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BSBPMG520 - Manage project governance

Learner Materials and Assessment Tasks

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Table of Contents

About BSBPMG520 Manage project governance .................................................................................. 3

Determine organisational governance policies, procedures and expectations of project stakeholders ................................................................................................................................................................ 6

Activity 1 ............................................................................................................................................... 11

Negotiate clear and discrete project governance roles and responsibilities with relevant authorities .............................................................................................................................................................. 14

Activity 2 ............................................................................................................................................... 21

Establish delegated authorities for project decision-making ............................................................. 22

Activity 3 ............................................................................................................................................... 28

Identify and record differences between the organisation’s functional authorities and project authorities ............................................................................................................................................ 30

Activity 4 ............................................................................................................................................... 41

Adopt, document and communicate unambiguous governance plan to relevant stakeholders ...... 42

Activity 5 ............................................................................................................................................... 45

Distribute and present information on governance planning to project team and other relevant stakeholders and ensure common understanding ............................................................................. 48

Activity 6 ............................................................................................................................................... 51

Include delegated authorities within role and project position descriptions .................................... 52

Activity 7 ............................................................................................................................................... 62

Moderate conflicts regarding roles, responsibilities and authorities to support achievement of project objectives ................................................................................................................................. 64

Activity 8 ............................................................................................................................................... 84

Regularly report to the organisation and project authorities on performance and issues arising from governance arrangements ................................................................................................................... 86

Analyse and review project governance impact on achieving project objectives ............................. 88

Activity 9 ............................................................................................................................................... 90

Document lessons learned and recommendations to assist future projects..................................... 92

Assessment……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..94

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About BSBPMG520 Manage project governance

Application

This unit describes the skills and knowledge required to establish and implement project governance.

It involves identifying, applying, monitoring and reviewing project governance.

It applies to individuals responsible for managing and leading a project in an organisation, business,

or as a consultant.

No licensing, legislative, regulatory or certification requirements apply to this unit at the time of

publication.

Unit Sector

Management and Leadership – Project Management

Elements and Performance Criteria

ELEMENT PERFORMANCE CRITERIA

Elements describe the essential outcomes.

Performance criteria describe the performance needed to demonstrate achievement of the element.

1. Identify project management structure

1.1 Determine organisational governance policies, procedures and expectations of project stakeholders

1.2 Negotiate clear and discrete project governance roles and responsibilities with relevant authorities

1.3 Establish delegated authorities for project decision-making

1.4 Identify and record differences between the organisation’s functional authorities and project authorities

1.5 Adopt, document and communicate unambiguous governance plan to relevant stakeholders

2. Apply project governance policies and procedures

2.1 Distribute and present information on governance planning to project team and other relevant stakeholders and ensure common understanding

2.2 Include delegated authorities within role and project position descriptions

2.3 Moderate conflicts regarding roles, responsibilities and authorities to support achievement of project objectives

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2.4 Regularly report to the organisation and project authorities on performance and issues arising from governance arrangements

3. Monitor and review project governance

3.1 Analyse and review project governance impact on achieving project objectives

3.2 Document lessons learned and recommendations to assist future projects

Foundation Skills

This section describes language, literacy, numeracy and employment skills incorporated in the

performance criteria that are required for competent performance.

Skill Performance Criteria

Description

Reading 1.1, 1.4, 2.3, 3.1 Evaluates and critiques ideas and information from a range of sources and determines how content may be applied according to organisational requirements

Writing 1.4, 1.5, 2.2, 2.4, 3.2

Records data according to organisational requirements Develops plans, reports and recommendations using

vocabulary, structure and conventions appropriate to text

Oral Communication

1.2, 1.5, 2.1, 2.3, 2.4

Participates in a range of verbal exchanges using clear and detailed language to provide relevant information

Uses active listening and questioning to confirm understanding

Navigate the world of work

1.1, 2.4 Recognises and responds to explicit and implicit organisational procedures and protocols

Interact with others

1.1, 1.2, 1.5, 2.1, 2.3, 2.4

Selects and uses appropriate conventions and protocols when communicating with internal and external stakeholders to seek or share information

Collaborates with others to achieve joint outcomes, playing an active role in facilitating effective group interaction and agreement

Manages conflict in workplace through recognising contributing factors and implementing resolution strategies

Get the work done

1.1, 1.3, 1.4, 2.3, 3.1, 3.2

Organises time and effort around priorities and results, focusing beyond immediate tasks to consider work performance of group

Takes responsibility for high-impact decisions in complex situations

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Recognises and addresses complex problems involving multiple variables

Uses experience to reflect on how variables impact decision outcomes, and to gain insights into effective decision-making in different contexts

Unit Mapping Information

Code and title

current version

Code and title

previous version

Comments Equivalence status

BSBPMG520 Manage project governance

BSBPMG520A Manage project governance

Updated to meet Standards for Training Packages

Equivalent unit

Assessment requirements - Modification History

Release Comments

Release 1 This version first released with BSB Business Services Training Package Version 1.0.

Performance Evidence

Evidence of the ability to:

devise and implement a governance plan, with an appropriate project management structure for a project of sufficient complexity to demonstrate the full range of performance requirements

demonstrate effective team leadership within context of project governance monitor and evaluate a project governance structure.

Note: If a specific volume or frequency is not stated, then evidence must be provided at least once.

Knowledge Evidence

To complete the unit requirements safely and effectively, the individual must:

explain escalation and issues management models describe frameworks for authority delegations identify and analyse organisation or industry governance models in context of the project describe project governance plans Explain methods to moderate and solve conflicts in context of project management.

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Determine organisational governance policies, procedures and expectations of

project stakeholders1

Using the word ‘governance’ has become very fashionable.

Unfortunately, it’s also very often misused to describe processes and activities that are actually management, not governance.

While we all have responsibilities which contribute in some manner to good governance, IT governance is defined by the IT Governance Foundation as:

… the responsibility of the board and executive management.

In very basic terms, governance is what governors do, and management is what managers do.

In projects, we need to be careful of not confusing project management and project governance.

Based on material from Dr Raymond Young:

Project governance occurs mainly outside the traditional boundaries of a project. In general terms, it involves the board of an organisation (or their delegates) and the project sponsor (an executive manager) charged with leading the organisation to above-average performance while taking into account risk.

Project governance is about increasing the success rate of projects. It provides a way for directors and senior management to exercise effective oversight and ensure their strategies are implemented and their benefits realised. Project governance sits above and outside of the project management domain.

Project management, on the other hand, is defined in PMBOK Guide as:

… The application of knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to project activities to meet project requirements. In other words, it involves planning, organizing, monitoring and controlling the project activities in order to accomplish the project requirements.

So the difference between project governance and project management is considerable in focus and intent.

It’s important we use these terms in the correct context and for the right reasons.

Governance refers to the set of policies, regulations, functions, processes, procedures and responsibilities that define the establishment, management and control of projects, programmes and portfolios.

1 Source: Framegroup, as at http://www.framegroup.com.au/dont-confuse-project-governance-with-project-management/, as on 30th November, 2016.

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General2

The governance of portfolios, programmes and projects is a necessary part of organisational governance. It gives an organisation the required internal controls, while externally, it reassures stakeholders that the money being spent is justified.

Good governance is increasingly demanded by shareholders, government and regulators. An organisation will often have to comply with external regulations and legislation (e.g. the UK Corporate Governance Code and Sarbanes-Oxley in the USA). The governance of projects, programmes and portfolios should support compliance in these areas.

The benefits of good P3 governance include the optimisation of investment, avoidance of common reasons for failure, and motivation of staff through better communication.

The application of good governance minimises risks arising from change and maximises the benefits. It also assures the continued development of the profession and disciplines of project, programme, and portfolio management

Good governance can be demonstrated through:

the adoption of a disciplined life cycle governance that includes approval gates at which viability is reviewed and approved;

recording and communicating decisions made at approval gates; the acceptance of responsibility by the organisation’s management board for P3 governance; establishing clearly defined roles, responsibilities and performance criteria for governance; developing coherent and supportive relationships between business strategy and P3; procedures that allow a management board to call for an independent scrutiny of projects,

programmes and portfolios; fostering a culture of improvement and frank disclosure of P3 information; giving members of delegated bodies the capability and resources to make appropriate

decisions; ensuring that business cases are supported by information that allows reliable decision-

making; ensuring that stakeholders are engaged at a level that reflects their importance to the

organisation and in a way that fosters trust; the deployment of suitably qualified and experienced people; Ensuring that P3 management adds value.

In the case of a joint venture between two or more organisations, there should be:

formally agreed governance arrangements covering unified decision-making and joint authority for managing contacts with owners, stakeholders and third parties;

jointly agreed business cases that reflect the apportionment of risk and reward; arrangements for governance that take account of existing governance and the technical

strengths and weaknesses of the co-owners;

2 Source: A PM Knowledge, as at http://knowledge.apm.org.uk/bok/governance, as on 30th November, 2016.

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approval gates that give the owners the opportunity to re-evaluate their participation; Agreed procedures for reporting, independent reviews and dispute resolution.

Virtually all topics within the body of knowledge contribute towards good governance. However, the key areas are:

P3 management – the methodologies that deliver projects, programmes and portfolios; knowledge management – the organisation’s ability to capture, develop and improve its

capability to deliver; life cycle – the structure underpinning delivery; maturity – the development of increasing levels of capability; sponsorship – the link between P3, strategic management and business-as-usual; Support – the support environment that provides P3 managers with consistency of practice.

As shown below, governance starts with the host organisation whose board must ensure that projects, programmes and portfolios are properly managed. The standards set by the board will be applied by a portfolio to its component programmes and projects. A programme will be responsible for applying the standards to its component projects.

Figure 1.2: Governance structure

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Project

In a less mature organisation, where such centrally driven governance is not in place, the project team will have to take responsibility for governance themselves.

The project sponsor is responsible for ensuring that adequate governance mechanisms are in place. Periodically checking that governance mechanisms are being applied is referred to as project assurance. This should be performed by someone external to the project management team and who reports to the project sponsor.

Poor Project Governance3

The CEO of a major brand name retailer admitted that, "Although I'm the obvious person to be the sponsor of this project, I really don't know what I'm supposed to do or how to ensure its success."

Contrary to common assumptions that "executives think they know how to govern projects", they don't. One-on-one in private most will admit to being lost and feeling vulnerable.

Many project managers will relate to the frustrations they have felt when the organisation does not cooperate to facilitate the introduction of the project

In the CEO's case above, his project was critical to his business' success, indeed survival, and was progressing with mostly "green" and some "amber" rated items on the monthly steering committee report. Only when one of the business managers assigned to the project to manage training told her manager that she had been prevented by the project manager from rating her task as "red", did the warning bells sound.

But, they should have sounded far, far earlier. The project manager had never managed a project of this size and complexity. The relationship with the systems implementer had deteriorated to the point where they were ready to walk. Contractors were not renewing their contracts. The business had failed to appoint a "business project manager" and so had taken a second best IT project manager from the market who fought continuously with the overall (IT) project manager. The key business skill required to use the new system was scarce and the latest occupant of the position had no retail experience and did not know how they were going to test the system. The new system changed the way the company analysed the market, but no one in the business understood how it worked and whether it would work, and so on.

When questioned, the steering committee knew of the clash of project managers, the dissatisfaction of the systems implementer, the lack of business skills and resources, etc, but had done nothing about it. They did not know and understand their role was to take action to ensure the project's success.

3 Source: CIO, as at http://www.cio.com.au/article/188804/why_projects_fail_part_six_poor_project_governance/, as on 30th November, 2016.

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All research on why major projects fail finds that "lack of senior management support" is one of the top three contributors. The problem is that, despite the many hours spent by senior executives in project governance roles few, very few, actually know what they're doing and what their role is.

Just ask yourself (or your governance team) how many have been trained in their role. You'll rarely find one! So it is no wonder that their performance is poor.

But their role is critical to your project's success. The organisation is set up not to change. Your project is set up to introduce change. You don't run the organisation, the governance team does. You need them to "steer" the project and its associated change into the organisation with minimum disruption.

(This latest trend to rename "steering committees" as "project control boards" misses the point of their existence and mistakenly likens them to corporate boards when they are more akin to corporate executive committees.)

Many a project manager will relate to the frustrations they have felt when the organisation does not cooperate to facilitate the introduction of the project. As project manager you can influence and cajole, but not enforce or direct.

The key role of the governance team is to enable, facilitate, manage and direct (as necessary) the successful implementation of the project's changes into a prepared organisation so as to maximize the benefits available. (A secondary role is to oversee, control and govern the project's operations!)

Too often, the sponsor is noted by his or her absence or lack of time to focus on the project. The steering committee seems to believe that "turning up" to meetings is 90 percent of success and are surprised when they're expected to take action themselves to ensure the project's success.

Project governance is an area more talked about than acted upon. The structures are usually in place, operational but not effective — in over 90 percent of projects.

Project Manager Take Away Firstly, don't assume the governance team knows what it is doing or even why it is there. Convention now says that for projects of a certain size, complexity or cost you need a governance structure. But why? (The original reason why governance structures were set up was to shift the blame for project decisions to the organisation!)

Ask them how many have been trained and educated in a governance role. Ask them to detail their accountabilities and roles. Ask them how they think they will not only ensure the project's success but actively increase its realized value.

If they're struggling to answer these questions, recommend they get some education and coaching, fast. Sometimes they'll allow you to do this training, other times they'll want an independent resource.

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Project Governance is not project management. It applies the principle of Governance to the management of projects by providing oversight of projects at the business or executive level, for example via Business Reviews of Projects. Today, many organisations are developing ‘Project Governance’ models, which look to apply oversight in a highly practical way4.

Such models can also address responsibilities for strategic decision-making for an important project. This can be particularly useful to processes such as change control. When implemented well, it can have a very positive effect on the quality and speed of decision making on significant issues.

