I had a colleague once who quit his former job because of “unrealistic decisions by the project manager”, so he claimed. I tried to prod him further on what he thought the project manager did wrong and what his proposal to the problems would have been. Without hesitation, he quickly replied, “stand up to the management and advice them on the best way forward.” Later on, I came to understand what he meant as I found myself in an almost similar situation. In a well-governed project team where members are informed of the boundaries as team members, there is no feeling of capability restriction by the project manager. Often, there are always ambitious members in a team who would like to do more than the project’s scope. The problem is that this may not augur well with the planned budget and there could also be time constraints. The question is how does the project manager alienate the project team to the defined governing boundaries while maintaining cohesiveness and team spirit? Several factors have to be illuminated in the project team as we will see below:
Benefit owner/sponsor presence
An organization with a good governance model, runs their projects at the behest of the sponsor and benefit owner. These two entities should be identified at the initial stages of the project since they are the ones responsible for facilitating the business case. Once the business case is approved and the charter documents signed, it is the project sponsor who becomes responsible for finding the resources and setting the project team’s vision. They are also recognized as the main decision makers responsible for benefit measurement, and should therefore work hand in hand with the project manager and the rest of the team in fulfilling the project’s output ensuring that they are well aligned with the business strategy and the planned benefits.
Detailed Project management plan
This is necessary for a project manager to have as it is what guides the team within the confines of the project initiative. It is also used by the project manager to align the project on the benefits register and maintain the BRM
plan updated. This consequently makes it possible for the program and
portfolio manager to collaborate in the development of the business case and charter. The team members input to the project management plan remains guided by the governance model of the company
Project reporting
In the course of the project cycle, there is always alot of activities such as cordination with the other project and program managers, risks, changes,
emergent benefits or even unexpected costs. With well detailed reports (project reports, budget reports, briefings to stakeholders), it becomes easier for the project manager to keep the steering committee abreast with the development of the project. The key decision makers get enough and relevant information which makes project governance tenerable as it becomes apparent when making projects comparison.
Engaged stakeholders
During scrum meetings, it is not always possible for all the stakeholders to be present. This at times may create problems where pertinent issues may need their input. Sometimes, the need to accomodate changes may come later in the project and may not be within the budget. Engaged stakeholders
play an important role in the governance of the project, by addressing these issues. They create the link between the project team and the end users and help the project to be aligned with the stakeholders expectations whilst staying within the boundaries of the project management plan. Importantly, though, the issues raised may be taken together with the other relevant decision making authorities such as PMO, without necesssarily creating time constraints on delivering the outputs.
Review lessons learnt along the way…
Team collaboration should not just be about completing the project and getting a pat on the back. The project manager should ensure project review is done and the team contributes with their experiences. If for
example, a software developer checked in a software release in the wrong branch or corrupted the HEAD of the version control system, then this should be taken as a lesson. There should be proper measures undertaken to avoid a recurence of the same in the future. By sharing such lessons and putting fail-proof measures in place, it improves the culture of product delivery and governance . This guides the team in the future, allowing which boundaries a procedure should be undertaken.
Benefits review
It is important for the project manager to continously perform a benefits review and project audit to ensure that it will serve the purpose it was intended for. This avoids disappointment, time wasting and unnecessary budget expenditure. The project manager is responsible for performing this in collaboration with the program and portfolio manager through the benefits register and review of the BRM plan. Auditing the project during initial or execution stage is critical and requires stakeholders input as stated earlier while considering the teams input on the project management plan.
The above named factors are what I consider critical in enhancing project governance in a team. These should be followed along the bes practices of project management as envisioned in PMI for a fruitful outcome. Is there something that you think is important that I didn’t mention, don’t hesitate to give a shout out in the comments section.
Project Management 