6 Key Steps to Implement an effective project governance process
09 November 2023
To scale their activities, companies have no other solution than tooptimize the management of their projects. Improving day-to-day operations therefore becomes essential to gain competitiveness and conquer new markets.
This is where project governance comes in, not to be confused with project management, whose scope and issues are more limited. Indeed, project governance process involves definingproceduresandestablishing human as well as financial resources. As a result, it positions itself as anessential methodfor the sustainability of businesses.
In this three-part article, we will explain what project governance is, the challenges it represents and present the key factors to help you implement it in the best possible way in your company.
1. What is project governance process?
A) Differentiating between project governance and project management
While project management and project governance both involve the delivery of projects within a company, they differ in their dimension.
As project governance is a global methodology, it uses project management as a tool to achieve its strategic objectives.
B) A management method
Defined by the business sociologist Jean-François Chantaraud (2012) as
" the set of rules and methods organizing the reflection, the decision and the control of the application of decisions within a social body ", project governance remains in fact a mode of management and organization.
Made up of aset of processes, it defines the organizationat the overallcompany level. Project governance makes it possible to establish the appropriate environment foreffective project portfolio management.
C) A strategic dimension
One of the main characteristics of project governance lies in its strategic dimension. Indeed, defining project governance implies taking direction in the vision. Management teams then have a heavy responsibility: that of choosing projects that align with the company's overall strategy.
2. Why set up project governance?
Guaranteeing a certain level of quality thanks to an efficient structuring and organization, project governance responds to real challenges. In addition, its implementation has many advantages.
A) Ensure alignment of the operational and the strategy
Aligning projects with the company's strategy can be complex. However, the implementation of a precise project governance will make it possible to work on this coherence, while taking into account the company's development objectives .
In addition, project governance is particularly useful for reconciling the sometimes divergent interests of the different stakeholders of an organization.
B) Facilitating decision-making
The definition of project governance is based on concrete figures from the company's operational activities.
A reliable analytical vision will help provide all the necessary elements for informed decision-making. It should also be noted that this analysis must be based on relevant financial indicators to be defined strategically.
C) Optimize resource management
Resource management is very often a particularly complex issue to manage in companies.
Indeed, the lack of visibility sometimes complicates the smooth operational running of projects.
By defining project governance upstream, you will improve your long-term vision, which will allow you to better prioritize the projects to be developed.
While project governance is a major investment within a company as it requires the involvement of teams and management, its benefits are nevertheless significant.
The implementation of project governance contributes to the sustainability of the company by facilitating the smooth running of activities, its proper functioning, which generates a gain in productivity and better profitability. In addition, it allows employees to retain their employees by simplifying their daily activities, thanks to a gain in autonomy and visibility.
E) Improving communication
Project governance helps to streamline the flow of information. Indeed, each role is defined in advance and above all transparent. Obtaining information becomes more accessible, as each employee knows perfectly well who to contact. Communication flows are thus simplified and time savings considerable.
The siloing of departments, projects and finance, does not allow for optimal project management. Contrary to this logic, Stafiz provides, for example, project management control tools, from finance, to field project management. In addition, the platform access rights, which are fully customizable, provide the right level of information to your various employees. Thus, everyone holds the keys to act at their own level.
3. What are the benefits of implementing project governance?
A) Measuring performance
With greater visibility into the company's various activities, project governance helps streamline project decision-making . Indeed, doubts can sometimes emerge and teams may be led to ask themselves: should we launch this project? The postponer? Reframe it? Re-prioritise it? Abandon it?
Project governance then contributes to answering this type of question by allowing performance to be measured, thanks to project management indicators, thus facilitating decision-making.
B) Respect costs, deadlines, and offer a high level of quality
By clarifying procedures and improving productivity, project governance is a formidable method of ensuring that activities run smoothly. Accurate planning makes it easier to meet costs and deadlines and helps to deliver high quality.
Successful projects help to increase customer satisfaction. The company can take advantage of opportunities, which in turn increases its turnover.