What should it achieve?

So, what should effective Governance achieve? One important example would be: no project that is clearly exhibiting commonly accepted characteristics of failure should be allowed to proceed to their next phase without clear resolution of those issues. In many organisations today, this would be an important step up in their competence at managing internal corporate or business projects.

Business Assurance of Projects

It is also argued, that since Corporate Governance now places responsibilities on Boards to monitor Enterprise performance, there is a further responsibility at the corporate level to control and demonstrate:

assurance that projects are being managed well and in accordance the requirements of Governance across the Enterprise;

assurance that portfolio management is optimising the return from corporate resource and maintaining alignment with strategic objectives;

assurance that strategic projects are not exhibiting (well publicised) conditions of failure.

Relationships with other Processes

The following table demonstrates a number of key relationships between Project Governance and other Project Management Processes:

Achievement of Strategic Objectives: The Management of Strategic Projects – Benefits Realisation.

Accountabilities: Project Sponsorship & Organisation. Performance Management and Controls: using metrics such as earned value. Effective use of Corporate Resource: via the use of Portfolio Management. Enterprise Risk Management: the effective management of project risk.

4 Source: PMIS Consulting, as at http://www.pmis-consulting.com/project-governance-overview/, as on 30th November, 2016.

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Activity 1

What is the relationship between project management and project governance?

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Four principles of effective project governance:

Ensure a single point of accountability for the success of the project. This ensures clarity of leadership and timeliness of decision making. In Scrum it is the Product Owner who is empowered to make project decisions. This accountability is not shared by a committee, as the product owner is the single point of accountability. Without this clear authority, the validity of decisions could be questioned if this authority has not been established. In my project’s case, this authority was unclear and therefore consensus and approval was sought from a range of stakeholders and many levels of committees. The result was delay s in decision making and a blowout of timeframes to deliver.

Ensure the project governance is service delivery focused. Service delivery ownership determines project ownership and this places the business (and customer) at the heart of project delivery rather than the supplier/vendor. In Scrum it is the Product Owner who owns the business case and budget and therefore retains the key project decision making responsibility. By keeping the focus on service delivery and outcomes this will ensure that the Team is producing products in ranked order that are of most value to the business and/or its customers.

Separate stakeholder management and project decision making. Ensuring separation of stakeholder management and project decision-making activities helps to prevent decision-making forums from becoming clogged with stakeholders all wanting to “put their fingerprints all over” the project . On my project, the PMO justified the exhaustive stakeholder group reviews as a way of mitigating risk that the stakeholders would not be accepting of the final decision if they had not been consulted. Whilst many people may be aware of a project and have input into shaping it, this doesn’t mean that everyone needs to participate in each critical project decision. Stakeholders do need to have the opportunity to raise issues and concerns however these can be done separately in a stakeholder forum rather than in the project decision making forum.

Separate project and organisational governance. This is the big one for me. Project governance, the process by which project decisions are made and issues resolved, is very different to how decisions are made and issues resolved from an organisational perspective. Separation of project governance and organisational governance structures will reduce the number of project decision layers, since the project decision path will not follow the organisational line of command and control. On my project, the organisation structure was used as the project governance structure which meant that decisions were reviewed and approved at each level of the organisation. Consensus needed to be reached at each level before any decision could be made at the top for the final approval. Navigating this structure was complex and time consuming. Sprint reviews became the trigger to start the approval process rather than giving the sign-off and acceptance of definition of done that the team required in order to move onto the next Sprint. In addition to slowing down the decision making process, we found that the quality of the decision was also impacted as some of the stakeholders involved didn’t have the prerequisite knowledge and understanding of the project and its issues.

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Negotiate clear and discrete project governance roles and responsibilities with

relevant authorities5

Project Governance Framework

The project governance framework may involve one or more Project Boards, Steering Committees, Project Control Groups or similar with representatives drawn from the project and corporate stakeholders.

Depending upon the nature of the work, the project governance framework may be applied at portfolio, program and project levels and covers all contracting modes.

All project governance frameworks are delivered by processes, people, tools and supporting collateral.

There is no common approach to establishing the governance team structure or the team members but the level of governance to be applied is typically driven by cost.

The Governance arrangements are sometimes documented separately and sometimes embedded into the Project Management Plan.

The "project governance plan" is the primary process deliverable produced as part of the governance phase of the project management process. Because of it's intended purpose, the governance plan is certainly a high priority deliverable, essential to optimized project execution. In order to ensure that every plan is fully relevant and realistic (considering project needs and capabilities), it's important to follow simple, but standardized production steps. Read on for more.

The primary objective of the documented governance plan is to specify and approve actionable procedures as needed to manage and administer a given project. An effective governance plan is prepared using both procedural and documentation templates, providing consistent steps and tools for production and processing. The project "governance plan" serves four (4) key goals within the project management process:

To promote consistency, productivity and shared stakeholder expectations. To produce quality deliverables using pre-defined practices. To empower stakeholders with flexible practices, designed to produce quality deliverables. To establish baselines for procedural reviews and governance "performance" evaluations.

5 Source: Caravel Group, as at http://www.caravelgroup.com.au/caravel/Our-Services/Project-Governance.asp, as on 30th November, 2016; IT Toolkit, as at https://www.ittoolkit.com/how-to-it/projects/project-governance-plans.html, as on 30th November, 2016.

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The project governance framework below6 is based on Prince2. Accountability for the project sits with the Product Owner who chairs the Project Board. The decision making path is clear for the Team who are responsible for delivery of the project.

The Product Owner ranks products in the backlog and signs-off on the definition of done according to the acceptance criteria. Stakeholders and subject matter experts are briefed and informed as part of the advisory and feedback paths. This structure recognises that the decision making path is via the Project Board.

Implementing an effective project governance framework is challenging and the hardest part is breaking old habits of defaulting to the organisational structure as the project structure.

I have found Scrum within a Prince2 framework to be a very effective in facilitating decision making and applying the key principles of project governance.

This structure allows the Scrum Master and the Team to make the majority of project decisions on a day to day basis and only those decisions such as endorsing the Business Case or approving the project Plan, will need to be made at the Project Board level.

Governance is the Key to Management Success

Project governance is made up of the practices, steps, strategies and decisions used to direct project execution. While projects are executed at a functional level (to produce expected business or technical outcomes), they are also executed at a "process" level.

6 Source: Xen Ex Machina, as at https://zenexmachina.wordpress.com/2013/06/25/principles-of-effective-project-governance/, as on 30th November, 2016.

https://zenexmachina.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/project-governance.jpg

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To achieve both elements, governance activities must incorporate at least (10) key "procedural" elements: issues management, change management, resource management, communication management, status reporting, meeting management, risk management, quality control, procurement and project closure.

Project governance is a “people and purpose” driven process. Projects are governed by people, with delegated authority and responsibility to carry out specific steps and make related decisions in accordance with business needs and established standards. As part of "cost effective" management practices, governance scope must be adapted and optimized to suit the needs of individual projects.

Project size and scope determines governance size and scope. Smaller, less complex projects will likely

require “less” governance than other projects of a larger scope and greater complexity. These

variations are the driving force behind the concept of project fast tracking. As part of the fast track

management process, governance practices must be crafted and applied in a manner reflective of

project needs and surrounding constraints.

It’s the Deliverables that Make Governance Happen

The "Governance Plan" is the primary deliverable of the governance process, providing a roadmap for how a given project is to be managed. These plans should be standardized to save time, but also readily adaptable to the needs of the project at hand. Once the plan is produced, it becomes the authoritative “go-to” guide for running the subject project. As such, "plan" content must answer the following questions:

What are the key governance goals and objectives for the current project? What are the expected governance results and anticipated benefits? Who are the governance stakeholders and what are their respective roles and responsibilities? What are the established governance procedures to be followed and used (considering all the

various governance practices listed above)? Why is each procedure necessary and how will each contribute to project success? How will the governance plan be maintained and updated as the project proceeds?

In order to meet these requirements, governance plan deliverables must be produced using standardized formats - to save time and provide an appropriate framework for "plan" production (while also allowing sufficient flexibility to meet varying project needs). As such, standardized plan formats should be made an integral part of any and all adopted project management practices.

Tips and Techniques for Governance Plan Production

1. Be Nimble and Flexible. Governance plan formats must be sufficiently flexible to account for varying project sizes (i.e. smaller, less complex projects may not require the same extensive governance planning as large, complex projects.)

2. Ensure Clean and Concise Consistency. Governance plan formats must provide a clean, concise layout to ensure that all key governance variables are presented, including resource management, project communication, project administration, procurement, financial management, and related matters.

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3. Explain and Justify. Governance plan contents must specify planned procedures and provide explanatory justifications for each in terms of inclusions and exclusions.

4. Accept and Approve. Governance plan formats must provide the means to obtain and record related approvals, ensuring appropriate stakeholder acceptance and buy-in.

Stick to "Define, Align and Approve" for Actionable Results

The “governance planning” deliverable should be produced according to the "define-align-approve" management technique, designed to ensure actionable content, alignment with needs and capabilities and tangible stakeholder approval. Furthermore, the governance plan workflow should be executed in standardized phases, designed to ensure that all key planning, preparation, production and processing needs are addressed.

Poor project governance costs Australia over $35 billion: report7

Infrastructure Australia says poor project governance in major projects in Australia costs the country billions and urgently needs addressing.

The problems with project governance are set out in Infrastructure Australia’s report ‘A review of project governance effectiveness in Australia’, with data derived from a survey conducted by Caravel Group and the Melbourne Business School.

Infrastructure Australia hopes the damning report will force businesses to address issues of poor project governance.

The report highlights the vast problems project governance teams are facing, such as lack of time, resources and skills, as well as the cost that poor project governance has on the economy.

Paul Myers, Caravel Group director and chief executive officer, told LeadingCompany research challenges traditional reasoning for business failure.

“Blame for failure has traditionally been laid at the door of the project management team. However, it appears that most of the fault actually lies with the project governance team,” he says.

7 Source: Smart Company, as at https://zenexmachina.wordpress.com/2013/06/25/principles-of-effective-project-governance/, as on 30th November, 2016.

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Myers says while drastically improving project governance groups will take time, recommendations in the report provide both long- and short-term goals as “a way forward”, for struggling project governance groups.

The report states urgent action to improve Australian project governance is required and warns a failure to implement such changes would have severe consequences on the economy.

Estimates in the report suggest poor project governance costs companies and taxpayers over $35 billion per annum.

Michael Deegan, national infrastructure coordinator for Infrastructure Australia, told LeadingCompany conflicted and inexperienced project governance is an extremely pertinent issue that is often overlooked.

“There is absolutely nowhere near enough attention being paid to this issue, companies have their heads in the sand,” he says.

Deegan says Infrastructure Australia’s interest is to ensure taxpayers’ money is not poorly managed and misspent.

He says one of the major problems project governance teams face is that positions are given to highly senior people who lack the time and resources to carry out the role in the necessary way.

When asked if project governance is given priority, Deegan says “absolutely not”.

“Senator Chris Back has been asking us about this issue for quite a period, I asked Caravel Group to develop a report on the issue, we have published it because we think that this is a serious issue that both governments and the private sector need to be aware of,” he says.

Deegan urges Australians to read the report, saying companies need to be held accountable and people need to be aware of inefficiencies in these projects.

Deegan says the first and foremost step towards change in project governance is creating awareness that the issue exists.

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LeadingCompany contacted Major Projects Victoria and the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy who failed to respond prior to publication.

Infrastructure NSW declined to comment.

Project governance roles8 are tools of the governance mechanism to ensure compliance with the implementation standards. The mechanism cannot be effective if there are no relationships between groups involved in the project. Roles of the project governance framework can be presented as a chart. Below in the picture, there are listed three project governance roles:

Executive Sponsor(s) Steering Committee Project Manager/Director

8 Source: My Management Guide, as at http://www.mymanagementguide.com/project-governance-roles-and-responsibilities/, as on 30th November, 2016.

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Executive Sponsor(s)

Typically, in any project there is a need for one or more executive sponsors who ensure that the implementation process is carried out appropriately and every individual involved in the process makes a necessary contribution to the overall project delivery and completion.

The executive sponsor takes the primary responsibility for achieving the project’s planned outcomes and objectives identified at the Project Setup phase. This person directs the process and makes oversight in order to ensure the project’s successful delivery.

During the implementation process, the executive sponsor has an assigned project governance role that entails the following responsibilities:

Maintain project performance and provide support for the project team. Align team leaders and project managers around the change and manage resistance. Stay engaged with the team and provide awareness with employees of the project drivers. Keep track of project funds and make decision on financing.

Steering Committee

Typically, complex and large project initiatives focus on more than one segments, and multiple segments are usually linked to different (but dependent) results and outcomes within the context of the overall project implementation objectives and direction.

For successful implementation, such initiatives require a flexible project governance role that provides each of the segments with separate authorities. All segment representatives will deal with each other to make collaborative decisions, adjust the overall project direction and manage resources. All this can be done by establishing a steering committee.

A typical steering committee consists of:

Executive sponsor(s), who deal with each other to reach consensus on issues, changes and adjustments.

Senior managers, who act as those segment representative responsible for some aspect of the defined outcomes.

Analysts, who monitor project progress, view feedback, assess potential impact within each specific segment and make suggestions on improvements.

Project Manager/Director

A project manager or director is a person who takes the project governance role for setting and managing project work and monitoring project progress. Managers and directors must ensure that their projects sustain a connection to the implementation methodology and the overall objectives.

A classic project manager is responsible for the following tasks:

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Plan, organise, coordinate and control the project effort. Communicate with and direct team leaders for achieving the defined outcomes aligned with

the project objectives. In smaller project initiatives, the project manager directly works with the team.

