Without governance, chaos reigns. This statement holds true in any situation requiring structure and systematic persistence. And, in the highly competitive and result-driven world of project management, there is absolutely no room for workplace chaos. Imagine trying to run a tech giant without rules, checks, or a strategic plan. That’s a recipe for disaster!
Think of project governance as your project’s superhero, bringing in:
- Zen processes: Your internal processes are well-communicated, clear, and error-free
- Time’s BFF: Deadlines become a walk in the park
- Client cheer: Happy clients? Consider it done 🥳
In this article, we’re decoding the power of project governance, connecting the dots between those big-picture governance principles and the nitty-gritty of your daily project grind. We’ll cover the basic concepts within project governance and explain the steps to develop an effective project governance framework.
What Is Project Governance?
By definition, project governance is an oversight function that is aligned with the organization’s governance model and encompasses the project life cycle.
But this technical description can be hard to digest for many of us. In plainer terms, project governance is the set of rules and procedures that decide how a project will be run.
Project governance is the go-to structure—also called governance model or framework—for deciding:
- Ways to tackle projects
- The authoritative structure for allocating resources and making decisions
- Budget distribution
- Process optimization to reduce the expenses stemming from inefficiency
Picture it as the guide for all project decisions, ensuring they align with organization objectives. In most organizations, the PMO is the owner of project management governance responsibilities.
Whether you’re ideating an agile release plan or a product launch, project governance methodologies ensure reliable policies, rules, functions, responsibilities, and conflict resolution measures—a map of how things get done and who’s in charge.
The three pillars of project governance
In understanding governance in project management, you’ll need to grasp the concept behind its three foundational pillars—a dynamic trio of structure, people, and information. 👪
1. Structure
Think of your project like a well-oiled machine; its structure is the solid framework that holds everything together. We’re talking about guidelines, procedures, and detailed plans that essentially form the backbone for operations, offering the stability and direction needed for project success.
In most cases, the senior management or the governing or advisory committee is responsible for plotting the scope, structure, and vision for ongoing projects. 🧑⚖️
2. People
People are the heartbeat of your project. From the project manager to dedicated team members, everyone has a job to do. Their skills, involvement, and commitment become the driving force that can significantly influence how smoothly the project goes toward success. 💓
This pillar of project governance covers elements like goal setting and stakeholder communication to improve the contribution of each team member.
3. Information
Lastly, information is the fuel that keeps the project running without any problems. Clear, concise, and timely communication, along with accurate data, supports employees as well as decision-makers.
The goal here is to get rid of departmental silos and hidden information pockets often found in cross-functional teams. 📢
Good to know: Project governance vs. organizational governance
Project governance and organizational governance sound like overlapping concepts, but they differ in scope and focus. Project management governance is specific to projects, involving the management framework for decision-making and execution throughout the project life cycle. It defines roles, responsibilities, and processes tailored to orchestrate project success. 💫
On the other hand, organizational governance has a broader scope, addressing the entire organization’s structure, policies, and decision-making processes. It sets the framework for sustained, long-term operations, guiding strategic objectives and overall functionality across various business processes and functions—like sales and HR—within the organization.
