Organisational Governance

Contents:

1. Overview

2. Standards

3. Differences for programmes

4. Governance Roles

   1. Project Roles

   2. Programme Roles

   3. Portfolio Roles

5. Visions, Blueprint and Target Operating Model

6. Integrated Assurance

 

Overview:

Standards:

What is different for programmes?

Roles and Responsibilities:

Project Role/Activities	Programme Manager	Project Executive	Project Manager	Senior User	Head of Portfolio	Business Architect	Business Analyst	Portfolio Office
Design of the governance structure	Approves	Authorises	Actions	Approves	Assures	None	None	Advises
Appointing individuals into roles	Approves	Authorises	Actions	Approves	Assures	None	None	Advises
Managing alignment with the organisation's governance framework	Approves	Authorises	Actions	Approves	Assures	None	None	Advises
Managing compliance with organisation's governance standards	Approves	Authorises	Actions	Approves	Assures	None	None	Advises
Maintain alignment to the organisation's Business Plan	Authorises	Approves	Actions	Assures	Approves	Advises	None	Advises

 

Programme Role/Activities	Senior Responsible Owner	Business Change Manager	Programme Manager	Head of Portfolio	Portfolio Office	Business Architect
Design of the programme governance structure	Authorises	Approves	Actions	Assures	Advises	None
Appointing individuals into roles	Authorises	Approves	Actions	Assures	Advises	None
Development of the programme capability development strategy	Authorises	Approves	Actions	Assures	Advises	None
Managing alignment with the organisation's governance framework	Authorises	Approves	Actions	Assures	Advises	None
Maintain alignment to the organisation's Business Strategy	Authorises	Approves	Actions	Advises	Assures	Advises

 

Role Key:

Accountabilities	"Authorises" - provides the Board endorsement that the activity has been undertaken
	"Approves" - provides business approval of the result of the activity
Responsibilities	"Actions" - responsible for ensuring the activity is undertaken effectively, can be delegated
	"Advises" - provides guidance and help where needed
	"Assurance" - formal independent review

 

Project Roles:

Project Board

The Project Board is accountable to corporate or programme management for the success of the project, and has the authority to direct the project within the remit set by corporate or programme management as documented in the project mandate.

The Project Board is also responsible for the communications between the project management team and stakeholders external to that team (e.g. corporate and programme management).

According to the scale, complexity, importance and risk of the project, Project Board members may delegate some Project Assurance tasks to separate individuals. The Project Board may also delegate decisions regarding changes to a Change Authority. 

Project Executive

The Executive is ultimately responsible for the project, supported by the Senior User and Senior Supplier. The Executive’s role is to ensure that the project is focused throughout its life on achieving its objectives and delivering a product that will achieve the forecast benefits. The Executive has to ensure that the project gives value for money, ensuring a cost-conscious approach to the project, balancing the demands of the business, user and supplier.

Throughout the project, the Executive is responsible for the Business Case.

Senior User

The Senior User(s) is responsible for specifying the needs of those who will use the project’s products, for user liaison with the project management team, and for monitoring that the solution will meet those needs within the constraints of the Business Case in terms of quality, functionality and ease of use.

The role represents the interests of all those who will use the project’s products (including operations and maintenance), those for whom the products will achieve an objective or those who will use the products to deliver benefits. The Senior User role commits user resources and monitors products against requirements. This role may require more than one person to cover all the user interests. For the sake of effectiveness the role should not be split between too many people.

The Senior User(s) specify the benefits and is held to account by demonstrating to corporate or programme management that the forecast benefits that were the basis of project approval are in fact realized. This is likely to involve a commitment beyond the end of the life of the project.

Senior Supplier

The Senior Supplier represents the interests of those designing, developing, facilitating, procuring and implementing the project’s products. This role is accountable for the quality of products delivered by the supplier(s) and is responsible for the technical integrity of the project. If necessary, more than one person may be required to represent the suppliers.

Depending on the particular customer/supplier environment, the customer may also wish to appoint an independent person or group to carry out assurance on the supplier’s products (for example, if the relationship between the customer and supplier is a commercial one).

Project Manager

The Project Manager has the authority to run the project on a day-to-day basis on behalf of the Project Board within the constraints laid down by them.

The Project Manager’s prime responsibility is to ensure that the project produces the required products within the specified tolerances of time, cost, quality, scope, risk and benefits. The Project Manager is also responsible for the project producing a result capable of achieving the benefits defined in the Business Case.

Team Manager

The Team Manager’s prime responsibility is to ensure production of those products defined by the Project Manager to an appropriate quality, in a set timescale and at a cost acceptable to the Project Board. The Team Manager role reports to, and takes direction from, the Project Manager.

 

Programme Roles:

Portfolio Board

The portfolio board represents those senior managers who are responsible for:

• The investment decision
• Defining the direction of the business
• Ensuring the ongoing overall alignment of the programme to the strategic direction of the organization.

