No organization can achieve success without the consistent and close supervision of its operational projects. It is essential to record the inputs and outputs of each project’s processes and workflows to reach the targeted goals. This calls for project governance which is efficacious for speeding up an enterprise’s productivity. The foremost step to attaining this is to create a governance structure based on 3 pillars.
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What Is Project Governance All About?
Project governance refers to a strong framework to ensure a project’s desirable outcome. It involves informed decision-making about the impact, effectiveness, and feasibility of a project. Constant monitoring of major projects in alignment with business guidelines is highly important. A governance system assists in planning the budget for project completion, and optimizing the organization’s resources, To sum up, it makes project managers competent to meet their employer organization’s key objectives.
Explain The 3 Pillars Of Project Governance
Project governance rests on 3 pillars, namely, information, people, and structure. Here is a clear description of each of the three.
Information
Each member of a project team must have access to real-time vital information concerning the project. Seamless governance is achieved only through clear discussions regarding task ideation among individuals associated with a project. Transparent communication with each other removes interruptions in project execution by solving roadblocks without any delay. Arrangement for instant meetings of team members further eases the project governance procedure. They can strategize goal-based actions as and when needed. This pillar can be established by conducting audits at regular intervals and preparing reports to detect task discrepancies if any.
People
Appropriate personnel is required for successful project planning. The first step to enforcing project governance is by allocating the right task to the right person. This requires an analysis of the present activities of team members. The goals set shouldn’t be whimsical but practical considering the time and expertise an individual can devote to a particular task. Therefore, task allocation and personnel selection become significant factors in determining project governance. Referring to previous project data best serves the purpose. It helps in recollecting how the goals of that project were attained. The data also offers an idea of the resources or training used to complete the project. A prior analysis of such details facilitates the creation of exact strategies to meet the desired project goals.
Structure
Project governance also relies on an organization’s structure. An enterprise must possess the proper business environment and working principle that would favor each of its project governance initiatives. This includes the development of plans in alignment with the enterprise’s vision and ensuring their observance by employees. Considering and prioritizing the suggestions gathered from stakeholders is also needed.
Is Project Governance The Same As Project Management?
To understand the significance of project governance in a PMP job profile, one must first learn the subtle difference between the two.
Project governance refers to the pre-assessment of a project even after its life cycle. It controls, influences, and regulates the overall impact of different projects on an organization’s goals. This process allows project management teams to ponder on iterating possible strategies for upcoming projects. It also lets them judge the usefulness of the completed projects to the predetermined business goals of an enterprise.
On the other hand, the real-time management, supervision, and monitoring of day-to-day project activities are together called project management. It involves deciding on and confirming the tasks to be prioritized. Ensuring a clear definition of project dependencies is also another vital project management responsibility.
A Glance Through Project Governance Benefits
Listed below are the amazing benefits of project governance:
- Facilitates decision-making based on data
- Gives direction to project strategy
- Controls project scope, budget, and time
- Eliminates task redundancy
- Establishes accountability of the completed work
- Enables adequate involvement of stakeholders
- Maintains consistency in day-to-day project tasks
Steps To Introduce A Project Governance Framework Within An Organization
Project management systems should consider certain factors while introducing a project governance framework in an enterprise.
Stakeholder involvement
Learning about a project’s stakeholders’ goals is a must for steering the project in its exact direction. The first step to achieve this is to identify a project’s chief stakeholders and determine the frequency of interaction with them. It is necessary to sort out their involvement in the daily activities of the project. The challenge lies in maintaining a fine balance between stakeholder interference in project operations and ignorance of the project’s progress.
Strategy prioritization
Project governance includes strategy prioritization so that only those strategies that contribute most to the organization’s objectives gain prime importance. In this way, project management can never go wrong in producing the desired results. Maximization of profit potential, optimal distribution of resources across different projects, and establishing the daily productivity bar for employees.
Organization culture
It is high time for business enterprises to do away with a hierarchical work environment and switch to an open culture. Project governance demands a sense of responsibility and ownership from individuals at all levels of an organization. This can only be done by giving importance to suggestions coming from employees.
Project plan
A well-defined project plan is the foundation of project governance. It must contain all the details regarding resource distribution, priority tasks, and project dependencies. This plan must be created with great care as it is responsible for the sustenance of project execution throughout its lifecycle.
To Sum up:
Project governance involves various roles entrusted with different responsibilities. The selection of these roles rests with the project management team. So, knowledge in this domain would be substantially valuable for PMP Certification holders. Working in collaboration with the organization’s advisory group, the owner and stakeholders of a project, is the core activity of a governance system. Risk management plan development is an integral part too. Project governance results in the formation of an advisory committee and steering committee to participate in decision-making alongside the organization’s directors. It is more of a people’s process than the rule of a single body.
