Roles and responsibilities are a foundational document for all lab staff. It defines where they fit in the organization and helps to clarify and communicate what they do and what they are accountable for around the lab. The first version of the roles and responsibilities document is part of the new-hire onboarding process, and it can be updated as the individual transitions to new and different roles during their career in the lab. It provides the individual with a checkpoint of where they have some control, autonomy, and responsibility in the lab. Communicating roles and responsibilities with others helps prevent conflict and improve teamwork. Here are five tips to help you write an effective roles and responsibilities document.
Position
The first part is the role or the position of the individual in the lab. It helps define their degree of accountability and the extent of their authority within the lab. The role helps people understand where they fit in the organization chart and in the hierarchy of titles. In most labs, compensation, authority, responsibility, and accountability are all connected through the title.
Sphere of control
The responsibilities defined in the document describe the areas in the lab where the staff member will have some degree of control and autonomy, and where they are expected to make decisions to help the lab deliver on its purpose and mission. These are often aggregates of activities that the person will perform over days, weeks, or months. Clearly defining the types of decisions that staff can make enables them to act faster and with greater confidence. Communicating the responsibilities to teammates helps people avoid stepping on other people’s toes and to be confident that they are acting within the appropriate space.
Big picture
The roles and responsibilities document is usually written in the big picture. These are often brief documents that describe broad areas of responsibility and decision-making. They are not written with the granularity of SMART goals and provide the context within which annual objectives will be created.
Duration
Roles and responsibilities are attached to the broad activities of an individual. They often remain in place until someone changes roles or levels of responsibility. Unlike annual objectives, they do not need to be updated annually. The typical reasons to change the roles and responsibilities document are through internal transitions, such as a promotion, a reorganization, or a transfer to a different role or team.
Purpose of the roles and responsibilities document
The most important purpose of the roles and responsibilities document is to clearly communicate the areas of expected action and decision-making to the individual and to their colleagues. Each roles and responsibilities document will be specific to an individual and there will be no overlap that could cause confusion, conflict, or misunderstandings. Ideally, these documents are adjacent to one another so that as the lab work progresses, projects can transition smoothly from one person’s responsibilities to another’s. One key benefit is reducing or eliminating conflict in the lab over who is expected to do what.
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