Responsibility matrix lays out the major activities in the project and precisely details the responsibilities of each stakeholder involved in a project. It is an important project communication tool because all stakeholders can see clearly who to contact for each activity.  Another advantage to this change management process is that the → project manager is always left with a written document to refer to in the event of a dispute.

Steps Involved in Setting Up a Responsibility Matrix

• List the major activities in the project (in the matrix rows)

• List the stakeholder group (in the matrix columns)

• Specify the involvement level, authority role, and responsibility of each stakeholder by codifying the responsibility matrix

• Incorporate the responsibility matrix into the project rules (the original version of the responsibility matrix and all future changes in it must be approved by project stakeholders)

For large projects, a separate responsibility matrix should be developed for each subproject

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