Ensure on-time delivery of specific products. Set up and manage tasks and activities within the project plan framework.

Activity 2

Provide a generic list of responsibilities, especially related to governance, for a Project Manager.

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Activity 2

Establish delegated authorities for project decision-making9

A manager alone cannot perform all the tasks assigned to him. In order to meet the targets, the manager should delegate authority. Delegation of Authority means division of authority and powers downwards to the subordinate. Delegation is about entrusting someone else to do parts of your job. Delegation of authority can be defined as subdivision and sub-allocation of powers to the subordinates in order to achieve effective results.

9 Source: Management Study Guide, as at http://www.managementstudyguide.com/delegation_of_authority.htm, as on 1st December, 2016; Bright Hub Project Management, as at http://www.brighthubpm.com/project-planning/25506-methods-of-valuable-and-effective-decision-making-in-project-management/#imgn_0, as on 1st November, 2016.

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Elements of Delegation

1. Authority - in context of a business organisation, authority can be defined as the power and right of a person to use and allocate the resources efficiently, to take decisions and to give orders so as to achieve the organisational objectives. Authority must be well- defined. All people who have the authority should know what is the scope of their authority is and they shouldn’t misutilize it. Authority is the right to give commands, orders and get the things done. The top level management has greatest authority.

Authority always flows from top to bottom. It explains how a superior gets work done from his subordinate by clearly explaining what is expected of him and how he should go about it. Authority should be accompanied with an equal amount of responsibility. Delegating the authority to someone else doesn’t imply escaping from accountability. Accountability still rest with the person having the utmost authority.

2. Responsibility - is the duty of the person to complete the task assigned to him. A person who is given the responsibility should ensure that he accomplishes the tasks assigned to him. If the tasks for which he was held responsible are not completed, then he should not give explanations or excuses. Responsibility without adequate authority leads to discontent and dissatisfaction among the person. Responsibility flows from bottom to top. The middle level and lower level management holds more responsibility. The person held responsible for a job is answerable for it. If he performs the tasks assigned as expected, he is bound for praises. While if he doesn’t accomplish tasks assigned as expected, then also he is answerable for that.

3. Accountability - means giving explanations for any variance in the actual performance from the expectations set. Accountability cannot be delegated. For example, if ’A’ is given a task with sufficient authority, and ’A’ delegates this task to B and asks him to ensure that task is done well, responsibility rest with ’B’, but accountability still rest with ’A’. The top level management is most accountable. Being accountable means being innovative as the person will think beyond his scope of job. Accountability, in short, means being answerable for the end result. Accountability can’t be escaped. It arises from responsibility.

For achieving delegation, a manager has to work in a system and has to perform following steps: -

1. Assignment of tasks and duties 2. Granting of authority 3. Creating responsibility and accountability

Delegation of authority is the base of superior-subordinate relationship, it involves following steps:-

1. Assignment of Duties - The delegator first tries to define the task and duties to the subordinate. He also has to define the result expected from the subordinates. Clarity of duty as well as result expected has to be the first step in delegation.

2. Granting of authority - Subdivision of authority takes place when a superior divides and shares his authority with the subordinate. It is for this reason, every subordinate should be given enough independence to carry the task given to him by his superiors. The managers at all levels delegate authority and power which is attached to their job positions. The subdivision of powers is very important to get effective results.

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3. Creating Responsibility and Accountability - The delegation process does not end once powers are granted to the subordinates. They at the same time have to be obligatory towards the duties assigned to them. Responsibility is said to be the factor or obligation of an individual to carry out his duties in best of his ability as per the directions of superior. Responsibility is very important. Therefore, it is that which gives effectiveness to authority. At the same time, responsibility is absolute and cannot be shifted. Accountability, on the others hand, is the obligation of the individual to carry out his duties as per the standards of performance. Therefore, it is said that authority is delegated, responsibility is created and accountability is imposed. Accountability arises out of responsibility and responsibility arises out of authority. Therefore, it becomes important that with every authority position an equal and opposite responsibility should be attached.

Therefore every manager,i.e.,the delegator has to follow a system to finish up the delegation process. Equally important is the delegatee’s role which means his responsibility and accountability is attached with the authority over to here.

Relationship between Authority and Responsibility

Authority is the legal right of person or superior to command his subordinates while accountability is the obligation of individual to carry out his duties as per standards of performance Authority flows from the superiors to subordinates,in which orders and instructions are given to subordinates to complete the task. It is only through authority, a manager exercises control. In a way through exercising the control the superior is demanding accountability from subordinates. If the marketing manager directs the sales supervisor for 50 units of sale to be undertaken in a month. If the above standards are not accomplished, it is the marketing manager who will be accountable to the chief executive officer. Therefore, we can say that authority flows from top to bottom and responsibility flows from bottom to top. Accountability is a result of responsibility and responsibility is result of authority. Therefore, for every authority an equal accountability is attached.

Differences between Authority and Responsibility

Authority Responsibility

It is the legal right of a person or a superior to command his subordinates.

It is the obligation of subordinate to perform the work assigned to him.

Authority is attached to the position of a superior in concern.

Responsibility arises out of superior-subordinate relationship in which subordinate agrees to carry out duty given to him.

Authority can be delegated by a superior to a subordinate

Responsibility cannot be shifted and is absolute

It flows from top to bottom. It flows from bottom to top.

Decision-making is critical to project management. In a complex project that will mean delegating decisions. This article discusses critical factors in effective delegation and decision-making, decision criteria, decision methods and decision roles.

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The goal of effective project management is to coordinate the actions of a group so that the intended outcomes of the project are achieved effectively and efficiently. For projects of any complexity, this will entail a host of decisions, most of which will be delegated by the overall project manager to others on the team.

Delegation is often poorly understood, and is confused on the one hand with abdication and on the other with pseudo-delegation. Abdication occurs when a manager hands off decision-making authority without also building in accountability for the decision. Pseudo-delegation is when there is a pretence of handing off decision-making, but the person to whom the decision is apparently delegated cannot actually make the decision – the authority to make the decision stays with the delegator. Both of these false delegations cost the project in efficiency and effectiveness.

True delegation means handing off the decision-making power to a person who is willing and able to be accountable for the decision and who can coordinate the decision for which they are accountable with the project as a whole. True delegation requires that the delegator and the delegatee be aligned on three areas:

Clear decision CRITERIA Clear decision METHOD Clear decision ROLES

Criteria Criteria are a basis for comparing various decision options. By providing clear criteria and obtaining the delegatee’s commitment to those criteria, the delegator ensures that the decisions that are made will meet his or her requirements and the needs of the project as a whole. The foundation of decision making is a simple, actionable statement of the overarching strategy for the project, for example “we are committed to being better, not bigger" or “we are out to be the lowest cost provider in our industry."

Once the strategy is clear, decision criteria fall into three main areas:

Principles – what rules are we committed to following in executing on the strategy? For example, maintaining the integrity of the brand or excellent customer service

Measures – what are the key metrics that will tell us if this decision succeeded? Constituents – whose interests must be considered in making the decision? For example,

customers, investors, suppliers. Once these criteria are known and agreed-upon, the delegate can compare how different decision options (including the option of not making a decision) will impact on each of the areas identified, confident that he or she and the delegator are on the same page.

Methods In their book, The Communication Catalyst, Mickey Connolly and Richard Rianoshek describe four types of decision-making methods:

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Authoritative Democratic Consensus Contributive

Each of these yields different outcomes on two critical measures: engagement or buy-in on the part of those who will carry out the decision and speed with which the decision is made. Different types of projects will require different balance points between these two. For example, a project with a “burning platform" will emphasize speed over buy-in. Said another way, a project manager on a “burning platform" project will be willing to settle for compliance over engagement as long as the project is done quickly.

On the other hand, the project manager on a complex, mission-critical project may be willing to tolerate a longer time-to-decision to obtain a higher degree of engagement. The four decision-making methods listed above (and described below) have roughly the following relationship on these two measures:

The Four Decision Making Methods Authoritative: Decisions are dictated by leaders. Even with a good decision, execution is not always rapid nor acceptance always high. Authoritative decision-making creates dependence on authority and works best where the consequences of non-compliance are high (e.g., emergencies, prisons, military).

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Democratic: The right people participate in the decision through discussion, input, and fact-gathering and then vote, with the majority making the decision. Democratic decision-making is often used to reach a quick decision, but it increases the chance of non-supporting factions during execution. Works best with groups that don’t work together over a long period of time. Consensus: The right people participate in and make the decision together. Decision-making requires everyone’s agreement or support. The weakness of consensus decision-making is that one person can stall the process by withholding their agreement and consensus may break down over time. Works best in more stable environments where speed to decision is not a big requirement. Contributive: The right people participate in the decision-making process in clear roles. The decision owner makes the final decision after listening, learning, and taking all interests and views into account. The roles here are critical and will be described in Part Three of this article.

Decision Making Roles For each of the four methods, there are distinct Decision Roles:

In Authoritative decision-making, there is only one role, the Decider, who makes the decision on his or her own, consultation optional.

In Democratic decision-making, those participating are Deliberators and Voters, in an agreed-upon protocol for how decisions are made (majority, plurality, etc.).

In Consensus decision-making, everyone is a Deliberator, and decisions must be made unanimously.

There are many forms of what we are calling Contributive Decision-Making, e.g. RACI. In this article, I am following Connolly and Rianoshek’s classification called DEARS). The roles in Contributive Decision-Making are Decider, Executors, Advisors, Recipients, and Sponsor. We will discuss these in detail in the next section. As we discussed in Part Two, each of these decision-making methods has different outcomes for engagement (execution) and time-to-decision. Work with thousands of project teams across a number of industries around the world has led me to the conclusion that for complex projects in a fast-changing environment, Contributive Decision-Making is the best approach, maximizing the wisdom of the team while at the same time not sacrificing speed of decision. A number of writers, notably James Surowiecki in his book The Wisdom of Crowds, have noted that, under the right conditions, any group will reliably come up with smarter answers than its smartest members or a group of experts would have come up with on their own. Contributive Decision-Making combines a single accountability for making the decision with maximum opportunity for learning on the decision maker’s part and input from all involved.

Roles in Contributive Decision-Making As we've noted, every complex project will involve delegation, and for delegation to work there need to be clear roles. Here are the roles in Contributive Decision-Making. Decider The Decider (and there is only one Decider for each decision step) has the ultimate authority to decide and who is in the best position to assess the system value at stake for customers, stakeholders and employees. The Decider is accountable for learning from every issue raised by the Executors and Advisors and making a decision that maximizes system value. The Decider is also accountable for the consequences of the decision

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Executors The Executor is the person or persons accountable for executing the decision. Executors have the duty of giving input about feasibility, consequences and value of the decision. Executors must be skilled at raising issues with the Decider in a way that clearly serves the business purpose at stake.

Advisors Advisors are subject matter experts who have important perspectives granted by their specific skills and experience. Advisors have the duty to raise issues related to their areas of expertise; they, too, must raise issues that clearly serve the business purpose. Frequently an Advisor can help design the decision team to ensure the right participation relative to business risk.

Recipients The Recipients are those who needs only to be informed of the decision to be able to act accordingly. Recipients play no role in the decision-making process. Sponsor The Sponsor has a dual accountability: To connect with larger system issues that inform the decision and to escalate the path for resolving stuck issues

Clearly delineating these roles ensures that the right people are involved in the decision-making process (and that no one who does not need to be involved is involved), that everyone who needs to be informed of the decision is informed and that different parts of the project are coordinated, and that organisational support and resources are able to be accessed.

Activity 3

What is the role of the decider in collaborative decision making? Who could the decider be (provide examples)?

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Activity 3

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Identify and record differences between the organisation’s functional

authorities and project authorities

Functional Organisations versus Projectized Organisations10

Your approach to project management may vary based on the type of organisation that you are working within. Organisations may be structured in a traditional or functional manner or a projectized structure.

Depending on the organisational structure, your project management authority and availability of resources will vary.

Functional Organisations

A functional organisation is a traditional structure where the organisation is divided based on the functions performed by that particular group of people, such as Human Resources, Information Technology, Marketing, Service, etc.

The resource assigned as the “project manager” is usually a team member within a functional area and does not have the title of project manager. The functional manager will control the budget and the “project manager” will act more as a coordinator or expediter of project activities rather than having true project management responsibilities.

Resources for the project will need to be negotiated for with the functional managers and the accessibility of those resources will be based on business conditions. Any type of escalations of issues would need to be made to the functional manager.

Because the “project manager” has little to no authority, the project can take longer to complete than in other organisational structures and there is generally no recognized project management methodology or best practices. However, the depth of subject matter knowledge is much greater because the resources that will contribute to the project reside within the functional areas.

Projectized Organisation

In projectized organisations, the majority of the organisation’s resources are involved in project work and the project work is generally completed for the benefit of an external customer. The project manager has increased independence and authority and is a full-time member of a project organisation and has project resources available to them, such as project coordinators, project schedulers, business analysts, and plan administrators.

10 Source: Passionate Project Management, as at https://www.passionatepm.com/blog/functional-organizations-versus-projectized-organizations-pmp-concept-10, as on 1st December, 2016.

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The project manager has authority and control of the budget and any escalation of issues would be made to the sponsor and potentially the PMO leadership. Given that the project resources report into the project manager versus the functional area, there may be a decrease in the subject matter expertise of the team members.

Example

Arizona Construction Company is a projectized organisation: the majority of their resources are allocated against delivering projects for external customers, although they do have a few back-office workers who process the timecards, issue payroll, etc. Each foreman is a project manager and has authority over the project resources assigned to him or her.

AAJ Grocery is a functional organisation: the company’s resources are structured by the function that they perform: front-end, bookkeeping, stock rotation, grocery, personal care and pharmacy, dairy, meat, etc. There is not a defined “project” organisation nor are there defined “project managers”.

