So what is Project Governance?

For an organization to say that they understand and apply Governance is for them to state that they know who is accountable for work results and who is responsible for performing work processes. Governance is closely related to audit services and the
auditing profession.

Let us assume that you already have PRINCE2 embedded within your organization and that methodology, standards, and processes are fairly mature. Project Governance relates to accountabilities and responsibilities for the management of the performance of a project within an enterprise, and was created as a solution for organizations that had these elements in place, yet found that  significant problems with effectiveness and efficiency were still occurring.

It has been determined that PRINCE2, standards, and processes answered the question, "What should be done?" yet failed to answer the question, "Who should do it?"

Governance makes it very clear before the project work starts, who is accountable to make sure that work follows the PRINCE2 methodology, standards, and processes.

Without governance, there is a loophole. The project manager may claim that during audit that they did not know about that 'rule', or that they did not think it applied in this (project) situation. As you might imagine, the application of governance closes that loophole.

Organisations develop models for ‘Project Governance Structures', which can be different to a traditional Organisation Structure in that it defines accountabilities and responsibilities for strategic decision-making across the project.

So, Project Governance relates to accountabilities and responsibilities for the management of the performance of a project within an enterprise.

In addition, Project Governance extends the principle of Governance into both the management of individual projects via Governance structures, and the management of projects at the business level, for example via Business Reviews of Projects.

Typical clues that governance was lacking may be for example that post-project reviews of failed projects indicate that project managers did not know that certain elements of the methodology applied to their own work within the project. It can also happen at organisational level, where two projects are implemented within two different parts of the organisation - to deliver the same outcomes - yet they did not know of each other's existance! Can you imagine the wasted use of resources?

The value of project governance is giant, this can be particularly useful to project management processes such as harnessing change control and project strategic decision-making. Implementing governance will fast-track tboth the quality, and the speed of key decision-making within a proejct and hence increase the resolution of major project issues.

Therefore, governance is a proactive solution to the strategic direction and must be implemented at the level of the Project Board plus Corporate/programme management, hence requiring the support of the highest executives in the organization.

Within an organization it is often a Programme/Project Management Office that will have governance integrated within their services and operations. But they support the implementation og governance, which must occur at the Project Board level.

Take the PRINCE2 methodology's use of End Stage Assessments. An example of effective governance would be that no project that is clearly showing the accepted characteristics of project failure should be allowed to proceed to its next management stage without clear resolution of those issues. In many organisations today that embed PRINCE2, this would be an important step up in their competence at managing internal corporate or business projects.

Because projects take place within a customer/supplier relationship, and are driven by the project Business Case, there is a strong need to provide Business Assurance, indeed, PRINCE2 states that their term 'project assurance' includes it as the responsibility of the Project Board Executive.

Business assurance ensures that the project is being managed well, that they do not show any evidence of current or future failure, and that the project Business Case provides compelling evidence that the project will deliver value for money.

If it is important for you to be responsible for applying project governance, OR that you have responsibilities on the Project Board, then you need to  CLICK HERE