Here’s a table outlining the key differences between project governance and organizational governance:
| Aspect | Project governance | Organizational governance |
| Focus and scope | Concerned with project initiation, execution, and success | Encompasses the entire organization’s activities |
| Duration | Relatively temporary, aligned with project life cycle and market shifts | Permanent, providing an enduring framework that can last for decades |
| Decision-making | Project-specific decisions | Strategic direction at the organizational level |
| Responsibilities | Defines deliverables for project managers and team members | Assigns roles for executives, departments, and employees |
| Scale | Micro-level, limited to project planning | Macro-level, guiding the organization as a whole |
The Components of a Project Governance Framework
Here are the key components of project governance, along with examples:
- Project governance structure: Defines roles, responsibilities, and decision-making authority and establishes key governing bodies such as the Project Steering Committee, Project Sponsor, etc
- Project lifecycle and decision gates: This sets up the project in structured phases (e.g., Initiation, Planning, Execution, and Closure). It uses stage gates to review and approve progress at key milestones. For example, a construction project may have a gate after design approval, before moving into procurement, ensuring regulatory compliance before proceeding
- Roles and responsibilities: Governance also clearly outlines the responsibilities of all stakeholders and ensures accountability for deliverables, risks, and resources
- Risk and issue management: It establishes a framework for identifying, assessing, and mitigating risks. It also defines escalation procedures for unresolved issues
- Stakeholder management: Project governance also includes communication and engagement strategies for different groups. It ensures clear communication with internal and external stakeholders
- Performance monitoring and reporting: It establishes KPIs to track project success and defines reporting structures for regular updates. For instance, a manufacturing project may report monthly on cost variance, schedule adherence, and quality metrics to the executive board
- Change management and governance: Another component of project governance is a structured approach to handling project changes. It defines approval processes for scope, budget, and timeline changes
- Compliance and regulatory alignment: Project governance ensures the project adheres to legal, regulatory, and organizational policies. It includes industry-specific compliance standards. For example, a healthcare project must follow HIPAA regulations for patient data security, with governance mechanisms to monitor adherence.
- Lessons learned and continuous improvement: It captures project insights to improve future governance practices and establishes a post-project review process.
Project Governance Roles
In project governance, different roles ensure the project is aligned with organizational objectives, follows structured decision-making, and delivers expected outcomes. Each role establishes a chain of action and accountability, ensuring project parameters like time, cost, and quality are honored.
Here are the key roles in project governance:
1. Project sponsor
Provides strategic direction, secures funding, and champions the project at the executive level.
Responsibilities:
- Approving the business case and project budget
- Ensuring the project aligns with organizational goals
- Resolving high-level issues and risks
- Supporting the project manager in securing resources
Examples:
- In a new CRM implementation, the VP of Sales acts as the sponsor, ensuring executive buy-in and funding.
- In an ERP system upgrade, the CIO sponsors the project to ensure integration with existing business processes.
2. Project owner
Represents the organization and often engages with the project manager to see how things are shaping up.
Responsibilities:
- Aligning the project with delivery objectives
- Setting the strategic direction
- Providing feedback for continuous improvement
- Holding the project manager accountable for the final outcome
Examples:
- In a SaaS CRM tool development, the project owner mediates between sales (who want lead-scoring automation) and customer support (who need a ticketing system), ensuring both needs are addressed effectively.
- In an e-commerce website redesign, the project owner represents the voice of the customer and ensures the checkout process remains frictionless.
3. Steering committee (Project board)
Provides oversight, guidance, and decision-making at a strategic level.
Responsibilities:
- Approving major project milestones and changes
- Reviewing progress and performance
- Ensuring alignment with corporate strategy
- Supporting risk mitigation efforts
Examples:
- In a product launch, the Steering Committee includes executives from marketing, finance, and R&D, ensuring the project meets business objectives.
- In a cloud migration project, the Steering Committee includes representatives from IT, cybersecurity, finance, and operations to ensure security and cost-effectiveness.
4. Project manager
Oversees the day-to-day execution, ensuring the project is delivered on time, within scope, and on budget.
Responsibilities:
- Developing and managing the project plan
- Leading the project team and coordinating tasks
- Managing risks, issues, and stakeholder expectations
- Reporting progress to the Steering Committee
Example: In an IT system migration, the project manager ensures software development, testing, and deployment happen as planned.
5. Project management office (PMO)
Establishes and enforces governance standards, methodologies, and best practices.
Responsibilities:
- Providing project governance frameworks
- Ensuring compliance with project management methodologies
- Monitoring project performance and reporting insights
- Training project managers on governance practices
Examples:
- A PMO in a multinational company standardizes reporting formats and risk management approaches across all projects.
- In a large IT organization, the PMO ensures all software development projects follow Agile principles and use standardized sprint planning.
6. Change control board (CCB)
Evaluates and approves/rejects major project changes (scope, budget, timeline).