The organisational structure will dictate the level of power, authority, and resources available to a project manager. A traditional functional organisation gives the project manager very little, if any, authority, whereas a projectized organisation will provide the project manager with significant authority.

Functional Weak Matrix Balanced Matrix

Strong Matrix

Projectized

PM's Authority None Limited Low to Moderate

Moderate to High

High to Complete

Availability of Resources

Very Low Limited Low to Moderate

Moderate to High

High to Almost Total

Project Budget Control

Functional Manager

Functional Manager

Mixed Project Manager

Project Manager

PM's Role Part-Time Part-Time Full-Time Full-Time Full-Time

PM Administrative Staff

None Part-Time Part-Time Full-Time Full-Time

The classic functional organisation11, shown in Figure 2-1, is a hierarchy where each employee has one clear superior. Staff members are grouped by specialty, such as production, marketing, engineering, and accounting at the top level. Specialties may be further subdivided into focused functional units, such as mechanical and electrical engineering. Each department in a functional organisation will do its project work independently of other departments.

11 Source: Quora, as at https://www.quora.com/In-Project-Management-what-is-the-difference-between-Functional-and-Matrix-organizations-1, as on 1st December, 2016.

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Matrix organisations, as shown in Figures 2-2 through 2-4, reflect a blend of functional and projectized characteristics. Matrix organisations can be classified as weak, balanced, or strong depending on the relative level of power and influence between functional and project managers.

Weak matrix organisations maintain many of the characteristics of a functional organisation, and the role of the project manager is more of a coordinator or expediter. A project expediter works as staff assistant and communications coordinator. The expediter cannot personally make or enforce decisions. Project coordinators have power to make some decisions, have some authority, and report to a higher-level manager.

Strong matrix organisations have many of the characteristics of the projectized organisation, and have full-time project managers with considerable authority and full-time project administrative staff.

While the balanced matrix organisation recognizes the need for a project manager, it does not provide the project manager with the full authority over the project and project funding. Table 2-1 provides additional details of the various matrix organisational structures.

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Project Management Structures vs. Functional Management12

Few organisational issues generate as much passion and debate as the role, powers and authority of programme or project manager’s vis-à–vis the functional hierarchy. The intensity of the debate is particularly strong in companies that maintain a strong functional hierarchy. The debate is also intense in companies with a low tolerance for ambiguity. Project management exists in many forms in different companies and the level of empowerment of the project manager varies greatly from company to company.

A framework for classifying project management structures helps to understand the range of options for management. Several classifications focus on the degree of power and authority given to the project manager. They highlight the wide spectrum that exists between two extreme organisational modes: a truly functional project without a project manager and an autonomous project team with a fully empowered project leader on the other hand.

Decide which project structure suits a particular project best

Each project management model requires a different management approach and the rules under which the game is played are also different.

12 Source: OTC, as at http://www.otctoolkits.com/project-management-structures-vs-functional-management-2/, as on 1st December, 2016.

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Different project structures can exist within the same company for different projects depending on the needs of the project as long as the role players understand which model is being used and all agree on the rules pertaining to that specific management model. The different project management models or approaches can be classified as:

Series of functional teams; Functional project teams; Matrix project teams; Dedicated project teams, and; Autonomous project teams.

The different project management types along with decision parameters for determining the most suitable approach are shown in Figure 1. As shown in the Figure 1, increased complexity, design constraints, novelty, and sensitivity to cost and lead time would indicate moving to a more dedicated project team environment.

Figure 1: Project management types and decision parameters

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Project Type 1: Series of Functional Teams

In this classical approach the project is divided into functional segments which are assigned to individual functional managers. They retain full control over their specific part of the project and redistribute the tasks amongst their staff while ensuring coordination with other functions particularly the one to which they will pass the baton. There is no project manager assigned to the project.

These projects are executed by completing specified and agreed deliverables and then handing the package to the next function. This approach can be used for very simple projects or for complex one-of-a- kind projects driven by R&D or engineering excellence, rather than time or marketing constraints. The series of functional teams model often co-exists with other more advanced project management models and is used for smaller jobs while management reverts to more autonomous teams for more complex projects.

This approach reminds one of a relay race (passing the baton) and exhibits the following traits:

Quality of handover and smooth handover is critical; It is highly dependent on harmony between the functional heads; The party that completed the work up to a specific point must “sell” the completed package

to the receiving party who can accept or reject it; For proper transfer and acceptance of responsibilities the party who has to execute the next

steps must develop the deliverables for their phase of the project and obtain approval for the execution of that phase;

The responsibility of executing a specific phase of the project rests totally with the function executing the work;

Quality and integration is dictated by the quality of cooperation between function heads, and; The loyalty of the team members to their functions far outweighs their loyalty to the project.

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The effectiveness of this model depends entirely on the interface quality within the company. It is appropriate for projects not under severe time pressure as execution is by necessity sequential.

Project Type 2: Functional Project Teams

This approach, a functional project team with some coordination, is the weakest possible form of project management. It features a project manager, often without much executive power acting as project coordinator (administrator, time keeper and secretary). The project coordinator is responsible for smoothing project transfer across functions and keeping everyone on target with respect to schedule and budget. In practice, he or she depends totally on the goodwill of the participating functional

Managers who keep ultimate control over the content and staffing of the project. Like the project type 1, of which it is an extension, it works best on simple or routine projects or, alternatively, on very large one- of-a-kind projects for which technological or engineering excellence is the determining factor (single discipline projects) and time is less of an issue.

The functional project team approach exhibits the following traits:

The project manager act as a facilitator to ensure smooth transfer between functions; The project manager coordinates and feeds back schedule and budget information to the

functional managers for them to act upon; The functional manager plans and executes the work within his or her function, and; The loyalty of the team members to their functions outweighs their loyalty to the project.

The effectiveness of this model depends on the goodwill of participating functional managers. It is appropriate for large long-cycle projects requiring-engineering excellence where time is less of an issue.

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Project Type 3: Matrix Project Teams

This matrix approach is probably amongst the most widely practiced forms of project management around. It is also called the balanced matrix model alluding to the equilibrium which is supposed to prevail between the two dimensions of the matrix. The project leader is expected to define what needs to be accomplished. This includes overall plans and schedules, integrating the contributions of different disciplines, and monitoring progress according to plan. Functional managers, on the other hand, are supposed to define how to accomplish the tasks, to assign resources and to execute segments of the project according to budgets and schedules.

Although used widely, this model is often equally resented by project managers and functional managers. Its ambiguity as to who is really in charge underscores the classical problems of most matrix organisations. The project leader who is theoretically accountable for success has often no real authority regarding the content of the work or the resources provided by the functional departments. The latter remain free to re-deploy their troops as they see fit. This model works best with projects without major time constraints, where innovation is not an issue and cost constraints are not extreme.

The matrix project team approach exhibits the following traits:

Project leader’s level of authority is dependent on delegation by function heads; The project manager defines what needs to be done, plans and schedules work and develops

budgets; The functional managers define how and by whom work under their jurisdiction is

accomplished; Special attention needs to be paid to clarify roles and responsibilities of project manager vs. functional managers, and;

“Equal” degree of loyalty to project and function by team members.

The effectiveness of this model depends on the level of power delegated by Functional Heads to the Project Manager and the cooperation between the functions.

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Project Type 4: Dedicated Project Teams

The approach of dedicated project teams provides the right balance between the project leader, to whom the team dedicated to the project reports, and the functional organisation. The combination has become the model of contemporary programme management. It is also often called the “project matrix” to highlight the fact that, even though the relationships of the team with the project manager and the functional hierarchy are of a matrix type, the power balance is tilted in favour of the project.

In this model, the project manager is fully responsible for the completion of the project. He or she contracts the resources necessary to do the work with the different functional managers concerned and maintains direct authority over both resources and work flow. In that sense, the project manager has the ultimate power to decide about anything related to the project and to make trade-offs in the best interest of the project and the company. The functional manager assigns resources, provides services, gives advisory expertise and ensures that adequate skills are available within the functional organisation. This approach is particularly suited for the development of complex products requiring a high degree of functional integration, to meet pressures on lead times and for projects that require an innovative approach or are under extreme time and cost constraints.

The dedicated project team approach exhibits the following traits:

Project manager is ultimately responsible for overall performance of the project; The project manager defines what needs to be done, plans and schedules work, determines

resource needs, develops budgets and controls resources allocated to him; Functional managers must ensure capable resources are allocated to the project; Functional managers only provides advisory expertise to project team or additional services,

if requested, and; Loyalty to the project or programme outweighs loyalty to the function.

The effectiveness of this model depends on the support from the functional managers to remove obstacles so the team can get on with the work.

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Project Type 5: Autonomous Project Teams

The approach of autonomous project teams is sometimes adopted to correct the perceived deficiencies of the dedicated project team model. Management, frustrated by the ineffective handling of previous projects or hard pressed by external events to move fast, decides to set up a powerful “project boss”. This form of extreme project management is sometimes called “skunk works” or “commando team”.

In this model, the project team becomes a self-contained organisational entity with fully dedicated members, physically and organisationally separate from their normal functional units. The project director reports directly to top management, bypassing normal reporting lines. He or she is likely to have full authority, sometimes even carte-blanche over all product and project decisions and is fully accountable for the project’s success. In practice, this approach may be warranted for exceptional projects falling completely outside the current scope of the company or it may be used on a pilot basis to break completely new ground, for example to meet impossible deadlines set by management. In other words, it should remain the exception rather than the rule. It cannot be extended to all projects because of the organisational disruptions it is bound to create.

Such teams may work effectively while the project goes on; however, extra speed and efficiency are often gained to the detriment of smooth functional relations and continuity. The re-entry of such teams into the functional organisation is generally difficult, more so when many toes have been stepped upon during the project.

The autonomous project exhibits the following traits:

Project director is totally responsible for overall performance of the project; Project team is removed from the normal organisational structure; Only suitable for exceptional projects requiring, for example, radical innovation; Unstable and conflict prone, and; Difficult to assimilate members back into the company.

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The effectiveness of this model depends on the level of dedication by the project team and Project Manager and their ultimate acceptance of very stretched goals and the willingness to challenge accepted norms.

We’ve discussed five project management approaches above, as well as decision parameters for selecting the most applicable approach for your specific circumstances. Depending on the project, one or more of the approaches will deliver a successful outcome. However, for optimum project performance it is essential to select and implement the correct project management structure.

Activity 4

How does project coordination take place in a strong matrix organisation?

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Activity 4

Adopt, document and communicate unambiguous governance plan to

relevant stakeholders13

A governance plan is essentially a set of roles, responsibilities and processes that an organisation

would put in to place to guide development and usage of technologies used within the enterprise. A

Governance Plan typically includes your objectives, administration and maintenance, policies,

support, stakeholder teams and other elements.

1313 Source: My Project Management Expert, as at http://www.my-project-management-expert.com/writing-a-project-initiation-document-governance.html, as on 1st December, 2016; Linky Van Der Merwe, as at https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/project-governance-framework-linky-van-der-merwe-pmp, as on 1st December, 2016..

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The organisation ensures commitment to the project in the governance and planning phase.

Appointment of Project Manager, Project Working Group, Project Team, Project Sponsor and Steering

Committee ensure delivery of the project. The completion of the planning phase ensures delivery of

the project within the constraints of time, budget, quality and human resources.

As part of the PID (Project Initiation Document) Approval process you will need to state what the

reporting structure is both within the Project Team, but also to enable Project Progress as well as

Issues to be reported upwards.

This is usually broken down into: This section involves essentially detailing what you have assumed on

the project, what you require to already be in place in order for the project to be delivered, and finally

what issues there might be which will cause either budget or timeframe problems. These are listed as:

Governance Organisation Roles and Responsibilities

Governance

This section details how Risks and Issues are escalated as well as Reporting progress upwards. You

could create something along the following which let’s be honest is a bit OTT or simply copy one done

in another PID approved within your Organisation. After all why reinvent the wheel when there are

far more important things within the PID you should spend your time on getting write!

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Organisation

In theory this section is required so that it is clear what the reporting lines are within a Project Team.

However in reality I think this section is here for Business Stakeholders to be reassured that not only

are all the various workstreams involved but also that named resources have been assigned to work

on the project. Often in companies which have a large pipeline of projects to deliver getting and

keeping resources on your project is a major problem.

To complete this section you will unfortunately need to complete an Organisation Chart for this section. This is usually easiest done in Visio, so if you don't know how to use it you should learn fast! Luckily it's fairly straightforward to use as long as you don't try to do anything too complicated.

An example of how this could look is below:

If required you can also add some fluff such as the following which lets be honest, contains some good buzzwords but commits you as the Project Manager to very little:

The project will be implemented by a cross-functional team with experienced representatives from multiple departments including Development, Interactive, Test, Networking, Infrastructure and Business Systems, Security and Marketing. The involvement of the different areas will vary as the project progresses, with some areas having lighter involvement in the earlier phases and being more closely involved in the run up to launch (e.g. Operations and Support who will have leads appointed nearer launch).

Please note that the reporting lines reflect reporting lines for the project only and not standard business reporting lines.

Roles and Responsibilities

This section merely states the role and responsibilities for the key personnel within the Project. It

should be clear from this what the escalation lines are as well as who should be delivering what. This

can be laid out as below:

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Writing a Project Initiation Document - Organisation and Governance Tips

Make sure you get the reporting lines and names / titles of individuals correct before the PID goes out

for Informal Review. Especially those who are more senior than yourself. You would be amazed how

many PIDs end up going through an additional round of Informal Reviews simply because these were

incorrect.

Where to document Project Governance

The project governance approach should be described in the project management plan, which is the planning document compiled by the PM to describe how a project will be executed, monitored and controlled.

