Project governance

Most of the Project Management help that we deliver goes into "functional organisations". This means organisations that are arranged around specific functions such as Sales, H.R., Finance, R and D, Production, Operations, I.T. etc. This provides real challenges to Project Managers who usually have to establish high levels of cooperation between multiple functions, all of whom have their primary allegiance with line management. The solution has to be through strong Project Governance, a clear sense of priorities around projects, transparent support for all live projects at the most senior levels and the creation of an open and honest culture.
This course helps learners to:

• Understand what is meant by Project Governance
• Be clear on the roles and responsibilities required to establish sound Governance procedures
• Understand the 11 principles of Project Governance
• Be conversant with the project management tools being taught to other Project Managers in the business
• Develop an action plan to address the most significant Governance shortfalls

Before going into the finer points of Governance, it is useful for delegates to gain an appreciation of what their Project Managers have been learning. This enables better, and faster decisions to be made on Projects as senior decision makers are aware of the tools being used and the reasons for the request from the Project Manager

• Governance Background - This short session acts to clarify the need for good governance and poses the questions what are the costs of poor governance and "how good is yours?"
• Governance Structures - This section will describe how a robust governance structure should look and compares it with the current situation
• Principles of Project Governance - This section covers the 11 core principles of good Project Governance as laid out by the Association for Project Management (APM) Specialist Interest Group on Governance. This helps focus such a broad subject into a series of manageable benchmark areas that can be used for future action planning
• Diagnostic and Actions - At this point the course turns from raising awareness and knowledge of governance issues and how they impact management and towards looking in more detail at what can be done to improve Project Governance. To increase focus and understanding Matchett has boiled Governance down to 4 core areas under which it has listed a number of self-diagnostic questions upon which delegates can paint an accurate picture of the current governance scenario and decide what actions will make the most impact in the shortest time

The final plenary gives delegates the opportunity to reflect on what has been covered in the day and ask any outstanding questions

Massive improvements in Project (and general business) behaviour and efficiencies can be achieved by clarifying and improving governance and sponsorship. This can help avoid investing in the wrong projects, reduce operational cost base by reducing duplication and reducing time to delivery for project deliverables, and improve motivation through the improved support of senior management.

A key driver for this training is the diagnosis of the current situation and the formation of an improvement plan. For this reason it is strongly recommended that a return visit is made by the Facilitator 6 months after the initial training to monitor progress on improvement plans.

Knowledge that there will be an "honesty check" on whatever actions are agreed on the day makes the delegates a little keener to stick to their promises and hence appreciates a greater benefit from the training than would otherwise manifest.
Want this course tailored to meet your exact needs?
Contact us for a bespoke detailed course outline, or no obligation meeting.