The project has no clear customer. Who should approve requirements?
Undefined outcome ownershipIdentify who uses the output, who pays, who operates it, and who accepts it. These may be different people, so assign explicit responsibilities instead of inventing one generic customer role.
What to do now
- Map users and affected services
- Identify the business outcome owner
- Name acceptance and operational authorities
- Agree how conflicting needs are resolved
When to escalate
Escalate when
Nobody accepts responsibility for deciding whether the result is usable.
Who decides
The accountable sponsor
Example
A library system names librarians as users, a service manager as outcome owner, and operations as the support authority.
Mistake to avoid
Letting the technical team act as its own customer.
Prevent a repeat
At each stage decision, check that the expected outcome, owner and justification remain valid.
Suggested ApprovedFlow setup
- Projects
- Documents
- Approvals
Keep the decision brief with the project and request a recorded sponsor decision before the next commitment. See the platform
Related cases
- A strategic project has no operational owner after delivery. Is that a problem now?Missing post-project ownership
- Two departments are funding the same initiative. Who owns the project?Split sponsorship
- Integration has no single owner. Who should coordinate it?Unowned integrated outcome
- Business data errors continue after launch. Who should fix them?Undefined operational data ownership