More projects fail due to poor project governance than poor project management, here's why
Wrong personal goals
The personal reputations of those in project governance roles can be seen to be on the line.
“I don’t want this project to go over budget, whatever it takes,” emphasized one Project Sponsor while his project was disintegrating beneath him. The project manager knew that provided she kept the project on budget she’d not be questioned too hard. So she was limiting work and de-scoping the project so as to remain under the budget, totally destroying the business outcomes and benefits in the process. (The final result in this case was a six-month extension to the project to make the outcomes workable.)
The ultimate measure of success is the delivery of the business outcomes and benefits. It pays never to take your eye off this goal.
Being remote from project teams
A common situation in larger organizations is for the governance team to be geographically remote from the project team. (In some cases, the project team itself is split over multiple sites fragmenting the whole project.)
When the governance team is isolated from the project team they have no ‘feel’ for the project and rely too much on the (processed) information provided.
Governance teams of failed projects often protest, “We relied on the information we were provided!” This is no excuse. A key part of the project governance role is ‘managing by walking around’ — visiting the project team, talking to the team members and picking up the ‘vibes’.
In one organization we arrived to conduct a project health check. We merely walked from the lift lobby to a meeting room on the project team’s floor and immediately knew the project was in trouble. There was no buzz or energy in the room. The room had the atmosphere of a morgue.
The project’s sponsor thought all was well on the project (because that’s what his project manager was telling him), yet in 60 seconds we could tell the project was not only in trouble but in deep trouble! (The project sponsor had never visited the project team area — when we advised him of the impending catastrophe it was a complete surprise to him!)
Few personally commit time to visit their project team at least monthly.
Executives geographically separate from their teams rarely make the time to visit their project teams. They are wholly reliant on the their ‘project’s nominated contact’ telling them what they need to know. In almost all cases, these executive’s projects are over time and budget.
One remote project that was rapidly imploding. This was only picked up when one steering committee member happened to be in a coffee shop when two members of the project team on a nearby table were talking about the problems on the project.
There is no substitute for ‘being there’.
Failure to champion the project
The business case may be terrific, but few people ever see it. Ultimately people judge the worthiness of a project by the level of commitment shown by the project sponsor and steering committee.
To many steering committee members see their project is a ‘chore’ that they need to 'deal with' once a month. They turn up to meetings, put in their views and leave and forget about the project until the next committee meeting.
Indeed, it is not unusual for them to take action or be party to operational (or another project's) decisions that are totally at odds with the requirements of the project. Then they wonder why the project is not wildly successful.
When organizational line management and staff see the governance team ‘going through the motions’ they allocate a low level of priority to the project and its demands. This increases the workload of the project team (to implement change), delays the project and increases the demands on the governance team. A vicious circle.
The governance team must always champion and protect the project, ensure business decisions are made in line its direction and goals of the project, and inform the project team of possible organizational changes that may impact the project.
Governance is a month-long, not a once a month, commitment.
Understand the dimensions of Project Governance as a start to becoming highly effective