Responsibilities:
- Assessing the impact of requested changes
- Approving or rejecting scope modifications
- Ensuring change requests align with business objectives
Examples:
- In a construction project, the CCB reviews a request to add an additional floor to assess cost, feasibility, and compliance.
- In the development of a mobile banking app, the CCB assesses the feasibility of adding a biometric authentication feature midway through development.
7. Risk management team
Identifies, assesses, and mitigates project risks.
Responsibilities:
- Developing a risk management framework
- Conducting risk assessments and creating mitigation plans
- Escalating high-impact risks to leadership
Examples:
- In a cybersecurity project, the risk management team ensures compliance with data protection regulations.
- In a cloud-based CRM deployment, the IT security team ensures data encryption and multi-factor authentication for user access.
8. Key stakeholders
Individuals or groups impacted by the project and providing input or approval.
Responsibilities:
- Providing requirements and expectations
- Participating in decision-making processes
- Supporting implementation and adoption
Examples:
- In an HR software rollout, HR managers, IT teams, and employees provide feedback on usability and functionality.
- In a data analytics project, project stakeholders include data scientists, business analysts, and IT administrators who validate system outputs.
Not sure who your stakeholders are? Explore stakeholder mapping templates within for support. For example, the Stakeholder Analysis Matrix Template helps you identify and manage stakeholders according to their vested interests.
9. Compliance and audit team
Ensures the project adheres to regulatory, legal, and internal standards.
Responsibilities:
- Conducting compliance reviews and audits
- Ensuring the project meets legal and industry regulations
- Identifying and addressing governance gaps
Examples:
- In a financial services project, the audit team ensures compliance with GDPR and financial reporting regulations.
- In an e-commerce platform upgrade, the compliance team ensures PCI-DSS standards are met for secure online transactions.
How to Create a Project Governance Framework for Success: 6 Steps
Achieving effective project governance is no small feat! It demands the assistance of project management software to handle its various components.
That’s exactly what we’ll demonstrate: we’ll help you navigate the path to project success with , an all-in-one project management solution!
’s Project Management Suite is complete with tools and features to organize the process of setting and implementing a good project governance framework. 🤩
The platform offers a Project Hierarchy structure that allows you to manage your governance model, tasks, and subtasks in a logical manner. This helps establish clear accountability within your projects and enhances stakeholder engagement.
Let’s break the process into six easy steps!
Step 1: Define project objectives and scope
First things first, let’s map out what you want to achieve with your project. Why? This is like setting the destination on your GPS—it gives direction to your project, ensuring everyone is on the same page right from the get-go. 🧭
Just outline the goals, objectives, and scope in this step in detail. Here’s a quick guide:
- Project goals and objectives: Outline what you’re aiming to achieve. Are there specific outcomes or deliverables you need to produce? Make sure these are realistic and align with your organization’s overall strategy
- Project scope: This defines the boundaries of your project. What’ll be included and what won’t? Be specific to avoid scope creep later on
- Document everything: Write everything down in a project charter or similar document. You can use project charter templates for additional help
💡Pro Tip: The Goals feature lets you set goals and timelines with measurable metrics, track real-time progress, and organize everything with Folders. Plus, you get this cool visual to monitor all your deliverables in one place.
Step 2: Identify key project stakeholders and roles
Now, let’s talk about the stakeholders and define their roles. Who plays what part? Knowing this helps create a supportive team where everyone knows their role to bring project success. Stakeholder roles can even include external parties like clients or suppliers. 🔑
You can create individual tasks within a List or Folder for each stakeholder.
💡Pro Tip: Fill in the Custom Fields in your stakeholder registry with the corresponding stakeholder information for each task and use the description field to provide additional details about each, such as background, interests, priority status, and expectations
has several templates to help you define roles and responsibilities to ensure accountability and streamline project execution.
For example, with the RACI Matrix (or Responsibility Assignment Matrix) Template, you get to assign tasks and set the decision-making authority
Step 3: Set project parameters across departments
Once you’ve identified your stakeholders, consider their needs and wants across departments. You can hold meetings with key stakeholders or a governance committee to set parameters on all kinds of project governance components, including:
💡Pro Tip: A reliable project management tool like helps centralize all discussion and documentation emerging from project governance planning. Document notes in Docs, and get Brain to generate action items.
