or within practices (or processes) (e.g., practice owner, process owner, or practice/process practitioner), or in the context of a framework or methodology (e.g., customer, user, or sponsor; or product owner, scrum master, or scrum team member). Roles are important because they provide greater flexibility than job descriptions, which are often bound to formalized performance plans and perhaps even to contracts. This flexibility is important because organizations are increasingly adopting operating models that are more evolutionary and less structured than most companies h...

The Role of Process Practitioner

ITIL has always emphasized the need for clearly defined roles for Process Owners and Process Managers. ITIL also speaks to the role of Service Owner, an individual who is accountable for and represents the the end-to-end service.    Within each process, there may also be roles that are designed to carry out certain process activities. Successful service management dictates that specific individuals are assigned to specific roles with specific responsibilities for one or more processes.     But what about the rest of us?      Where do we fit into the service management program?   What role do we play?   ITIL defines a key role for anyone that executes any activity within any process – the Process Practitioner.         The Process Practitioner Carries out one or more process activities Understands how his or her role adds to value creation Works with other stakeholders to ensure contri...

Accountable or Responsible?

I was recently asked,  "From an ITIL standpoint, what’s the difference between Accountability and Responsibility?"   That's a g reat Question! There is a big difference between Accountability and Responsibility.  The ITIL Continual Service Improvement (CSI) book provides the following definitions: Accountable: Ownership of a process, and/or activity. The person who is held accountable and ensures that the goals and objectives of a process are being followed. Responsible: Performer of a task. The person responsible for getting the task/activity done. This person gets the work done and does not necessarily have the authority to ensure that others are getting their tasks completed. Accountable roles oversee or "own" the process or task; responsible roles execute or perform one or more aspects of the process or task. For example: A CIO is accountable for the quality of all IT services, including the results produced by ...

Why Use a RACI Matrix?

Not too long ago, I was involved in a post implementation meeting for a change that was not very successful. During the meeting there was a very heated discussion, some of the comments I heard were:  ‘I thought you were going to do that’ ‘That is not my responsibility” ‘Why wasn’t I informed that this was occurring’ 'I have the responsibility, but not the authority to get the job done' ‘I knew how to fix the issue, but no one ever asked me’   It occurred to me that having a RACI chart would address these comments. The RACI model is a straight forward tool used for identifying activities and relating them to roles and responsibilities, thus avoiding confusion over who does what and how people are involved. The acronym RACI stands for:  Responsible : This role is responsible for the correct execution of process and activities. This person or persons do the work to achieve the task. Accountable : This role has ownership of the quality and the e...

Roles vs. Jobs

I have often been asked what value does the Service Acceptance Criteria (SAC) provide? Along with other criteria and elements, the Service Acceptance Criteria forms what is described in ITIL and the Service Design Package. With so much importance on Design, Development and Deployment, the significance of the SAC increases as we look to optimize service value. Do you want to increase value to your business and customers? First let’s understand what the SAC is. During one of my recent classes, a discussion came up about the difference between roles and jobs. ITIL v3 speaks to the importance of roles in performing the steps or activities of a process or procedure. A role is a set of responsibilities, activities, and authorities granted to a person or team. A Role is defined in a Process. One person or team may have multiple Roles; for example, the Roles of Configuration Manager and Change Manager may be carried out by a single person. -- Service Strategy Glossary ...