In this previous article, we used an analogy as an example to help understand how job responsibilities fit in with roles, skills and abilities.
Here's that analogy again:
- Role: Cleaner
- Responsibility: Ensuring floors are clean and attractive
- Duty: Polish marble floors in the executive suite
- Skill: Operate marble polishing machines
So, we determined that a responsibility is what an employee is held accountable for. Duties can be thought of as tasks performed to fulfil responsibilities. Skills represent capabilities needed to properly perform duties. Easy as 1, 2, 3!
Why are job responsibilities important?
Well, for one thing, they provide clarity about what is expected of employees. They also allow employers to manage employee performance more effectively by ensuring that employees are held accountable for the correct things.
Perhaps, most importantly from an organizational design perspective, well-defined job responsibilities help leaders understand how the division of labour has been applied across the teams and roles within their organization. To put it simply, it helps them see that the business's workload is going to get done and highlights any gaps, cracks or overlaps which might exist.
Where do you list job responsibilities?
Most commonly, job responsibilities are listed as part of job descriptions or position descriptions. Some companies also like to publish job responsibilities in separate, stand-alone documents.
However, the drawback here is that these documents are often hidden away in some obscure file server folder, making it difficult to quickly find the information when needed. And when it is found, it's barely ever up-to-date, often never having been edited since its original creation - which could have been many years before.
A better approach is to use a more visual and interactive format like an organizational chart or role matrix, which makes it easy to see at a glance what each employee's responsibilities are across the entire organization. Tools like Functionly also allow multiple people to access and update this information quickly and easily.
Adding responsibilities from the library to a role in Functionly
Ultimately, the way you list job responsibilities is up to you and will depend on your unique organizational structure and reporting relationships. But whatever approach you take, it's important that the information is easily accessible and up-to-date. If not, being clear with employees or new hires about what they're expected to do and how their performance will be evaluated is difficult.
The big list of common job responsibilities by team / function
It's not uncommon for a manager to be writing up a job description only to think to themselves, "what are the main responsibilities of this job?" A few Google searches later and a bunch of cut-and-pasted text cobbled together, and voila! You end up with some Frankenstein-like job description document.
Within our product, Functionly, we include role template and responsibility libraries. These libraries include many common business functions along with the typical responsibilities of these functions.
Below is a comprehensive list we've created to give you quick access to common responsibilities for many different job functions. Within Functionly itself, responsibilities are broken down even more granularly - listing out multiple tasks or duties per responsibility. If you want to see that - go ahead and try Functionly for free.
In the meantime, here's the list of business functions and typical responsibilities:
Design team responsibilities
- Design Strategy
- Design System
- Design Management
- Qualitative Customer Research
- Quantitative Customer Research
- Problem Definition
- Product UX Design
- Product UI Design
- Product Design Workflow
- Product Prototyping
- User Testing
Product team responsibilities
- Product Strategy
- Product Prioritization and Roadmap
- Product Data Analysis and Business Reporting
- Product Market Intelligence
- Product Management (Core)
- Product Management (Professional Services)
- Product Management (Channel)
- Product Management (Shared/Client/Customer Infrastructure)
- Product Pricing and Packaging
- Internal Product Feedback
- External Product Feedback
- Product Feature Roll-Out
- Product Documentation and Catalogue Management
Software engineering team responsibilities
- Product Development Strategy (Technology)
- Software Documentation
- Software Architecture
- Software Development (Frontend Web)
- Software Development (Backend Server)
- Software Development (Data Layer)
- Software Development (DevOps)
- Software Development (Client Integrations)
- Software Development (Security)
- Software Development (Reliability)
- Software Development (Toolchain)
- Manual System Testing
- Automated System Testing
- Knowledge Sharing
- Quality Assurance
- Information Security Architecture Development
- Data Integrity
Technology infrastructure team responsibilities
- Infrastructure Strategy
- Infrastructure Management
- Network Administration
- Automation
- Database Administration
- Server Administration
- Cloud Administration
- Storage Administration
- Facilities Administration
- Change Management
- Incident Management
- Security Management
- Backup / Business Continuity / Disaster Recovery Administration
- Hosting Asset Management and Licensing
- Capacity Planning and Management
Brand & communications team responsibilities
- Brand and Communication Strategy
- Brand and Communications Management
- Brand and Communications Operations
- Social Media Engagement
- Internal Communications
- External Communications
- Thought Leadership
- Brand and Communications Collateral
- Employer Branding
- Talent Branding
- Digital Brand Asset Management
Marketing team responsibilities