Step 4: Establish communication protocols within project teams
📮Insight: A typical knowledge worker has to connect with 6 people on average to get work done. This means reaching out to 6 core connections on a daily basis to gather essential context, align on priorities, and move projects forward.
The struggle is real—constant follow-ups, version confusion, and visibility black holes erode team productivity. A centralized platform like , with Connected Search and AI Knowledge Manager, tackles this by making context instantly available at your fingertips.
Setting up effective communication channels and protocols involves creating clear, direct lines of communication between all team members, stakeholders, and other key players involved in the project. Smooth sailing, right? ⛵
Let’s do this:
- Develop a communication plan: This should outline who needs to communicate, what information they need to share, when they should share it, and how they should disseminate it
- Use reusable templates: Explore ’s reusable templates to add uniformity to your communication plan and logistics
- Regular updates and meetings: Project status updates and meetings can help ensure that everyone is up-to-date, fostering a sense of belonging and engagement
Here’s how can enable transparent communication for any project governance model:
- Engage with your team instantly using ’s integrated messaging tool, Chat
- Edit documents collaboratively without overlaps and easily share them via URL with Docs
- Visually convey task dependencies and relationships with Whiteboards. Ensure a clear understanding of project dynamics and timelines for effective project governance
- Customize and manage tasks to align team processes with project requirements
- Stay in the loop with customizable notifications. Receive real-time updates when tasks are modified, ensuring you’re informed and can adapt your governance strategy promptly
- Download for your Android or iOS devices to enjoy smooth performance on smartphones and even Apple Watches
Step 5: Implement monitoring and reporting mechanisms
An ideal governance model would include regular check-ins to catch issues early on and keep everything on track. This step requires building a system to serve as the dashboard for your project, making it easy to monitor progress and generate regular reports. It’s like having a pulse on your project’s health.
💡Pro Tip: Dashboards make your life easier and let you create a cool, customized dashboard that shows you everything you need to know. Leverage Custom Cards, charts, graphs, and all the good stuff to assess if your project is cruising or needs a little boost.
Step 6: Continuously evaluate and adjust
Regularly review and adjust your governance framework based on project performance and changes in circumstances. Flexibility is key—it ensures your framework stays relevant and adapts to the evolving needs of the project.
simplifies governance tasks by offering a range of views that align perfectly with the ever-changing nature of projects, ensuring you have the right lens for effective oversight and management.
Here are some of our favorite views and their key benefits:
- Board view for visual project tracking: It allows you to see tasks moving across stages, offering a dynamic visual representation of your project’s progress in a Kanban-style board
- List view for detailed task management: It lets you meticulously manage tasks, making it easy to oversee individual assignments and track progress step by step
- Calendar view for scheduling: It ensures you stay on top of deadlines and time-sensitive tasks. Easily adjust your governance framework based on project timelines and ensure everything stays on schedule
- Gantt Chart view for shifting project timelines: It’s your dynamic timeline tool, helping you visualize dependencies, adjust schedules, identify process improvement opportunities, and adapt your governance approach based on the evolving project landscape
- Timeline view for milestone tracking: It’s like your project’s historical timeline, allowing you to review past achievements, plan for the future, and make informed adjustments to project governance components
- Team view for high-level project planning: Need to see the big picture? This view provides a high-level overview of projects, tasks, and team members. It’s perfect for capacity planning and people governance
Importance of Project Governance in Project Management
While the significance of project governance is evident in complex projects, its importance extends to all projects. It’s absolutely vital in these five areas:
- Risk management: Identifies, assesses, and addresses product or service delivery risks promptly, minimizing disruptions and enhancing project resilience
- Stakeholder engagement: Establishes clear communication channels, fostering engagement and collaboration among project stakeholders
- Accountability and decision-making: Defines the chain of responsibilities, enhancing accountability and streamlining decision-making processes for keeping projects stable in uncertain environments
