Deployment Chart
Deployment Charts show the various steps or phases in a process as well as the people or
groups of people who are responsible for the accomplishment of each step. This is achieved
using a table, the rows of which representing members of the project team (this could be
an individual, a group, or a department). The columns represent the phases or steps of
the project or process. Boxes describing a task and the people responsible are placed in
relevant cells. These boxes may be connected with lines or arrows to show simultaneous
activity or a relationship between the tasks. For a simpler project, however, text may
simply be added to the cells.
Typical Uses
Deployment Charts show which person or team is responsible for each task as well as which
people or groups are able to give advice for the approach of a task. These charts also provide
a visual representation of the order in which tasks should occur. However, they do not give
specific detail for the procedure necessary to complete the task.
Best Practices
- Determine the process. Determine the project or process to be organized and place a short, descriptive title at the top of the page.
- Determine the steps in the process. Brainstorm the phases, steps, and tasks for the process.
- Assign a team. Determine the divisions of everyone who will be involved in the process.
- Create a table. Create a table with a column for each of the steps or phases and a row for each of the people, groups, or departments that will be working on the project. Place the name of each step in order along the top and place the names of each of the people working on it down the side.
- Clarify responsibility. Add a box to each cell that corresponds to a person or group that takes part in the phase or step. In each box created specify the task that the person or group is assigned to do. Also note the form of responsibility the person or group holds. Some people will be assigned to work on a step in the process and others will be assigned to advise those working on various steps. Lines can also be drawn between tasks to show that they occur at the same time.
- Share. This diagram should be shown to each person involved in the process as it concerns each of them. It not only shows each individual's responsibilities, but also lays out the order of the tasks in a simplistic manner.