The PM is responsible and accountable for setting realistic and achievable boundaries for the project and to accomplish the project within the approved baselines.

Use project governance to ensure that Project Portfolios are aligned to corporate goals. It will then form the basis to see that projects are delivered efficiently and that the interests of project staff and other stakeholders are aligned.

Governance will also ensure that the Project Board/Steering Committee and major stakeholders are provided with timely, relevant, and accurate information.

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Activity 5

Provide a strategy to communicate your governance plan to the project stakeholders.

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Activity 5

Examples of Project Governance Framework elements

Here are examples of elements included in a project governance framework:

Guidelines for aligning project governance and organisational strategy A process to identify, escalate, resolve issues that arise during the project Relationship among project teams, organisational groups and external stakeholders Project organisational chart that identifies project roles Processes and procedures for communication of information Project decision-making processes Project lifecycle approach including the transfer to Operations and readiness of business Process for stage gate or phase reviews - Authorise to proceed. Approval of

process/documents. Process for review and approval for changes to budget, scope, quality, schedule which are

beyond the authority of the PM

Operate within the Project Governance Framework

Remember that Project Governance is an oversight function that is applicable through-out the life cycle of a project.

Project governance determines the effectiveness of the project manager, because governance gives a framework for making project decisions, defines roles, responsibilities and accountabilities for the success of the project.

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It’s important that you as project managers, understand project governance, that you document it on your projects, that you apply it as a consistent method of controlling your projects, and by doing this you will hugely improve your chances of successful project delivery.

Every successful project you complete will bring you closer to being recognised as a competent, efficient and professional project manager who can be followed as a leader and entrusted with strategic projects and programmes.

Distribute and present information on governance planning to project team

and other relevant stakeholders and ensure common understanding14

Remember that Project Governance is an oversight function that is applicable through-out the life cycle of a project.

Project governance determines the effectiveness of the project manager, because governance gives a framework for making project decisions, defines roles, responsibilities and accountabilities for the success of the project.

It’s important that you as project managers, understand project governance, that you document it on your projects, that you apply it as a consistent method of controlling your projects, and by doing this you will hugely improve your chances of successful project delivery.

Every successful project you complete will bring you closer to being recognised as a competent, efficient and professional project manager who can be followed as a leader and entrusted with strategic projects and programmes.

Distribution of project information is one of the most vital things in project management. The project manager should take responsibility of distributing project related information so that the rest of the organisation is aware of all project related updates, progress etc. To ensure that the right people such as project stakeholders, project board members, and project sponsors get the right amount of information at all times, a great deal of planning is required. Therefore, a careful selection of the right tools and communication methods is necessary to ensure this. This article will take you through the various means and methods of communicating project related information, their importance and challenges.

Means of Communication

Means of communication depends on a few factors such as the type of information to be communicated, the audience, and the timeline within which response is needed. Based on these factors, communication can be broadly categorized into the following forms.

14 Source: Invensis Learning, as at https://www.invensislearning.com/blog/best-ways-to-distribute-project-information/, as on 1st December, 2016.

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1. Oral communication:

Oral communication includes phone calls, meetings, one to one discussions, presentations, conference etc.

2. Written communication:

Written communication includes letters, memorandums, faxes, files, and business letters.

3. Multimedia:

Multimedia based communications include telephonic and video conferences.

4. Network:

This includes communications through online messaging mediums such as email, instant messaging, forums etc.

The method you choose to communicate depends a lot on the kind of project you are dealing with, its size, accessibility with stakeholders and project board members, and scale and size of the project. Let us take a look at the three main types of communication and how they are leveraged for distributing project information.

5. Face to Face Communication:

Face to face communication can either be a meeting or a one-to-one conversation. In either case, the key benefit of face to face communication is that it allows you to gauge the reaction of who you are conversing with, while also ensuring that your audience is well aware of what you are talking about.

However, face to face meetings can be expensive in case project members are spread across the world. Nevertheless, it is important that you have at least one face to face meeting during the course of a project. Preferably the meeting should be at the project kick off time, and towards the end or closure. In case you are planning a meeting in which members from across the world are expected to participate, ensure that you inform them well in advance so that members can plan their work accordingly. It is also vital that you discuss the agenda before the actual meeting takes place, so that members are well aware of the topics of discussions and come prepared if needed.

6. Hard Copy Communications:

Hard copy communications are in the form of meeting memorandums, reports, and letters. Since they come with both visuals and texts, it is not necessary that they have to be delivered during a meeting or right after it. You can review it a few times and add visual elements so that readers find it interesting to read. These also serve as reference materials for future use. However, one disadvantage of hard copy communications is storage. Here comes the importance of the electronic mode or online communications.

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7. Online Communications:

Your stakeholders or seniors may want a copy of the minutes of a meeting, project kick off documents, client reports and so on. In such cases it is best to keep an email copy of all documents related to a project so that they can be produced in case of disagreement between you, clients and stakeholders. Although direct communications during face to face, telephonic and video conferences create a better impact, word of mouth cannot be taken as the last resort in case of business matters.

In case you need to have a discussion with all team members within a short time, electronic communications serve as the best way out. You can opt for options like Microsoft Lynch conference calls, Skype conference, or similar tools.

How to Distribute Information during Meetings

Information flows in various ways. However, communication lines are not dependent on the number of people present in a meeting. For example, if there are 10 people present for a meeting, it does not necessarily mean that there will be 10 lines of communication. The lines of communication can be decided by using the formula: n(n-1)/2 (n = number of people present for the meeting). Going by this formula, if there are 5 people present, 10 lines of communication will be needed.

It is important that you reinforce your messages clearly during a meeting. Follow a few simple steps to accomplish this.

Set the agenda:

Set the agenda and distribute it among team members prior to the start of the meeting so that everyone is aware of it.

Appoint Someone:

It is crucial that before the start of a meeting, you appoint someone to take minutes of the meeting. Minutes are very important documents for referring to project updates and status reports at any time during the course of the project.

Distribute Project Reports:

Project reports, if any, should be distributed among all team members so that everyone is on the same page regarding project status.

Barriers for Distributing Project Information:

Meetings are one of the crucial modes through which project information can be distributed. Meetings can be face to face, through video conference, telephone conference, and Skype call. Whichever is the chosen method to conduct the meeting, information needs to be distributed to everyone. However, sometimes that agenda is not met and information is not distributed adequately. Listed below are the few common barriers to information being distributed equally?

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Late Start of Meetings:

Late start of meetings can affect work significantly. Firstly, if few members come on time and keep waiting for those who aren’t able to make it on time, it takes away a lot from the agenda. Those who wait are most likely to be irritated with the waste of time. Furthermore, they may have other appointments scheduled after the meeting.

Dominating Speakers:

Sometimes meetings are dominated by few members and the rest do not get a chance to speak. It is important to give a chance to speak to those who usually do not as they may have important inputs to provide which may otherwise be overlooked.

Deviating from Agenda:

Once you set the agenda for a meeting stand by it. Deviating from the agenda will disrupt the meeting’s focus.

It is very important to be methodical and plan the distribution of information in a manner that is accessible to everyone. This article throws lights on the various forms of communication of information and also teaches the methods suitable for specific situations.

Activity 6

Research using sharepoint to record and disseminate the governance plan. Provide a summary to outline how sharepoint can be used effectively to do so.

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Activity 6

Include delegated authorities within role and project position descriptions

Project Roles and Responsibilities15

There are many groups of people involved in both the project and project management lifecycles.

The Project Team is the group responsible for planning and executing the project. It consists of a

Project Manager and a variable number of Project Team members, who are brought in to deliver their

tasks according to the project schedule.

15 Source: Cornell, as at http://www2.cit.cornell.edu/computer/robohelp/cpmm/Project_Roles_and_Responsibilities.htm, as on 1st December, 2016.

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The Project Manager is the person responsible for ensuring that the Project Team completes the project. The Project Manager develops the Project Plan with the team and manages the team’s performance of project tasks. It is also the responsibility of the Project Manager to secure acceptance and approval of deliverables from the Project Sponsor and Stakeholders. The Project Manager is responsible for communication, including status reporting, risk management, escalation of issues that cannot be resolved in the team, and, in general, making sure the project is delivered in budget, on schedule, and within scope.

The Project Team Members are responsible for executing tasks and producing deliverables as outlined in the Project Plan and directed by the Project Manager, at whatever level of effort or participation has been defined for them.

On larger projects, some Project Team members may serve as Team Leads, providing task and technical leadership, and sometimes maintaining a portion of the project plan.

The Executive Sponsor is a manager with demonstrable interest in the outcome of the project who is

ultimately responsible for securing spending authority and resources for the project. Ideally, the

Executive Sponsor should be the highest-ranking manager possible, in proportion to the project size

and scope. The Executive Sponsor acts as a vocal and visible champion, legitimizes the project’s goals

and objectives, keeps abreast of major project activities, and is the ultimate decision-maker for the

project. The Executive Sponsor provides support for the Project Sponsor and/or Project Director and

Project Manager and has final approval of all scope changes, and signs off on approvals to proceed to

each succeeding project phase. The Executive Sponsor may elect to delegate some of the above

responsibilities to the Project Sponsor and/or Project Director.

The Project Sponsor and/or Project Director is a manager with demonstrable interest in the outcome

of the project who is responsible for securing spending authority and resources for the project. The

Project Sponsor acts as a vocal and visible champion, legitimizes the project’s goals and objectives,

keeps abreast of major project activities, and is a decision-maker for the project. The Project Sponsor

will participate in and/or lead project initiation; the development of the Project Charter. He or she will

participate in project planning (high level) and the development of the Project Initiation Plan. The

Project Sponsor provides support for the Project Manager; assists with major issues, problems, and

policy conflicts; removes obstacles; is active in planning the scope; approves scope changes; signs off

on major deliverables; and signs off on approvals to proceed to each succeeding project phase. The

Project Sponsor generally chairs the steering committee on large projects. The Project Sponsor may

elect to delegate any of the above responsibilities to other personnel either on or outside the Project

Team

The Steering Committee generally includes management representatives from the key organisations

involved in the project oversight and control, and any other key stakeholder groups that have special

interest in the outcome of the project. The Steering committee acts individually and collectively as a

vocal and visible project champion throughout their representative organisations; generally they

approve project deliverables, help resolve issues and policy decisions, approve scope changes, and

provide direction and guidance to the project.

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Depending on how the project is organised, the steering committee can be involved in providing

resources, assist in securing funding, act as liaisons to executive groups and sponsors, and fill other

roles as defined by the project.

Customers comprise the business units that identified the need for the product or service the project

will develop. Customers can be at all levels of an organisation. Since it is frequently not feasible for all

the Customers to be directly involved in the project, the following roles are identified:

Customer Representatives are members of the Customer community who are identified and made available to the project for their subject matter expertise. Their responsibility is to accurately represent their business units’ needs to the Project Team, and to validate the deliverables that describe the product or service that the project will produce. Customer Representatives are also expected to bring information about the project back to the Customer community. Towards the end of the project, Customer Representatives will test the product or service the project is developing, using and evaluating it while providing feedback to the Project Team.

Customer Decision-Makers are those members of the Customer community who have been designated to make project decisions on behalf of major business units that will use, or will be affected by, the product or service the project will deliver. Customer Decision-Makers are responsible for achieving consensus of their business unit on project issues and outputs, and communicating it to the Project Manager. They attend project meetings as requested by the Project Manager, review and approve process deliverables, and provide subject matter expertise to the Project Team. On some projects they may also serve as Customer Representatives or be part of the Steering Committee.

Stakeholders are all those groups, units, individuals, or organisations, internal or external to our

organisation, which are impacted by, or can impact, the outcomes of the project. This includes the

Project Team, Sponsors, Steering Committee, Customers, and Customer co-workers who will be

affected by the change in Customer work practices due to the new product or service; Customer

managers affected by modified workflows or logistics; Customer correspondents affected by the

quantity or quality of newly available information; and other similarly affected groups.

Key Stakeholders are a subset of Stakeholders who, if their support were to be withdrawn, would

cause the project to fail.

Vendors are contracted to provide additional products or services the project will require and are

another member of the Project Team.

Delegating authority skills, tasks and the process of effective delegation16

Delegation is one of the most important management skills. These logical rules and techniques will help you to delegate well (and will help you to help your manager when you are being delegated a task or new responsibility - delegation is a two-way process!). Good delegation saves you time,

16 Source: Business Balls, as at http://www.businessballs.com/delegation.htm, as on 1st December, 2016.

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develops you people, grooms a successor, and motivates. Poor delegation will cause you frustration, demotivates and confuses the other person, and fails to achieve the task or purpose itself. So it's a management skill that's worth improving. Here are the simple steps to follow if you want to get delegation right, with different levels of delegation freedom that you can offer.

This delegation skills guide deals with general delegation principles and process, which is applicable to individuals and teams, or to specially formed groups of people for individual projects (including 'virtual teams').

Delegation is a very helpful aid for succession planning, personal development - and seeking and encouraging promotion. It's how we grow in the job - delegation enables us to gain experience to take on higher responsibilities.

Delegation is vital for effective leadership.

Effective delegation is crucial for management and leadership succession. For the successor, and for the manager or leader too: the main task of a manager in a growing thriving organisation is ultimately to develop a successor. When this happens everyone can move on to higher things. When it fails to happen the succession and progression becomes dependent on bringing in new people from outside.

Delegation can be used to develop your people people and yourself - delegation is not just a management technique for freeing up the boss's time. Of course there is a right way to do it. These delegation tips and techniques are useful for bosses - and for anyone seeking or being given delegated responsibilities.

As a giver of delegated tasks you must ensure delegation happens properly. Just as significantly, as the recipient of delegated tasks you have the opportunity to 'manage upwards' and suggest improvements to the delegation process and understanding - especially if your boss could use the help.