- Performance measurement: Establishes metrics and KPIs to measure project performance across departments, facilitating continuous improvement and learning
- Compliance and standards adherence: Ensures adherence to organizational policies, industry standards, and regulatory requirements, mitigating legal and reputational risks
Challenges in Effective Project Governance
Lack of clear roles and responsibilities
⛔️ Challenge:
- Ambiguous governance structures lead to decision-making bottlenecks
- Overlapping responsibilities create confusion and delays
⚡️ Solution:
- Clearly define roles in a RACI matrix (Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed)
- Document governance structures and ensure all stakeholders understand their responsibilities
- Conduct governance training for project teams
Poor stakeholder engagement
⛔️ Challenge:
- Key stakeholders (executives, end-users, regulators) are not actively involved
- Conflicting interests among stakeholders slow down decision-making
⚡️ Solution:
- Identify stakeholders early and establish a communication plan based on their influence and interest
- Hold regular governance meetings and stakeholder updates
- Use stakeholder management tools (e.g., RACI charts, Power-Interest Grids)
Ineffective decision-making and escalation processes
⛔️ Challenge:
⚡️ Solution:
- Define a decision-making hierarchy for approvals
- Implement a stage-gate process where governance committees review major project milestones
- Use a risk escalation framework to handle high-impact issues efficiently
Weak risk management
⛔️ Challenge:
- Lack of proactive risk identification and mitigation
- Governance teams fail to anticipate compliance, security, or operational risks
⚡️ Solution:
- Develop a risk management framework that includes risk registers and mitigation plans
- Assign a risk management team to monitor and report on risks
- Use risk-tracking software for visibility into project risks
Scope creep and uncontrolled changes
⛔️ Challenge:
- Frequent, unapproved changes disrupt project timelines and budgets
- Lack of a structured change control process leads to inefficiencies
⚡️ Solution:
- Establish a Change Control Board (CCB) to evaluate and approve scope changes
- Enforce a formal change request process with impact assessments before approval
- Align changes with business objectives and governance policies
Inconsistent performance monitoring and reporting
⛔️ Challenge:
- Lack of real-time visibility into project progress
- Poor governance reporting leads to reactive rather than proactive decision-making
⚡️ Solution:
- Implement key performance indicators (KPIs) to track project performance (e.g., budget variance, schedule adherence, risk exposure)
- Use project dashboards and automated reporting tools for real-time updates
- Hold monthly governance review meetings to discuss project health
Example: A construction project dashboard provides real-time visibility into cost overruns, allowing the governance board to take corrective action early.
Non-compliance with regulations and policies
⛔️ Challenge:
- Failure to comply with industry regulations leads to legal and financial risks
- Governance teams do not proactively monitor compliance requirements
⚡️ Solution:
- Include a Compliance and Audit Team in the governance structure
- Conduct periodic compliance reviews and audits to ensure adherence to laws and standards
- Use compliance tracking tools to ensure projects meet industry requirements
Lack of alignment between projects and business strategy
⛔️ Challenge:
- Projects operate in silos without aligning with broader organizational goals
- Governance committees fail to assess project contributions to business value
⚡️ Solution:
- Use a project portfolio management (PPM) framework to ensure alignment with business strategy
- Conduct business impact assessments before approving projects
- Involve executive sponsors in governance boards to maintain strategic alignment
Helm Successful Projects: Use for Project Governance
Running a project without order is like driving blindfolded. Clear governance roles help projects stay on track, mitigate risks, and align with strategic goals. Each role in project governance contributes to ensuring transparency, accountability, and successful project delivery.
offers cross-collaboration, time management, meeting management, note taking, scheduling, and deployment tools to help you navigate and monitor project execution from A to Z. With ’s array of features, from seamless task handling to top-notch communication tools and issue management, setting up the right project governance model becomes a breeze.
With task management, documentation, and team communication all together in one AI-powered platform, is the project manager’s favorite everything app for work.
So, whether you’re a skeptic or a seasoned believer, is worth a try! It’s free, and you can always count on it to help anchor your projects meticulously. Trust us; you’ll wonder how you managed without it so far. 😁
Everything you need to stay organized and get work done.