Senior responsible owner (SRO)      

The single individual with overall responsibility for ensuring that a project or programme meets its objectives and delivers the projected benefits.

Programme board      

The prime purpose of the programme board will be to drive the programme forward and deliver the outcomes and benefits. Members will provide resource and specific commitment to support the SRO, who is accountable for the successful delivery of the programme.

Business change manager (BCM)  

The role responsible for benefits management, from identification through to realization, and ensuring that the implementation and embedding of the new capabilities are delivered by the projects. Typically allocated to more than one individual and also known as change agent.

Programme manager   

The role responsible for the set-up, management and delivery of a programme; typically allocated to a single individual.

Programme office            

The function providing the information hub and standards custodian for a programme and its delivery objectives; it could provide support for more than one programme.

 

Portfolio Roles:

P3O (Portfolio, Programme and Project Offices) Sponsor

The role responsible for benefits management, from identification through to realization, and ensuring that the implementation and embedding of the new capabilities are delivered by the projects. Typically allocated to more than one individual and also known as change agent.

Head of P3O 

The purpose of the Head of the Portfolio, COE or Hub Programme Office is to establish and run the permanent office.

Head of Programme (or Project) Office            

The purpose of the Head of the Programme or Project Office is to establish and run the temporary programme or project office.

Portfolio Analyst    

The purpose of the Portfolio Analyst role is to facilitate the development and ongoing management of an optimised portfolio, ensuring senior management decisions lead to the fulfilment of strategic objectives through the delivery of programmes and projects (aligned with business as usual objectives).

 

Vision and Blueprint

The vision is developed early in the programme and this is one of the main reasons that the Business Change Manager needs to be in place at the outset.  If the vision is established without your involvement then it may be difficult for you to buy into it.

The best way to describe the role of the vision is that it acts as a "beacon" for the programme, setting out the direction and justification for the change.

The blueprint is the flip side of the vision - whereas the vision is setting out where the programme is going, the blueprint is describing what it will be like when the programme arrives.  It is where the dirty detail of what will be left behind by the programme.

A common cause for programme failure is the lack of a blueprint, which means that the programme doesn't really know where it is going.  A project is launched, then there comes a point when someone realises it doesn't all add up - quite often that someone is in Change Delivery role and by then too money has been spent badly.

For specification led programmes there is a temptation to focus totally on the structure, digging the tunnel or building the technology. This isn't surprising as this is where the money will be spent - when actually the focus needs to be on how it will be managed and where the benefits will come from.

Business transformation programmes would focus on process and supply chain re-design so there is clarity about the end game. There may be some ambiguity but the options need to be identified and tracked.

Socioeconomic programmes would need to define the behaviour and structural changes that will be required, in addition to the infrastructure that will need to be put into place to support it.

The blueprint contains key sets of information upon which the programme design and delivery will be based.

1. The 'As Is' state - how the parts of the organisation that will be changed work at present
2. The 'To Be' state - how the organisation will work when the programme has completed
3. Intermediate state - how the organisation will be working at major control points (Tranches in the MSP® manual) during the lifecycle of the programme.

The blueprint itself can be constructed in a number of ways: using organisation charts; flowcharts process diagrams; soft systems mapping; technical diagrams covering buildings; IT; information flows and so on.

To deliver the strategic objectives, the programme must have as much clarity as possible about the destination because it will use this information to design the projects to deliver the capability.  The calculation of the benefits and risk will be based upon the chosen destination.

 

Integrated Assurance

There are various definitions of what integrated assurance means, but this one from Beyond Boundaries (Kubitscheck, Gower) seems to encapsulate the key points: “Integrated assurance refers to a structured approach for gaining a holistic picture of the principal risks and the level of residual exposure an organisation is required to manage. It involves aligning and optimising the organisation’s assurance over the management of those risks and core business activities in line with the board’s risk appetite and exists to support the board’s risk oversight and risk taking”. Assurance gives confidence to the key stakeholders that plans and objectives are achievable.

Main forms of assurance that are generally available are:

• Tier 1 – The P3M3® maturity model - assesses the organisation’s overarching maturity. This provides insight into the organisations systemic strengths and weaknesses which will ultimately dictate the likelihood of success.
• Tier 2 – Independent reviews - use either internal peer groups or external experience to take an independent view of programme or project. These are normally advisory in so far as they can judge the likelihood of success. As they are independent they are not part of the delivery regime so must provide an independent objective view on the business viability of achieving the outcomes and the process for achieving them.
• Tier 3 – Internal reviews - these reviews are the ‘stop/go’ points, so these are not advisory, they have teeth and bite because this is where the justification for continuing with the investment are made and where accountability sits. These reviews may need more technical expertise to assess the technical viability of the approach and their ability to meet the business requirements. At this level there could be internal health checks rather than formal gate reviews and as such are less likely to have teeth

This article explains how to achieve this integration.