There are as many definitions of project governance as there are projects that have failed for the lack of it. However, if your aim is to implement effective project governance on your project, or across your organisation, it’s important to be very clear exactly what it is that you are implementing.
So what is project governance?
The best advice is always to keep it simple. So at its core, project governance is the framework for effective project decision making. This holds true irrespective of whether we are talking about projects, programs or portfolios (the term project governance is used as shorthand to refer to any, or all, of these).
This framework is comprised of:
- The project governance structure: this is the various committees and roles that comprise the governance framework.
- The people that assume the project governance roles and are members of the project governance committees.
- The documentation that informs the decision making framework.
These are the components of a project governance framework, but of course they need to work together to be effective.
- The structure needs to be effective, with a focus on key decision making, rather than on ensuring every stakeholder has a say.
- The people need to be the right people, in the right positions.
- The documentation, incorporating role statements and Terms of Reference, key project documents such as the business case, and reports, need to reflect decision making needs.
Once an effective decision making framework has been developed, other components can be “bolted” to it. For instance, once a decision making framework is in place, it makes sense to incorporate an assurance framework to support decision makers. But it’s best not to blur the issue at the outset – focus on effective decision making because, after all, that’s what the decision makers want.