Project management governance is a critical component in ensuring successful project delivery. It helps to ensure that all stakeholders are on the same page with regard to expectations, timelines, deliverables, quality control measures and more.
Here we’ll explore what exactly project management governance entails, how you can go about establishing it and best practices for monitoring its success. Finally, we have some tips on making sure your project management governance system is effective.
So, what is project management governance? It is the practice of setting and maintaining standards for how projects are managed, monitored, and reported. A set of processes, policies, and procedures are created that guide the execution of projects from start to finish.
This helps ensure that projects are completed on time, within budget and to the required quality standards. There are different types of project governance, including:
- Strategic project governance – focuses on setting the overall direction for a project and ensuring alignment with organizational objectives.
- Operational project governance – deals with day-to-day activities such as resource allocation, budgeting and scheduling.
- Tactical project governance – focuses on making sure that tasks are completed in accordance with the plan.
- Technical project governance – ensures quality control throughout the life cycle of a project.
What are the Benefits?
The primary benefit of implementing project management governance is improved efficiency in executing projects. This is achieved by providing clear roles and responsibilities as well as establishing standards for communication between stakeholders. It also allows organizations to better track progress against goals by setting performance metrics that can be monitored over time.
Finally, it ensures compliance with regulations or industry best practices which may otherwise go unnoticed without proper oversight.
The Challenges
Implementing project management governance requires significant effort from both senior leadership and individual team members. This often leads to resistance from those who don’t understand its value or have difficulty adapting their existing processes to fit into the new framework.
To ensure adherence to the established guidelines, regular reviews need to be conducted. However, if the reviews aren’t managed properly it can lead to complacency among team members as they can end up feeling like their efforts are going unrecognized or unappreciated
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Establishing Project Management Governance
Defining Roles and Responsibilities – The first step in establishing project management governance is to define the roles of each team member involved in the project. This includes identifying who will be responsible for what tasks as well as who will be accountable for ensuring that those tasks are completed according to plan. Authority levels need to be assigned so that everyone knows their limits when it comes to making decisions or taking action on behalf of the team or organization.
Setting Standards and Guidelines – These can include things like communication protocols, task deadlines, quality control measures and risk mitigation strategies.
Processes and Procedures – These need to be put into place in order for everything else outlined above to actually work properly during a given project’s lifecycle. This includes:
- Creating checklists for each phase of the project (e.g. planning, designing, executing).
- Developing systems for tracking progress against goals at regular intervals throughout its duration (e.g. weekly status meetings).
- Clear documentation needs to exist regarding decision-making procedures so that everyone understands how decisions are made.
Key Takeaway: Project management governance involves defining roles and responsibilities, setting standards and guidelines, and implementing processes and procedures. Key elements of project management governance include:
– Defining roles & responsibilities
– Setting standards & guidelines
– Implementing processes & procedures
Monitoring Project Management Governance
Tracking Performance Metrics – This includes measuring the progress of tasks against their planned timelines, as well as keeping track of costs associated with each task or phase.
Identifying Areas of Improvement – This could include streamlining processes, improving communication between team members or implementing new tools or technologies that could help speed up workflows and increase efficiency.
Ensuring Compliance with Standards and Guidelines – This includes making sure everyone involved understands their roles and responsibilities, as well as having clear policies in place regarding deadlines, budgets and quality control measures. This ensures that there are no misunderstandings along the way.
Key Takeaway: To monitor and oversee projects effectively, it’s important to track performance metrics, identify areas of improvement and ensure compliance with standards and guidelines. This will help minimize risk and cost overruns while maximizing project success.
Best Practices for Effective Project Management Governance
To ensure effective implementation of project management governance there are certain best practices that should be followed.
Communication and Collaboration Strategies – Effective communication is key to successful project management governance. This includes having clear expectations for all stakeholders involved in the project as well as open lines of communication between them throughout the duration of the project.
Regular meetings can help keep everyone on track while also allowing team members to share ideas or address any issues they may have encountered along the way.
Continuous Improvement Initiatives – These initiatives involve regularly assessing current processes and procedures to identify areas where improvements can be made in order to increase efficiency or effectiveness. By taking a proactive approach towards improving existing systems, organizations can stay ahead of potential problems before they arise, which helps reduce risk associated with projects overall.
Regular Reviews of Policies, Procedures and Processes – Having a set schedule for reviewing these items ensures that changes are being implemented quickly if needed. It also provides an opportunity for teams to discuss any new challenges that may have arisen since the last review was conducted, so that appropriate action can be taken.
By following these best practices, organizations can improve their ability to manage projects more effectively. They can also minimize risks associated with poor decision making due to lack of information or oversight from higher-level personnel during crucial stages.
Key Takeaway: Best practices for Project management governance include effective communication strategies, continuous improvement initiatives, and regular reviews of policies and procedures. By following these best practices organizations can reduce the risk associated with projects while also improving their ability to manage them more effectively.
With the right approach to project management governance in place, organizations can maximize the return on investment from their projects while minimizing risk.