- Marketing Strategy
- Marketing Management
- Marketing Operations and Automation
- Marketing Analytics and Reporting
- Product Marketing
- Website Marketing
- Growth Marketing
- Campaign Management
- Content Marketing
- Field Marketing
- Direct Marketing
- Video Marketing
- Customer Lifecycle Marketing
- Online (Paid) Advertising
- Social Media Marketing
- Channel and Partner Offering Marketing
- Referral Marketing
- Merchandising
- Marketing Administration
- Sales Collateral
Sales (outbound or direct) team responsibilities
- Sales Strategy
- Sales Management
- Sales Operations
- Sales Analytics and Reporting
- Sales Training and Coaching
- Outbound Business Development
- Sales Event Staffing
- Sales Development
- Key Account Acquisition
- Sales Data Management
- Business Development Strategy
- Field Sales
- Sales Execution
- Sales Contract Management
- Sales Performance Incentives Fund (Commission) Design
- Sales System Ownership
- Sales Process Development
- Sales Administration
Professional Services team responsibilities
- Professional Services Strategy
- Professional Services Management
- Professional Services Operations
- Product Education and Training
- Professional Services Training and Coaching
- Product and Implementation Documentation
- Project Scoping and Planning
- Project and Implementation Management
- Third Party Service Management
- Hardware / Software Implementation
- Workstation Implementation
- vCIO Consulting
Account management team responsibilities
- Account Management Strategy
- Account Management Operations
- Account Relationship Management
- Account Growth
- Account Data Analysis
- Account Product Feedback
- Account and Agreement Renewal
- Quarterly Business Review Management
- Client / Customer Reporting
- Client Portal Engagement
- Account Technology Stack Compliance
- Proposal Submission and Quoting
User support team responsibilities
- User Support Services Strategy
- Operate User Support
- Client / Customer Support Feedback
- User Support Operations
- User Support Coordination
- Lab Test Environment
- Service Level Management
Human Resources team responsibilities
- HR Strategy
- HR Management
- HR Planning
- Performance Management
- HR Compensation Strategy
- HR Retention
- HR Compliance
- HR Communications
- HR Benefits Administration
- Employee Experience
- HR Events
- Talent Acquisition
- Candidate Profile Development
- Recruitment Management
- Recruitment Administration
- Onboarding
- Offboarding
- Employee Asset Management
- Professional Development and Training
- Personal Growth
- Organizational Health and Safety
Legal and compliance team responsibilities
- Legal Counsel and Management
- Client / Customer Agreements
- Channel / Partnership Agreements
- Vendor Agreements
- Employee Agreements
- ESOP Agreements
- Employee Retirement Obligations
- Incentive Plan Development
- Intellectual Property Management
- License and Regulation Management
- Insurance and Risk Management
- Legal Action Management
Finance team responsibilities
- Strategic Financial Management
- Finance Operations
- Financial Management and Controls
- Financial Accounting
- Payments and Invoicing
- Accounts Receivable
- Accounts Payable
- Expense Processing
- Payroll
- Assets and Depreciation
- Budget Planning and Forecasting
- Cost Management
- Financial and Business Performance
- Financial Reporting
- Cashflow Management and Forecasting
- Taxation
- Procurement
- Inventory Management
- Debt and Investment Management
- Grant Funding
- Treasury Operations
- Financial Risk Management
Administration team responsibilities
- Self Administration
- Administration Process Development
- Travel Coordination
- Office Reception
- Office Administration
- Executive Support
Technology business systems team responsibilities
- Business Systems Strategy
- Business Systems Management
- Business Systems Architecture
- Knowledge Documentation
- Process Design and Improvement Coordination
- Business Systems Automation
- Business Intelligence Management
- User Access Management
- IT Platform Management
- IT Infrastructure and Management
- Business System Backup Administration
Security and compliance team responsibilities
- Quality Assurance Management
- Security Assurance Management and Audit
- Financial Audit and Risk Management
- Operational Risk Management
- Internal Policy Management
- Physical Security Management
- Application Security
- Business Continuity and Disaster Planning
- Identity and Access Management
- Encryption and Key Management
- Information Systems Security
- Data Sanitization and Disposal
- Network Security
- Organizational Security
- Security Threat Management
- Internal Change Management
- Benefits Audit and Risk Management
- GDPR/Data Compliance
- IRS/ATO/Local Tax Compliance
- SEC/ASIC/Local Investment Regulatory Body Compliance
- Software Development Compliance
- Incident Response Management
Corporate governance team responsibilities
- Board Management
- Board Administration
- Stock/Share Administration
- Investor Relations
- Corporate Compliance
- Corporate Ethics
- Corporate Risk Management
Business strategy and planning team responsibilities
- Strategic Opportunity Management
- Mergers and Acquisitions
- Funding Sourcing and Management
- Competitor (and Alternative) Research
- Market Research and Assessment (New and Existing)
- Planning, Prioritization and Goal Setting
- Monitoring and Measuring Key Performance Indicators
- Organizational Change Management
Senior leadership team responsibilities
- Line Management
- Department Management
- Executive Management
- CEO / General Management
- Cross-Functional Team Leadership
- Culture Development
- Mentorship
- Vision Management
- Corporate Social Responsibility
- Superfunction Architecture