Tools such as project accounting software and project management time tracking software provide this long-term visibility and alert you when a project goes off-budget.
Visualize the performance of your projects in forecasting
Gap analysis: compare the planned activity with what was produced and scheduled. Visualize the financial impacts of your scenarios ( resource planning, purchases etc.) and get notified.
Implementing project governance within a company contributes to the anticipation of risks in several ways.
Indeed, the definition of procedures takes into account the identification of risks : the assessment of their probability, their consequences and above all their management.
Anticipation can also take the form of continuous monitoring, complemented by the generation of reports, which are essential tools for effective project governance.
In addition, risk anticipation is made possible by clarifying those responsible and making available the necessary resources to manage risks, both human and budgetary.
Stafiz helps you anticipate risks. Predictive KPIs tell you about future deviations before they happen. This allows you to make decisions to correct the trend.
4. What are the key factors for setting up project governance?
A) Involve management
While this step may seem obvious, its essential nature justifies that we put it forward. Indeed, project governance is only made possible by the deep involvement of the company's management. The latter must understand the importance of its implementation on a global scale, as it involves policies, prioritization and strategic decisions.
The finance department must also join the collective effort by helping to define KPIs related to budget management. In addition, she will have to help provide resources consistent with the company's vision, both in terms of personnel and budget and equipment.
B) Define procedures
Project governance is, almost by definition, the implementation of procedures.
To generate real impact, it must be clear and framed. Thus, the beginning, the end and the control methods must be perfectly defined.
On a day-to-day basis, this can take the form of optimal operational planning for example, by defining the schedule and the resource planning teams in a precise way, thus considering the management of unforeseen events.
The Stafiz platform allows you to integrate the most efficient project management procedures:
Opportunity management and upstream optimization
Simple and powerful project planning and replanning: resource planning, costs, subcontracting, phases, tasks
Continuous performance monitoring: time entry, variance analysis, etc.
Automatic invoicing, with due dates and follow-up of unpaid invoices
While project governance involves procedures, it also touches the heart of the company: the human being.
A perfectly defined, structured project governance that does not take into account its teams would be doomed to failure. Thus, it is necessary to recruit but also to train talent, while assuming a committed corporate culture.
This will include strategic planning, which will make it possible to organize resources in such a way as to:
Anticipating recruitment needs
Plan the implementation of projects
Training teams
D) Measuring performance
Performance measurement is one of the key factors in project governance. Any strategic decision must be based on facts, taking the form of accurate reporting.
The latter will help the company to move towards the most financially coherent projects and will also facilitate recruitment in anticipation of the coming months.
E) Remain flexible
While the implementation of procedures and the anticipation of risks make it possible to facilitate the sustainability of the company, flexibility remains an essential value.
Indeed, project governance must be scalable according to the hazards. Thus, the company must be able to react quickly by adapting resources, processes, schedules, and even management teams.
An excellent way to make project governance evolve positively is to collect opinions, both from employees and customers, in order to move towards improvement.
Schedule changes by email or chat are time-consuming?
Reshuffle your schedules easily: shift, cancel, reallocate to other collaborators with ease.
F) Communicate
Caring and constructive communication remains the key to optimal project governance. Listening, interpersonal skills, but also autonomy and a sense of responsibility are all necessary qualities in the implementation of project governance.
Establishing effective communication involves setting up relevant channels for sharing information, thus ensuring the relay between the teams to discuss the progress, the problems as well as the decisions taken and feedback.
Setting up project governance remains a complex process as its challenges are strategic. If project management concerns a micro vision, project governance implies a macro vision, thus affecting the globality of the company and its sustainability.
Optimal project governance will improve performance, quality delivered and profitability. However, it will be necessary to invest in order to achieve these results, both in the structure, in the human aspect and in the organization of information.
However, let's keep in mind that each company is unique and must find its own method, adapting to its constraints and valuing its most important asset: its teams.
