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To some extent the ability to hire who you want depends on how important your project is to your boss, your executive sponsor, or the person who holds the budget. Even if the project is deemed important, you often you won’t have a choice of people when you pick your team. Sometimes you are spared the hassle, you are simply handed the people you have to work with. In other words, you are stuck with who is available.

Whether you get your pick of staff, or whether you have to make do, there are three roles that need to be filled, and are non-negotiable:

• Analyst: This person will dig into fuzzy problem statements and give you a clear bulls eye to aim for. This person typically provides the technical or functional expertise required to understand the problems that need to be solved.
• Project manager: This person will make sure tasks are defined, and completed on time, within budget, and per specifications.
• People manager: This person will create and maintain an environment where people working together in groups can work more effectively and efficiently towards group goals (Koontz and O’Donnell).

The need for leadership is embedded within each role. One person may have to perform all three roles, or you may have one person for each role.

The point is, each role requires a unique skill set. A lack of awareness of any of these three roles will lead to neglect and scorn of the role that has a vacancy, and doom the initiative/program/project from the get go. It’s like trying to sit on a three-legged stool with one or more legs missing.