Key Players: The Owner

Who is the boss and has the final say in decisions?

Perhaps the most important role in any project is the Owner. It could be an internal manager, a client, or the subject matter expert. Whatever the case, there has to be an Owner of the project for everyone to answer to. 

This role is tasked with making the final decisions on specific direction within a project, whether it be a specific software choice or a direction in design. Generally, this person has worked on many similar projects before and understands the pitfalls that may await in order to ensure that the team will circumvent them in their current project.

The highest ranking member of your team may not be suitable for this role if they don’t have experience dealing with it. For example, someone that has dealt with internal software systems their entire career is probably not the best choice to lead a website and marketing strategy.

The ideal candidate for this role is someone who makes tough, pragmatic decisions that aligns to the overall vision and is able to communicate that vision to others.