Managing the way you receive and agree to do delegated tasks is one of the central skills of 'managing upwards'. Therefore while this page is essentially written from the manager's standpoint, the principles are just as useful for people being managed.

Delegation and SMART, or SMARTER

A simple delegation rule is the SMART acronym, or better still, SMARTER. It's a quick checklist for proper delegation. Delegated tasks must be:

Specific Measurable Agreed Realistic Timebound Ethical

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Recorded

Traditional interpretations of the SMARTER acronym use 'Exciting' or 'Enjoyable', however, although a high level of motivation often results when a person achieves and is given recognition for a particular delegated task, which in itself can be exciting and enjoyable, in truth, let's be honest, it is not always possible to ensure that all delegated work is truly 'exciting' or 'enjoyable' for the recipient. More importantly, the 'Ethical' aspect is fundamental to everything that we do, assuming you subscribe to such philosophy. There are other variations of meaning.

The steps of successful delegation

1 Define the task

Confirm in your own mind that the task is suitable to be delegated. Does it meet the criteria for delegating?

2 Select the individual or team

What are your reasons for delegating to this person or team? What are they going to get out of it? What are you going to get out of it?

3 Assess ability and training needs

Is the other person or team of people capable of doing the task? Do they understand what needs to be done? If not, you can't delegate.

4 Explain the reasons

You must explain why the job or responsibility is being delegated. And why to that person or people? What is its importance and relevance? Where does it fit in the overall scheme of things?

5 State required results

What must be achieved? Clarify understanding by getting feedback from the other person. How will the task be measured? Make sure they know how you intend to decide that the job is being successfully done.

6 Consider resources required

Discuss and agree what is required to get the job done. Consider people, location, premises, equipment, money, materials, other related activities and services.

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7 Agree deadlines

When must the job be finished? Or if an ongoing duty, when are the review dates? When are the reports due? And if the task is complex and has parts or stages, what are the priorities?

At this point you may need to confirm understanding with the other person of the previous points, getting ideas and interpretation. As well as showing you that the job can be done, this helps to reinforce commitment.

Methods of checking and controlling must be agreed with the other person. Failing to agree this in advance will cause this monitoring to seem like interference or lack of trust.

8 Support and communicate

Think about who else needs to know what's going on, and inform them. Involve the other person in considering this so they can see beyond the issue at hand. Do not leave the person to inform your own peers of their new responsibility. Warn the person about any awkward matters of politics or protocol. Inform your own boss if the task is important, and of sufficient profile.

9 Feedback on results

It is essential to let the person know how they are doing, and whether they have achieved their aims. If not, you must review with them why things did not go to plan, and deal with the problems. You must absorb the consequences of failure, and pass on the credit for success.

Levels of delegation

Delegation isn't just a matter of telling someone else what to do. There is a wide range of varying freedom that you can confer on the other person. The more experienced and reliable the other person is, then the more freedom you can give. The more critical the task then the more cautious you need to be about extending a lot of freedom, especially if your job or reputation depends on getting a good result. Take care to choose the most appropriate style for each situation. For each example the statements are simplified for clarity; in reality you would choose a less abrupt style of language, depending on the person and the relationship. At the very least, a "Please" and "Thank-you" would be included in the requests.

It's important also to ask the other person what level of authority they feel comfortable being given. Why guess? When you ask, you can find out for sure and agree this with the other person. Some people are confident; others less so. It's your responsibility to agree with them what level is most appropriate, so that the job is done effectively and with minimal unnecessary involvement from you. Involving the other person in agreeing the level of delegated freedom for any particular responsibility is an essential part of the 'contract' that you make with them.

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These levels of delegation are not an exhaustive list. There are many more shades of grey between these black-and-white examples. Take time to discuss and adapt the agreements and 'contracts' that you make with people regarding delegated tasks, responsibility and freedom according to the situation.

Be creative in choosing levels of delegated responsibility, and always check with the other person that they are comfortable with your chosen level. People are generally capable of doing far more than you imagine.

The rate and extent of responsibility and freedom delegated to people is a fundamental driver of organisational growth and effectiveness, the growth and well-being of your people, and of your own development and advancement.

Levels of delegation - examples

These examples of different delegation levels progressively offer, encourage and enable more delegated freedom. Level 1 is the lowest level of delegated freedom (basically none). Level 10 is the highest level typically (and rarely) found in organisations.

1 "Wait to be told." or "Do exactly what I say." or "Follow these instructions precisely."

This is instruction. There is no delegated freedom at all.

2 "Look into this and tell me the situation. I'll decide."

This is asking for investigation and analysis but no recommendation. The person delegating retains responsibility for assessing options prior to making the decision.

3 "Look into this and tell me the situation. We'll decide together."

This is has a subtle important difference to the above. This level of delegation encourages and enables the analysis and decision to be a shared process, which can be very helpful in coaching and development.

4 "Tell me the situation and what help you need from me in assessing and handling it. Then we'll decide."

This is opens the possibility of greater freedom for analysis and decision-making, subject to both people agreeing this is appropriate. Again, this level is helpful in growing and defining coaching and development relationships.

5 "Give me your analysis of the situation (reasons, options, pros and cons) and recommendation. I'll let you know whether you can go ahead."

Asks for analysis and recommendation, but you will check the thinking before deciding.

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6 "Decide and let me know your decision, and wait for my go-ahead before proceeding."

The other person is trusted to assess the situation and options and is probably competent enough to decide and implement too, but for reasons of task importance, or competence, or perhaps externally changing factors, the boss prefers to keep control of timing. This level of delegation can be frustrating for people if used too often or for too long, and in any event the reason for keeping people waiting, after they've inevitably invested time and effort, needs to be explained.

7 "Decide and let me know your decision, then go ahead unless I say not to."

Now the other person begins to control the action. The subtle increase in responsibility saves time. The default is now positive rather than negative.

This is a very liberating change in delegated freedom, and incidentally one that can also be used very effectively when seeking responsibility from above or elsewhere in an organisation, especially one which is strangled by indecision and bureaucracy. For example, "Here is my analysis and recommendation; I will proceed unless you tell me otherwise by (date)."

8 "Decide and take action - let me know what you did (and what happened)."

This delegation level, as with each increase up the scale, saves even more time. This level of delegation also enables a degree of follow-up by the manager as to the effectiveness of the delegated responsibility, which is necessary when people are being managed from a greater distance, or more 'hands-off'. The level also allows and invites positive feedback by the manager, which is helpful in coaching and development of course.

9 "Decide and take action. You need not check back with me."

The most freedom that you can give to another person when you still need to retain responsibility for the activity. A high level of confidence is necessary, and you would normally assess the quality of the activity after the event according to overall results, potentially weeks or months later. Feedback and review remain helpful and important, although the relationship is more likely one of mentoring, rather than coaching per se.

10 "Decide where action needs to be taken and manage the situation accordingly. It's your area of responsibility now."

The most freedom that you can give to the other person, and not generally used without formal change of a person's job role. It's the delegation of a strategic responsibility. This gives the other person responsibility for defining what changes projects, tasks, analysis and decisions are necessary for the management of a particular area of responsibility, as well as the task or project or change itself, and how the initiative or change is to be implemented and measured, etc. This amounts to delegating part of your job - not just a task or project. You'd use this utmost level of delegation (for example) when developing a successor, or as part of an intentional and agreed plan to devolve some of your job accountability in a formal sense.

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In practical application, every project is a unique, mini-enterprise, to be newly staffed according to the needs and deliverables of the moment. To realize required results, every project “staff member” must be provided with an actionable “job” description, also known as a “project job profile” (PJP). This is the means by which responsibilities are defined and performance is measured17.

What is a Project Job Description/Profile?

In an operational context, job descriptions/profiles lay out the primary responsibilities for a given position, to set expectations for how specific jobs will be performing, and providing a measureable basis for performance reviews.

Job descriptions are both planning tools for establishing staffing requirements and also provide actionable performance guidelines for each respective staff member. The use is very similar in the project context, making allowances for the unique nature of project-specific job descriptions (considering the temporary nature of every project initiative). Above all, the PJP is a standardized means to streamline the project “staffing” process.

Even with all the similarities, the PJP still differs from the traditional job description due to the varied approaches to project staffing, as the following list demonstrates:

Projects can be staffed through a dedicated project management organisation (i.e. the project management office).

Projects can be staffed "temporarily" by individuals with other (non-project) job titles, assigned to projects on an as-needed basis. These individuals may continue to fill their operational roles while they work on projects.

Projects are staffed by outside contractors and/or consultants (in whole or part). Projects are staffed by some combination of the three variables listed above.

Using the PJP to Staff and Manage "On Time" Projects

Considering these organisational variations, project staffing strategies (and related PJPs) will likely follow these two (2) primary strategies:

1. To staff permanent project management positions. (i.e. profiles with an organisational perspective). Organisational profiles are synonymous with the traditional job description because they represent permanent functional positions.

2. To specify titles, roles and responsibilities for "as-needed" project work, or to retain contractors/consultants (profiles with a project perspective). In this case, project job titles are unique to the project at hand, and do not replace official, functional job titles. (Example: The "Help Desk" manager is assigned to work as a Project Manager for a software training project).

Getting Started: Inputs to the PJP

17 Source: IT Toolkit, as at https://www.ittoolkit.com/how-to-it/projects/project-job-descriptions.html, as on 1st December, 2016.

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Every project manager faces three (3) key questions when staffing a given project:

What types of skills and tasks are required to complete this project? How will roles and responsibilities be allocated to complete the project on time, as needed,

and on budget? How will the project team be organised into discrete "job functions" and reporting

relationships?

PJP Deliverables: Content Standards

The key to PJP preparation is brevity and precision. Effective PJP's will be designed to clearly communicate duties, responsibilities and expectations, touching on most, if not all, of the following elements:

Job Title: To provide a descriptive name for the project position.

Tip: Project team members should be given titles that reflect primary project function i.e. Documentation Specialist, Risk Assessment Specialist, Purchasing Coordinator. In addition, job titles should also be designed to reflect experience, i.e. Senior Project Manager vs. Project Manager.

Purpose: To provide a brief overview of the position "objectives" and primary role within the current project or project organisation.

Duties and Responsibilities: To list the tasks, activities, decisions and related work obligations associated with this job position. Note: If the position holds supervisory authority, certain "duties and responsibilities" will likely be delegated to others, but accountability remains.

Primary Deliverables: To list the key, measurable deliverables (results, outcomes) for which this position will be responsible and accountable.

Skills: To list the technical, management and professional skills needed to perform the requisite duties and tasks.

Examples: (a) Project Skills: Project definition, planning, documentation, scheduling, budgeting, risk planning, issues tracking and progress measurement. (b) Supervisory Skills: Management, delegation, motivation, performance evaluation. (c) Technical Skills: Programming, design, testing, installation, technical support, problem resolution. (d) Soft Skills: leadership, communication, negotiation, time management, conflict resolution, creativity.

Level of Authority: To define the authority held by this position. Within the project environment, authority can exist at multiple levels:

A. Supervisory Authority (over other staff members). B. Decision Making Authority (relating to strategies, tactics, issues, priorities and problem

resolutions). C. Financial Authority (expenditures, purchases, contracts, budgets). D. Approval Authority (to accept requirements, specifications and related deliverables).

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E. Level of Autonomy: The degree to which the position is self-directed. F. Reporting Relationships: The relative positioning of the "job" within the organisational

hierarchy of the project. Who does this position report to, and how many direct, and indirect reports will this position manage?

Logistics: To define physical and logistical work parameters including location, travel requirements, assignment length, and expected time commitment (full or part time assignment).

Creating Catalogs of Project Job Profiles

To save time and improve productivity, standardized PJP’s can be created and stored as a “catalog” that can be utilized as projects are proposed and selected. The first step in preparing a catalog of standardized "project job profiles" is to look back at completed projects to find commonalities:

What types of "jobs" have been typically required in past projects? How have previous (and successful) project teams been organised? How were roles and responsibilities defined and allocated? What "lessons learned" can be applied to create pro-forma job profiles for future projects?

Once a PJP "catalog" is created, it can be used as a tool to identify resource requirements, organise the project team, and assign roles and responsibilities. In order to ensure that the PJP catalog can be used effectively, all incorporated profiles should be written using a standardized format, relying on the “action word" technique whenever possible to describe duties, responsibilities and expectations.

Activity 7

Create a generic position description for a Project Manager. Ensure the roles and responsibilities section(s) adequately cover governance responsibilities reflective of the position.

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Activity 7

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Activity 7

Moderate conflicts regarding roles, responsibilities and authorities to support

achievement of project objectives18

Managing conflict on project teams usually involves establishing policies and procedures for handling disputes. The project manager typically creates the project plan to define the requirements of the project. She solicits input from team members to validate expectations, cost estimates, timing and requirements. During the planning, monitoring, controlling and closing processes, experienced project managers expect inevitable conflict. This may even contribute to productive team discussions. Still, when conflict distracts team members from achieving project milestones, the project manager needs to step in and rectify the situation.

18 Source: Free Management eBooks, as at http://www.free-management-ebooks.com/faqpm/team-06.htm, as on 6th November, 2016; Chron, as at http://smallbusiness.chron.com/project-management-team-conflict-resolution-11681.html, as on 1st December, 2016.

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Establishing Requirements to Avoid Conflict Later

When the project requirements are vague, producing a successful product or service becomes more difficult. An effective project manager takes the time to complete a stakeholder analysis that identifies the business need for the project. After she develops a project charter and establishes a preliminary project scope, she validates her assumptions with the sponsors and stakeholders. Doing this at the beginning of the project tends to prevent major conflicts later on. Changing requirements at the beginning of a project costs less than waiting until later in the project life cycle when the impact increases.

