Project Governance is a specific set of knowledge and knowhow that needs to be learned
Business executives tend to approach project governance with good intentions but few governance-specific skills, knowledge and education. It is assumed by all parties that no such expertise is needed. This is a false assumption.
The wrong mindset
Few executives in governance roles have the necessary skills, knowledge and experience Most governance team members are reliant on bringing their brain and (operational) business acumen to their governance roles in order to try to make a contribution. This means that they tend to see things in operational management rather than in project governance terms — this leads to the wrong type of leadership.
For example, on a project where the number of outstanding project issues had escalated to 87, the following ‘discussion’ took place: “Eighty-seven issues outstanding! We need to get this down! I want no more than a dozen by the next meeting, right?” This is an operational management approach.
A more appropriate and relevant approach would have been: “Eighty-seven issues outstanding! Why so many? Is this number still increasing? Why are they not being resolved quickly? Are there any that could seriously jeopardise the success of the project? What’s the level of unplanned workload required to resolve them? Will this affect the timeline or budget? If we were to dedicate resources to ‘hit’ them this month, what (resources) would that require? What could suffer as a result? What’s the best way forward?”
The right mindset
The latter (project governance) approach is focused on the nature and impacts of the issues, and is based on an understanding that unresolved issues can destroy project timelines, budgets and effort estimates.
To take the project governance approach requires an educated understanding of the role and nature of project governance, an understanding that most executives reported they do not have.
Few executives have had any formal training in their project governance roles The most support and guidance a project governance executive usually receives is a list of accountabilities. Few ever receive any ‘how to be an effective sponsor/steering committee member’ guidance.
A few executives had received formal governance training, but most of this training was quasi-project management training — given in the belief that if they understood project dynamics better they’d be better at project governance. (This is the equivalent of teaching people how a car’s engine works to make them better drivers. They may become more economical drivers as a result, but knowing how the engine works does not help them get to their destination or add to their safety en route.)
Overall, in our research into project governance, the vast majority (83%) of executives have had no formal education in their role but, of these, only 57% see the need for any training. However, when asked to define their role, there was a high correlation between those who didn’t see the need for training and those who perceived their role narrowly as just ‘project control and oversight’.
Expensive 'training'
All executives who had been involved in a project ‘gone bad’ recognised the need for training.
In addition, many desirous of training identified a belief that “There must be more to this role than I am doing”.
Inexpensive training
At a minimum executives need to learn
- The true measures of project success
- The roles of the governance team
- The measures of governance team success
- The governance actions and inactions that cause projects to succeed or fail
- The necessary interactions and relationships with the project manager and the project
- What to do and look for at each stage of the project
- What to do when things go wrong.
Only when the all of these dimensions are known and understood, and the necessary supporting and enabling processes are in place, can the business executives effectively lead, contribute to and govern their projects.
Project governance executive education and training is simple.
Project governance is not difficult once it is understood.
