If you've ever worked on a project with multiple contributors, you know that accountability is the #1 problem teams face.

Working with teams is often necessary to generate your desired outcome, but it also often leads to confusion about who is responsible for what.

Enter the MOCHA Model.

MOCHA stands for Manager, Owner, Consulted, Helper, Approver:

Manager:

Responsible for holding the owner accountable.

This person supports the owner by providing feedback, coaching, and sometimes intervening if the project goes off track.

Owner: 

Has ultimate responsibility for the results of the project.

This person knows all decision points and communicates expectations for performance & engagement to all other team members.

There can only be one owner

Consulted: 

Provides input & perspective and may provide resources.

They often offer advice on specific topics during critical decision points during the project.

Helper: 

Contribute concrete pieces of work to a section of the project.

These helpers may have additional workstreams that need to be broken down further. This is known as a cascading MOCHA (which contains multiple layers)

Approver: 

Signs off on the final product or key decisions.

This person can be the owner or manager, though it can also be a person or group with a clear decision-making role on the project.

Try applying this model next time you building a project team to make your roles as clear as possible.