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Project Governance processes and Project Management Office

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Philippe Schuler Senior Instructor/Lecturer in Project/Program/Account PMO Management| Independant Consultant Les Choux, France
According to PMI, Project Governance the framework in which the project teams performs. Effective governance requires interlock between all levels (Executive, Management, Project, ...) to facilitate information flow, issue resolution, and decision making as well as alignment with the actual Project Management processes.
Considering the Project Governance effective execution is part of the Business or Management responsibilities, do you agree the implementation and maintenance of the Project Governance processes should be owned by the Project Management Office?
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Philippe Schuler Senior Instructor/Lecturer in Project/Program/Account PMO Management| Independant Consultant Les Choux, France
Feb 25, 2016 10:45 PM
Replying to Stéphane Parent
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I will have to disagree on this one.

A PMO is not made up of executives, which is what you need for governance.

You need a project governance council (PGC) that will be composed of decision-makers. Their main role will consist of deciding upon
* a project governance charter,
* project management KPIs, and
* project management policies

PMO, PgMO and PfMO leaders will report progress to the PGC. The PMO will be the executive arm of the PGC. The PGC would only meet quarterly.
Stephane, I definitively agree the PMO is not made of executives. I have said the PMO should own the Project Governance process. The Project Governance leadership and execution are naturally owned by the business managers and exécutives that will have to perform their governance activities(decision-making, approvals, recommendations ...) within an appropriate project governance framework as part of a PGC for example.. The exécutives are normally not in charge of the processes definition and alignment with the project management activities. As you state, they should be in charge of their approvals.
So from my point of view the PMO is the best place to host a Project Governance manager whose main role will be to insure the right executives make the right decisions related to the right project topics eligible to be manage at the right level of the the Project Governance event (Council, Executive Steering Committee, ...).

This is the way we have been put and operated Account Project Governance for many years. But I agree that today many influencers (agility, stronger inter-relationships, ...) between Project and Business may change the way the right Project Governance is setup for a specific project or program

Thank you again for your feedback I do really appreciate all the points of view from everyone.
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Stéphane Parent Self Employed / Semi-retired| Leader Maker Prince Edward Island, Canada
That makes sense, Philippe. PMO is the right place to develop the governance framework and artefacts.
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Philippe Schuler Senior Instructor/Lecturer in Project/Program/Account PMO Management| Independant Consultant Les Choux, France
Feb 24, 2016 4:41 PM
Replying to Thomas Walenta
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there seems to be wild agreement on, yes, a pmo should own project governance processes.
just some thoughts ....
within a program, project governance is better owned by the program.
still more than 30% of organizations do not have a pmo, how do they govern projects? there seem to be other means.
a merely supportive pmo would mostly not be allowed by the powers that be to own or even be involved in governance.
Thomas, thank you for this point of view. I agree all organizations do not have a PMO. Only those with the appropriate maturity to run complex and/or large projects have to deal with sensitive topics like project governance in a more or less formal way. When Project Governance is a contractual deliverable a specific role (let's say Project Governance Manager) should be part of the Project Management team. His/her main responsibility is to setup and manage the required Governance Framework for the project. This role can be fulfilled by the Project/Program Manager as a full time resource is not mandatory when the Project context and the implementation of the Governance is not complex. But when complexity increases, the Project/Program Management should be improved with a PMO and in this case the Project Governance Manager should be part of it.
This is a discussion we have had for some times with other colleagues so I think there is not only one answer to this question at the time being.
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Philippe Schuler Senior Instructor/Lecturer in Project/Program/Account PMO Management| Independant Consultant Les Choux, France
Feb 24, 2016 2:17 AM
Replying to Ganesh Srinivasan
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Dear Philippe / Members,
Thanks for the post and replies. From my point of view I'm the PMO and presently taking care of Governance also. I find PMO is best choice. Phillippe if you could mention what are all the governance activities you are having in place will be very helpful for me ? and also further answer.

Thank you.
Ganesh
Dear Ganesh. Thank you for your interest for this very important topic. To help you with your question I would like to share some information related to he key responsibilities a Project Governance implementer should own as part of a PMO:

Implement together with the PMO lead the Account Governance services as part of the PMO Startup.
Propose an organization aligned to the key responsibilities contracted with customer.
Is the repository owner for the Governance framework and the processes and tools.
Own and maintain a Governance manual and its related documents. An initial version of the Governance manual will be formally approved and signed-off by the authorized Governance manual content acceptors. Any changes to the document will be handled through the standard Governance change control process using the “Change request form”.
Initial set up all contractual governance forums and creates/maintains a yearly meeting schedule in the joint central repository
Create a standard minutes of meeting template if needed.
Is responsible for ensuring clear ownership and accountability of all Governance processes

I hope this helps.
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