Minimizing Conflict Among Team Members

When roles and responsibilities are unclear, conflict often arises. To prevent two project team members from bickering over who should complete a project task, effective project managers generate comprehensive work breakdown structures that define project tasks and assigned resources. By referring to the approved project plan in status meetings, the project manager keeps the team focused on achieving the project goals, not arguing over who should complete work.

Setting Standards for Conduct

Managing conflict improperly causes business partnerships, team relationships and interpersonal connections to break down. Ignoring conflict just prolongs the problem. By recognizing the roles people play, the project manager can help project teams resolve problems quickly and get back to project work. Effective project managers discourage inappropriate actions, such as the use of aggressive behaviour against other team members, behaving like a victim to receive attention and unwillingly accepting responsibility for problems. If everyone maintains a level of honesty, integrity and trust, completing project tasks becomes easier. Effective project managers conduct team-building exercises, such as games and contests, to motivate employees and create a more cohesive working environment that reduces the occurrence of petty conflicts.

Handling Conflicts Effectively

The first step in conflict resolution involves getting the parties involved to agree to the nature of the problem. By defining the problem, the project manager can assess the amount of time and effort that needs to go into fixing it. Looking at case studies usually helps employees to develop the skills and knowledge to use techniques to smooth over and avoid conflict so that work can resume.

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Dealing with Conflict in the Project Team19

As any experienced leader can attest, expecting a team of people to work together seamlessly from the start of a project to the end is likely unrealistic. Teams are made up of individuals who have their own personalities, feelings, backgrounds, and more. Conflict is an inevitable consequence of project work; where there is constant pressure to achieve targets within strict time and resource constraints.

This remains true no matter how well planned a project may be, it will always be subject to unforeseen demands and the direction of the project may need to change as it progresses. Conflict often arises from decisions that inconvenience people, but are nevertheless essential to the success of the project.

There are many more examples of why conflict occurs during project and all successful project managers need to be aware of how best to deal with it. Generally speaking conflict should be addressed early and usually in private, using a direct, collaborative approach. It is important to recognize that:

• Conflict is natural and forces a search for alternatives, • Conflict is a team issue, • Openness resolves conflict, • Conflict resolution should focus on issues, not personalities, and • Conflict resolution should focus on the present, not the past.

19 Source: Free Management eBooks, as at http://www.free-management-ebooks.com/faqpm/team-05.htm, as on 6th November, 2016.

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Conflict is an inevitable consequence of project work; where there is constant pressure to achieve targets within strict time and resource constraints. This remains true no matter how well planned a project may be, it will always be subject to unforeseen demands and the direction of the project may need to change as it progresses. Conflict often arises from decisions that inconvenience people, but are nevertheless essential to the success of the project.

In a pure project environment, the human resources decision-making authority rests with the project manager. However, in a matrix environment where resources are being borrowed from other departments, all major decisions will be reached by agreement between the project manager and the relevant line manager.

Conflict arises because project managers tend to view their own project as taking priority whereas departmental managers will tend to view things from a departmental perspective. This becomes especially evident when a project falls behind schedule and external departments are then expected to extend their commitment of personnel to it.

Another issue is that it is in the project manager's interest to minimize each external departments billing to the project but departmental managers often try to secure as much of the projects budget as possible.

In addition, technical conflicts are common where a department is supporting the project in a technical capacity and project manager rejects the solution preferred by the department on technical, cost or scheduling grounds.

As well as conflicts between the project management team and people outside of the project, there are often internal conflicts to deal with.

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In these cases the project manager will usually have the final say. He or she must step in and handle these kinds of conflicts to make sure that progress is being made and the project is continuing to move in the right direction.

The aim should always be to resolve things in a way that everyone involved can live with rather than coming down too firmly on one side at the expense of the other. The effect of doing the latter may be to alienate one of the protagonists to such an extent that they leave resulting in valuable time and effort being wasted replacing them.

Even if your team is getting along well from a personality standpoint, there is still management to be done. Overseeing the productivity and reliability of each of your team members is important to stay on track to meeting the deadline of the project as a whole. Only when the individual people that make up your team are on track will the project be able to move forward properly.

The skill of a good project manager really starts to show through when they are able to get the best out of each and every person on the team. Project HR management is critically important for reasons that should be relatively obvious. Without a good team of people working on a project, it is going to have trouble getting traction and is unlikely to ever be completed.

People are what make projects move forward, even more so than resources like equipment or money. Your team can be made up of people from within the organisation or include some brought in from the outside to fill specific roles. If you are serious about being successful with your next project, you should leave no stone unturned in finding the best possible team that is available to you.

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Part of this success relies on your ability to manage the working relationships of the different groups of people involved in the project - team members, contractors, stakeholders and the sponsor. Managing the communications between each of these groups is vital to the success of a project. Being able to plan what to communicate to who and when is critical for a project manager.

Those who are proficient project managers have developed the ability to quickly and accurately discern the personalities, competence, knowledge and skills so that they can assess the level of interest and influence each individual working on the project has. One of the most efficient tools used is that of 'networking' with all those involved in the project environment.

Often the most effective networking is that conducted informally such as during a break, traveling to meetings or over lunch. This enables the project manager to fully understand the interest and motivation of the different individuals needed to complete the project on time and within budget. By building up this depth of understanding of the people working in your project environment you can minimize conflict and get things done, because it is people who deliver a project.

It can be tempting not to bother networking because it seems less important than producing charts, updating plans and all of the other more tangible outputs of the project management process, but is a dangerous approach because important snippets of how people really feel are more often than not revealed this way.

To be an effective networker it is essential that you are a good listener and observer. By actively listening to the words, mannerisms and postures of the other person are able to communicate more efficiently with other project team members and stakeholders.

Your communications form a vital part of managing the project team and planning is vital if you want to reduce the impact conflict and disputes have on the team and its productivity.

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Managing human resources is probably one of the most complex areas for a project manager requiring a wide range of interpersonal skills, it must not be neglected or overlooked. People can be unpredictable, can give rise to an expected conflict, the level of their morale can go up or down, and also of course for either personal or professional reasons, some may leave the project in an unplanned manner.

Whilst such issues cannot be removed completely, the damage they cause can be reduced or contained by following certain management principles:

Track team member performance Create and enforce an efficient reporting structure Provide constructive feedback Resolve issues without apportioning blame Manage changes to optimize project performance.

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Managers are all given goals to attain and project managers are no different, they have to achieve project objectives in a specified time frame and budget. This involves he or she managing each of the project functional areas (Schedule, Budget, Quality etc.) while implementing and managing project team process. Keeping the team working at their optimal performance levels is a vital part of the project team management process.

This means that project managers have to have excellent communication, conflict management, negotiation, and leadership skills to be successful. There are management tools you should use to enhance and develop your skills one such tool is conducting performance appraisals for those on the project team.

It provides an excellent opportunity to clarify roles and responsibilities, as well as give constructive feedback to team members. This process often enables the project manager to discover unknown or unresolved issues enabling he or she to address the latter by establish training requirements or setting future goals.

Whether or not appraisals are appropriate will depend on the nature of the project. Generally speaking they would be appropriate in the case of a long-term project staffed by permanent employees of the organisation but would not be used in a short-term project or one that was staffed by outside contractors.

Many developing problems can be addressed before they get out of hand by a project manager who

'knows instinctively' when something is up rather than waiting for it to be formally reported. If you

take the time to talk briefly and informally with team members (on your way to get a coffee for

example) you will develop a feel for the normal atmosphere of the project. This approach to

management is sometimes referred to as 'management by wandering around' (MBWA).

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The emphasis is on the word wandering as an impromptu movement within a workplace, rather than a plan where employees expect a visit from managers at more systematic, pre-approved or scheduled times. There are several other benefits to MBWA:

1) It doesn't take up much time (maybe 15 minutes a day).

2) You get to learn more about individual team members and you may find them making suggestions for improvements that they wouldn't make through formal channels.

3) Generally speaking people like to see their managers mixing with them, which is good for morale.

Human beings are very sensitive to changes in non-verbal behavior. So, if you feel that something is not quite right then asking people if they have any problems or concerns can often bring issues to light that would have serious consequences if you remained unaware of them until they were formally reported.

The success of project managers in managing their project teams often depends a great deal on their ability to resolve conflict. Different project managers may have different conflict resolution styles. Factors that influence conflict resolution methods include:

• Relative importance and intensity of the conflict, • Time pressure for resolving the conflict, • Position taken by players involved, and • Motivation to resolve conflict on a long-term or a short-term basis.

A key part of managing such conflicts and motivating the project team comes down to the ability to communicate clearly to everyone involved in the project. Careful planning of project communications will ensure success at all levels of involvement from team members, to contractors from sponsor to stakeholders.

http://www.free-management-ebooks.com/dldtem/dltmpm-commplan.htm

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Planning Project Communications20

Communication is one of the great keys to success in life in general. Whether you are talking about communication personally or professionally, being able to deal with other people in a productive, efficient and empathetic manner is essential to your well-being. As a project manager, the need to be an effective communicator is fundamental to the role.

With a variety of interested parties related to the project, and a team to lead, there is no doubt that good communication should be near the very top of your priority list. Project communications management is the process of putting a plan in place to help you properly communicate with everyone that has a stake in the project.

Just as with anything else related to project management, it is important that you build this plan ahead of time so it can be followed as carefully as possible throughout the work. It will form a strong integral component of the HR management and stakeholder management plans.

The communications management plan is the corner stone of how you plan to manage the different working relationships within your project. A project manager has to communicate on two broad levels: The high-level or strategic considerations' between the project manager, sponsor, senior management, the media and other influential stakeholders and low-level and practical communications between project teams and team members.

20 Source: Free Management eBooks, as at http://www.free-management-ebooks.com/faqpm/team-06.htm, as on 6th November, 2016.

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This requires project managers to have a clear perspective of each of their different audiences and to intuitively know the most effective way to accomplish the 3R's of project communications (show in diagram below). To achieve this with such diverse recipients of his or her communication they must adapt the message to suit that recipient's situation and environment where the exchange is taking place - i.e. team meeting, contract negotiation, executive meeting etc.

The project manager's interpersonal skills need to be highly developed so that they are able to read an individual's response to their communication. This enables he or she to alter their next communication to ensure that the recipient is behind the content of the exchange and willing to play their part in the action required. Adaptability and flexibility are essential skills for all project managers.

The aim of all project communications is to keep everyone on board with and supporting the project schedule as they work towards the end product or service. Every project communication he or she gives must reassure, retain an individual's support for the project and avoid the unexpected derailing the attainment of key project milestones. Bridging this gap and ensuring that information is flowing properly in both directions is the challenge that you need to meet.

Remember, effective communication means that the information is provided in the right format, at the right time, and with the right impact. Efficient communication means providing only the information that is needed. This process is performed early in the project and it is revised and refined as the project progresses.

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Projects generate a great deal of data and a key component of planning the project's actual communications requirements is to limit both the quantity of information being circulated and the communication paths that are used. Those who take a casual approach to their project communications will have a confused and frustration team failing to achieve the project objectives.

To determine the types and frequencies of communication needed for each of the project audiences and to be written down in its own project management plan the project manager will conduct a communication requirements analysis. This consists of holding several meetings with different parties to understand their communication needs.

Once these have been documented then an assessment can be made of the 'best' models, methods and technologies to be used during the project to satisfy these different needs. These findings will constitute the basis of the communications plan for the project.

The functional management plan for project communications is an essential part of the project plan. Therefore, during the planning phase sufficient time should be allocated to it so that the following information can be well documented and presented to the project team.

Information to be communicated, including language, format, content, and level of detail Reason for the distribution Time frame and frequency for the distribution Person responsible for it Person responsible for authorizing release of confidential information

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Person or groups who will receive the information Escalation procedure for issues requiring addition authority Methods or technologies used to convey it Resources allocated for communication activities Glossary of common terminology

Within any project there is one particular audience that requires special attention in terms of how, when and what is communicated to it and that is the stakeholders. This group of individuals or bodies must all be clearly identified and their level of interest, influence and impact they can have on the project recorded meticulously in the stakeholder register, another key document that inputs into the project management plan.

Passing along information that is needed to each audience in a timely manner reflects your organisational skills as a leader and portrays a confident image for the project as a whole. While all projects share the need to communicate project information, the informational needs and methods of distribution vary widely.

The importance of identifying the information needs of the stakeholders and determining a suitable means of meeting those needs is reflected in the stakeholder management plan, which is a major component of the project plan. This process will often require its own management plan the larger and more complex the project is. It is critical that a project manager understands the level of interest, influence and impact each stakeholder can have on the project.

Once armed with this information a stakeholder management plan can be created that enables he or she to appropriately manage these individual relationships. This functional plan avoids delays in people receiving essential information and guarantees that sensitive or confidential data is handled correctly.

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This shows that being a good project manager and being a good communicator go hand in hand. In order to disseminate information effectively throughout a project, having an established schedule and mode of communication right from the start is necessary. Those initial plans will likely morph along the way, so be prepared to adapt to changes in the project and make sure they are reflected with appropriate changes in your communication plan.

There are three concerns the communications management plan and its supporting functional plans for stakeholder and human resources address and they are:

1) Who needs information? 2) What information do they need? 3) When do they need it?

Who Needs Information?

One of the first steps toward successful project communications management is deciding who needs to receive information. These are often referred to as stakeholders, because they have a stake in the final outcome of the project. They may initiate or sponsor the project and will be most interested in its progress and outcome.

Going beyond these obvious individuals other stakeholders will typically be board directors, external groups and regulatory bodies who also need to receive appropriate information to retain their support of the project

Project managers want any issues or changes that come up along the way to be dealt with at that time. They do not want them to appear at the end when the work is already completed and any alterations will be costly in both resources and money. Getting input throughout the process should help prevent from work having to be re-done when management or ownership decides to change course.

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What Information Do They Need?

