Whose responsibility is it to write the Terms of Reference (TOR)?

Question

Preparation of terms of reference

Hello.

What do you think, or how is it customary in your organization - who should write the TOR for the development of the site?

Options:
1. Account manager
2. Web designer
3. Web developer

If there are other options, please write.

Answer 1

There is such a profession - a business analyst :)

Answer 2

Project manager together with the team, because he, too, alone cannot know all the technical subtleties.

Answer 3

I heard from a friend about this practice: the developer writes the TOR (and not for free), and then coordinates with the customer. That is, the customer only puts his autograph, if everything suits him.

Answer 4

If we consider the site as an information system, then we can rely on GOST
According to GOST TK, the contractor develops with the participation of the customer on the basis of technical requirements.
Definitely - this is not the work of a manager or designer.
Ideally, a special person for working with documentation, in practice, a developer.

Answer 5

Agree with densilvio and aquarius.
The terms of reference, in essence, is a document describing to the developer what and how should work in the finished system. According to the correct statement of work, a separate stage in development should be allocated.
This is quite a large amount of work, which should be paid separately, like design, integration or coding.
After all, a good TOR takes into account the specifics of the customer's business processes, describes all the necessary and possible options for the system's behavior, and user interfaces must be written in it.
Ideally, TK should generally be created by a third company, and in such a way that the customer turns to the selected developer and he does not have any questions.
Well, in practice, studios write technical specifications for themselves. And as a result, this is not a full-fledged document, and so ...

Answer 6

I am a Project Manager (or PM). I write technical specifications myself, occasionally consulting with programmers and designers, because. I have quite a lot of experience.
The option “TK is written by the customer himself” is not recommended. Because PM refinements can end up taking more time than writing a TOR from scratch (well, not quite from scratch, using some accumulated blanks).

Answer 7

In your case, it is most likely necessary to collectively discuss the details with the participation of the client, hear wishes from him, and then write a TOR based on this information. Naturally, the writing of technical specifications should be done by a person who is able to state the task on paper in a competent and fully technical language. If a humanist does this, be prepared for possible claims from the client and rework of the project.

Answer 8

The Account Manager writes in general what the client wants, and then the Web Designer and Web Developer describe their part of the work at a technical level for approval with the client. You can get by with one Manager, if he has a sufficiently high experience in such work with an understanding of design and development work ...

Answer 9

If the question is posed in this way, then at the first stage the manager together with the customer is a draft version. Further, the web developer complements and agrees iteratively.

Answer 10

Correct option. The TK is written by the customer, the manager reads it and clarifies it. The TOR is then read by the developers (in your case, a web designer and a web developer) and comments are made (if any). After that, the manager will agree with the customer on the revised version of the TOR. And so it may take several iterations.
An acceptable option (often it is more convenient). The TOR is written by the manager and coordinates it with his developers, and only after that with the customer. And so it can be several iterations.
In any case, the TOR is a document of the customer, the developer is also interested in it. The third organization cannot have anything to do with TK. Unless in special cases, for example, when one organization orders and another pays.
If the manager does not solve all financial issues, then the TOR should also be checked by the person who is responsible for this.
After preparing and signing several TORs, new ones are usually prepared on the basis of the old ones.

Answer 11

TK is written by a business analyst, taking into account the wishes of future programmers. Sections of the TOR are agreed with the customer so that the five hundred-page Talmud is not rewritten if the customer does not like the result.

Answer 12

Based on the above list of people, then the manager, because it is he who should be the intermediary between the customer and the team, because The TOR is compiled based on the wishes of the client, and it is the manager who communicates with the client, then he must make the TOR on which the rest will start work.

Answer 13

Whose hands will write is not so important, even the secretary. But, of course, the manager should be responsible for this process. In other words, the manager can write himself, he can delegate, but this is his task.

Answer 14

It depends on what is meant by TK.
Usually this is a task statement (TA, structure, set of modules, additional functionality). If we are talking about setting a task, then either an analyst or an interface designer should deal with this.
The terms of reference in the classical sense (architecture, integration, technological solutions, etc.) should be written by a technical specialist. As a rule, either an architect or a developer.

Answer 15

We created a template for ourselves. We send a copy of the template to the manager for filling together with the customer. Based on the completed template, the manager creates a draft TK with layouts of the future site, the layouts are created by the web designer. This project is coordinated by the manager with the customer. On the basis of the project, the designer and developers create the “final” TOR, which becomes an integral part of the contract. The contract, together with the TOR, is signed by the customer, and then the TOR is transferred for development.

Answer 16

There are cases when the TOR (final) is written by third-party organizations, because:
- sometimes the customer cannot (does not understand the specifics or other nuances) see all the technical details
- sometimes the contractor cannot fully understand all aspects of the project
- sometimes the customer, not knowing the contractor , does not trust the drafting of technical specifications to the contractor,
there are different cases

Answer 17

It all depends on how the software production process itself is organized in general.
If the project is one-time and the team is small, then who will write the TOR is no longer important. The main thing is that it should exist at all.
And if the team is large, well structured, and there is a separate team of marketers (who work with a specific client and monitor the market), and the project has more than one stage, then it’s not even a matter of a specific TK. Usually, a Product Development Strategy is prepared - a general document describing the goals and directions of product development for the future. As part of the Strategy, a Detailed Product Description may be prepared for each specific stage - a detailed document describing the version of the product that is being prepared for release. It is prepared by the marketing department and he coordinates it with the Customer. And when the Product Description for this stage is ready, then the Developers Team Leader (DM) prepares the TOR for his team on its basis. And this TK may not even be shown to the Customer, because. it is essentially an internal document. If the DM actively participated in the preparation of the Product Description (and he must participate, and his comments must be taken into account), then the TOR will not change during the development process. And, by the way, with such an organization of the process, Project Manager can only carry out administrative functions, and not rummage around in programming at all.

Answer 18

Before writing the Terms of Reference, you can write a Brief.
The Brief itself may contain a METAPHOR.