Terms of Reference: To assist your office in the designation of roles and responsibilities for development projects, you will find in this document a detailed description for each role of the Outcome Board and the Project Board, to supplement the section of the User Guide on Management Arrangements for Programme and Projects

Process maps according to roles: Programme - Projects - ZIP Files. These maps will also help you better understand the process flow and what are the responsibilities for each role. Or click on each process to download individual JPEG files: Justifying a Project - Defining a Project - Initiating a Project - Running a Project - Closing a Project

Helpful Hints

A Programme and Project organization structure that facilitates decision-making processes is one of the key elements for ensuring UNDP’s accountability for programming activities and use of resources. The list of helpful hints below outlines potential issues that can have an impact on the efficiency of decision making process at all levels of the programme and project organization structure.

Please note that this checklist is not an auditing tool for compliance with the Results Management Guide (RMG).

General

• The organizational structure defines roles, which are not jobs, or posts to be allocated on a one-to-one basis to people. Roles can be combined or divided between two or more people.
• What is important to remember is that all of the responsibilities detailed in the above TOR must be held by someone, whatever the size of the project. Certain responsibilities could be moved from one role to another, but should be never dropped.
  

Programme level roles

• Outcome Board need for each country programme component: Programme Manager (RR or his/her designate) must ensure that each country programme component has an Outcome Board to be created at the time when the CPD is developed.
• Outcome Board may replace LPAC: Where members of the Outcome Board and LPAC are the same, the Board can replace the LPAC in appraisal and making recommendation for approval of the AWPs within the programme component.
  

Project Board roles

• Three roles: The Project Board contains three roles. It does not mean three individuals. As mentioned above, these are roles not job titles, i.e. the Project Board can contain more than three people, or only two.
• Level of authority: The authority levels required for the Project Board should match the needs of the project.
• Roles and responsibilities: The above TOR shall be tailored to fit the context of the project, and be shared with the Project Board members so that they understand their obligations and commit to take on their responsibilities.
• Non-UNDP members: Briefing on the procedures and control points outlined in the RMG shall be provided to the members of the Project Board who are not UNDP staff. Access to the training materials on PRINCE2 and UNDP Programme and Project Management is recommended to the non-UNDP members of the Board
• Decision making: The Project Board is not a democracy controlled by votes. The Executive takes the final decisions based on consultation and advice from other Board members.
• Delegation: If the Project warrants it, the Board members may delegate their responsibility for project assurance functions.
• Avoiding conflict of interest: The roles of Senior Beneficiary and Senior Supplier should not be combined to avoid conflict of interest.
• User Committee: If there are more people wanting to share the Senior User role, a user committee can be formed with a chairperson. The chairperson represents them as Senior User, reports back to the committee and takes direction from it before Project Executive Board meetings.
• Less may be more: A large Project Board may inhibit the decision making process.