What is a Senior Responsible Owner - SRO? PM in Under 5 | Summary and Q&A

TL;DR

The Senior Responsible Owner (SRO) is a leadership role responsible for ensuring a project or program meets its objectives and delivers projected benefits.

Key Insights

• 📜 The SRO role is documented in the UK government's Managing Successful Programs (MSP) methodology, which is maintained by Axelos.
• 🧑 The SRO is the ultimate responsible person for ensuring a project or program meets objectives and delivers benefits.
• 🧘 The SRO is a leadership position requiring decision-making, focus on benefits delivery, relationship building, and governance establishment.
• 🙃 The SRO owns the program's vision and oversees the program or project board.
• ✋ The SRO is similar to a sponsor in projects, but with higher governance and strategic decision-making responsibilities.
• 🏂 The program board reports to the SRO, and the SRO's authority is not undermined by the existence of the board.
• 📽️ The SRO may appoint project executives to fulfill the project sponsor role within a program.

Transcript

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Questions & Answers

Q: What is the role of a Senior Responsible Owner (SRO)?

The SRO is a leadership position responsible for ensuring project or program success by owning the program's vision, making key decisions, and focusing on benefits delivery.

Q: How does the SRO differ from the project sponsor in Prince2?

While both roles are responsible for project success, the SRO is at a higher governance level and sets strategic direction, while the project sponsor (known as project executive in Prince2) reports to the SRO.

Q: What are some key responsibilities of the SRO?

The SRO is responsible for decision-making, benefits delivery, relationship building, governance design, securing financial investment, and overseeing the program or project board.

Q: How does the role of SRO differ between project management and program management methodologies?

While Prince2 primarily focuses on project management, the SRO's role is more program-oriented in the Managing Successful Programs (MSP) methodology, where they oversee the program's vision and direction.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• The SRO role was introduced by the UK government in its methodologies for managing large projects and programs.

• The SRO is the single individual with overall responsibility for a project or program's success.

• The SRO owns the program's vision, makes key decisions, focuses on benefits delivery, builds relationships, and establishes governance arrangements.