Each information group will have their own information needs, which will be outlined within these management plans and summarized in the communications plan. The project sponsor will require a high level of detail and description on project progress, whilst the board of directors are happy to receive an overview that highlights any key issues.

It is vital that you get the level of information right for each group because too much information can be just as harmful as too little. This level will be assessed and documented in the stakeholder interest template so that each one receives the correct level of detail.

When Do They Need It?

This might just be the most difficult point of all related to project communications management. Passing along information at the right time is important to keeping everybody informed - but not overwhelmed.

You are likely working on the project with your team every day, but the people you are reporting to may not want information that often. Also, it takes time to create communications to pass along, so sending updates too frequently can waste time that could be better spent making progress on the project itself.

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To get this point just right, it is important to create a schedule at the start of the project and stick to it as closely as possible, unless something changes. For example, Project sponsor/ your direct supervisor receives updates every Friday. Board of directors receives updates on the first Friday of every month.

A significant danger of projects is to over communicate with people, it's a natural tendency, no one wants to hear the words from other members of the project team:

'But you didn't tell us!' or 'We didn't know about that!'

Consequently, people usually act to protect themselves from these accusations by sending what they believe is important information to everyone they feel might possibly have an interest in it.

This has become a more frequent occurrence with the universal adoption of email. You are a mere click away from sending a message to everyone connected to the project! But project managers must refrain from this tendency by taking the time to think and plan who really needs to know about the matter.

This over-communication issue becomes more of a problem the bigger the project. On large projects, people having to read emails and then decide whether or not the information contained is pertinent to them can waste a great deal of time.

To make matters worse, any significant information is often not read or understood properly because team members are snowed under with largely irrelevant emails and end up scanning them rather than reading them.

In practical terms, the time spent by the project manager to address this problem will usually more than pay for itself in time saved by project team members in their day-to-day work.

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The information typically used to determine project communication requirements includes: • Organisation charts and the Organisational Breakdown Structure (OBS) • Stakeholder register: responsibility relationships, logistical considerations & stakeholder information • Stakeholder management strategy.

Optimising Project Communications

Having decided who needs to receive what information and when the next consideration is what is the best method to use for this communication. Later sections of the project communications management plan explain who is going to perform the update and how this will be accomplished.

There are many ways to communicate, including unscheduled and informal face-to-face meetings, periodic reports, project wikis, collaborative software, video-conferencing and email. When deciding on the appropriate technology for each type of communication the project manager should ask himself or herself...

How time-sensitive is the information? Does communication need to be interactive? Should the information be 'pushed' or 'pulled'? What technology is actually available? What technologies are the stakeholders familiar with? How much expenditure can be justified? Does the environment 'force' certain decisions?

Project managers often want produce special reports at pre-defined milestones that will be reported on outside of their specific communications schedule that has been created.

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For example, halfway through the project they might deem it appropriate to send a special update to all interested stakeholders.

If information is time-sensitive or frequently updated then you will need to make a decision about whether it needs to be available immediately, or would regularly issue reports suffice?

Where the information to be sent may invite discussion for example then he or she may feel it is best done interactively in a meeting, phone call, or a video-conference. The alternative is usually a seemingly endless round of emails that can be both time consuming and frustrating particularly when there are more than two parties involved.

When communicating you need to consider if the information should be:

'Pushed' - actively sent (via email for example) or 'Pulled' - sent in a way that lets the interested access it as and when needed (for example, post it on a blog or project wiki)

You also need to take into account what technology is available and to know if the relevant stakeholder(s) have access to it. There may be differences in the types of technology that are used internally by the project team and that used by other stakeholders. This extends to the compatibility of the experience and expertise of the stakeholders compared to the project team.

In some instances the project manager would need to decide if training is needed and then assess if there is sufficient time and money to conduct it. This will depend on the project complexity and duration. Spending money on improving the communications infrastructure may well be justified in the case of a long and complex project, particularly if it can be used on subsequent projects.

Finally, the nature of the project environment may 'force' certain decisions. It may operate on a face-to-face basis or in a virtual environment.

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This will have a significant influence on the communications technology that should be chosen. The project manager may find that they have to adopt more comprehensive technology in a virtual project, for example a teleconferencing system.

People often communicate with little or no thought for the existing knowledge of their audience. For example, they use jargon that the audience/receiver is not familiar with or make assumptions about the level of expertise they have. Encoding the message for the audience/receiver could be as simple as defining the letters of an acronym and providing a few words of explanation. This is illustrated below.

This example clearly shows that the original message is incomprehensible to anyone without knowledge of the language, roles and practices of a particular IT department. In its original form, it may only be understood by a handful of people. However, once it has been encoded any person involved in this project would be able to understand it.

The next stage of this basic communication model is to send the encoded message to the recipient. This person then has the job of decoding the message in a way they can relate to. It is at this stage that messages may be changed, filtered, misinterpreted or edited so that it meets the receiver's own preconceived framework.

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From this example it is easy to see that the non-encoded message is open to great number of interpretations depending on the knowledge and experience of the receiver. But once the message is encoded its content and meaning are straightforward giving a clear explanation of the situation the project needs resolving.

This basic communication model also contains the concepts of:

Noise is anything that interferes with the transmission and understanding of the message (for example, unfamiliar technology or lack of background information).

Decoding, that is the work required to translate the message back into meaningful thoughts or ideas. The reason for encoding is simply to eliminate noise from the message and to make the process of decoding it as straightforward as possible for the receiver. It also illustrates that communication cannot be considered complete until the receiver has fed their response back to the sender.

Note that the encoded message in the example makes this clear by specifically asking for a response. The original sender can then decide whether the message has been understood in the way that they expected. If it has not, they can do something about it before it becomes a problem.

These methods can be broadly classified into 'interactive', 'push and 'pull', all of which were alluded to in the discussion of communication technology above.

Interactive communication includes meetings, phone calls and videoconferencing. This is the most efficient way reach a consensus between different parties.

Push communication includes emails, memos, reports, voice mails and press releases sent to stakeholders who need to know the information. This ensures that the information is distributed but does not certify that it actually reached or was understood by the intended audience.

Pull communication includes blogs, wikis and other software that supports collaborative working. It can be used for things like technical standards or support where people need to be able to access sub-sets of the information at their own discretion.

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The project manager decides, based on communication requirements, what, how, and when communication methods are to be used in the project. This process requires discussion and dialogue with the project team to determine the most appropriate way to update and communicate project information, and to respond to requests from various stakeholders for that information.

Almost all of the processes that form part of project schedule management will involve meetings between the project manager, the team and other stakeholders in order to make decisions about the activity definitions and associated estimates. How well these meetings are conducted will have a major impact on how smoothly the project runs.

Activity 8

Provide an example of a conflict situation that can occur with regard to project reponsibilities. Describe an approach you could take to manage the conflict.

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Activity 8

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Regularly report to the organisation and project authorities on performance

and issues arising from governance arrangements21

Project status reporting is one element of the project controlling process and project governance. Its purpose is to ensure that the objectives of the project are being met by monitoring and measuring progress regularly to determine variances from the plan. When variances are identified, then corrective action can be taken.

Benefits

There are a number of benefits of regular status reporting. A few of the more significant benefits are:

It provides an opportunity to raise issues or variances from the plan and to take corrective action before a situation gets beyond recovery. It is possible that a situation cannot be recovered. However, at a minimum, the situation is identified and it does get reviewed.

It helps to create accountability for the work being done. This happens because it makes the work more visible to all of the project stakeholders (i.e. project team members, Project Manager, Project Sponsor, and Senior Management).

It creates a visible record of the progress of the project. The Project Manager or Senior Management can review this record should some of the history be needed.

Status Reporting Cycle

Regular status reporting is necessary in order to be effective. It helps to maintain traction and visibility for the project. The frequency of reporting is often a function of the duration of a project and its importance to an organisation. For projects with a short duration (i.e. less than six months), it is better to have weekly reporting so that issues are raised and dealt with sooner. For projects with a longer duration, bi-weekly or monthly reporting may be more suitable or desirable.

Roles & Responsibilities

There are various roles and responsibilities in the status reporting process. The following list describes the most common ones:

Project Manager

Monitors project progress and report progress regularly, using the Project Status Report form, to the Project Sponsor and Steering Committee/PMO.

Escalates issues relating to scope, schedule, resources, and budget, when they cannot be resolved. The first escalation is to the Project Sponsor. If there is no resolution at that level then the final escalation is to the Steering Committee.

21 Source: Project Management Online, as at https://projectmanagementonline.wordpress.com/2010/01/14/project-status-reporting-process/, as on 1st December, 2016.

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Escalates proposed significant changes to scope, schedule, resources, and budget.

Project Sponsor

Usually the senior manager representing the business area that is receiving the greatest benefit from the project.

Ensures that Project Status Reports are received and reviewed regularly. Addresses issues when they cannot be resolved by the Project Team.

Project Management Office

Ensures that Project Status Reports are received regularly. Periodically reviews the Project Status Reports and follow up with Project Managers for

clarification, as appropriate.

Steering Committee

Should consist of key stakeholders to the project, the project sponsor, and project owner Provides executive level support, guidance, and direction. Reviews progress of projects. Addresses issues relating to scope, schedule, resources, and budget, when escalated, if not

resolvable via project manager or project sponsor.

Status Report Formats

There are many varying formats that can be used for project status reporting. The contents will depend on the rigor with which you are tracking the project, the frequency of reporting, and whether or not budget tracking is incorporated into the report, and if earned Value is being reported.

At a minimum the status report should contain the following categories:

Status Summary – Gives high level summary project state Project Progress – Progress made in the last reporting period. Would include key milestones

met, key deliverables completed, budget and schedule tacking. Planned Progress – Identify any items to be completed during next reporting period. Risks/Issues – Any identified risks and issues along with the management plan to deal with

specific risks/issues. Resources – It is always good to identify the current resourcing level on the project in the

status report so that all stakeholders have an appreciation for the work level and resource requirements

Budget – if required, the report should identify the current project budget to complete, budget used so far, planned budget so far, and explain any variances.

Schedule – if required, the report should identify the current project schedule to complete, has the work completed so far been done on schedule, and explain any variances.

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Analyse and review project governance impact on achieving project

objectives22

A good time to start thinking about the Post Implementation Review is when members of the project team remember the most – shortly after the project has been delivered, and when most of the problems have been ironed-out. Start to list ideas and observations while they are still fresh in people's minds.

However, to adequately assess the quality of the implementation and complete this process, you'll need to wait long enough for the changes caused by the project to truly take effect.

There will probably be a period of adjustment before you can finally review the solution as it was intended to operate: you'll likely need to overcome some of the usual resistance to change, hold people's hands while they operate new systems, and eliminate technical problems that didn't emerge when deliverables were tested. You should therefore typically allow a few weeks, or even a few months, before doing the full PIR. Where possible, allow for at least one, full, successful cycle of business before reviewing lessons learned.

What to Review

Here are some tips for conducting the PIR:

Ask for openness – Emphasize the importance of being open and honest in your assessment, and make sure that people aren't in any way punished for being open.

Be objective – Describe what has happened in objective terms, and then focus on improvements.

Document success – Document practices and procedures that led to project successes, and make recommendations for applying them to similar future projects.

Look with hindsight – Pay attention to the "unknowns" (now known!) that may have increased implementation risks. Develop a way of looking out for these in future projects.

Be future-focused – Remember, the purpose is to focus on the future, not to assign blame for what happened in the past. This is not the time to focus on any one person or team.

Look at both positives and negatives – Identify positive as well as negative lessons.

When conducting the review, include the following activities:

Conduct a gap analysis. o Review the project charter to evaluate how closely the project results match the

original objectives. o Review the expected deliverables (including documentation) and ensure either that

these have been delivered to an acceptable level of quality, or that an acceptable substitute is in place.

o If there are gaps, how will these be closed?

22 Source: Mind Tools, as at https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newPPM_74.htm, as on 1st December, 2016.

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Determine whether the project goals were achieved. o Is the deliverable functioning as expected? o Are error rates low enough, and is it fit for purpose? o Is it functioning well, and in a way that will adjust smoothly to future operating

demands? o Are users adequately trained and supported? And are there sufficiently enough

confident, skilled people in place? o Are the necessary controls and systems in place, and are they working properly? o What routine activities are needed to support the project's success? o If there are problems here, how will these be addressed? o How does the end result compare with the original project plan, in terms of quality,

schedule and budget? Determine the satisfaction of stakeholders.

o Were the end users' needs met? o Is the project sponsor satisfied? o What are the effects on the client or end user? o If key individuals aren't satisfied, how should this be addressed?

Determine the project's costs and benefits. o What were the final costs? o What will it cost to operate the solution? o What will it cost to support the solution in the future? o How do the costs compare with the benefits achieved? o If the project hasn't delivered a sufficiently large return, how can this be improved?

Identify areas of further development. o Have all of the expected benefits been achieved? If not, what is needed to achieve

them? o Are there opportunities for further training and coaching that will maximize results? o Could you make further changes, which would deliver even more value? o Are there any other additional benefits that can be achieved?

Identify lessons learned. o How well were the projects deliverables assessed, and how well were timescales and

costs assessed? o What went wrong, why did these things go wrong, and how could these problems be

avoided next time? o What went well, and needs to be learned from?

Report findings and recommendations. o What have you learned from this review? o Do you need corrective activity to get the benefits you want? o What lessons have you learned that need to be carried forward to future projects? o Does this project naturally lead on to future projects, which will build on the success

and benefits already achieved?

How to Review

As you perform the post-implementation review, certain methods and practices will help you obtain the best possible information:

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Define the scope of the review beforehand -The last thing you want to do is to create a political problem. Given the number of people often involved in a project, it's easy to hurt someone's feelings when reviewing the project's success. Clarify your objectives for the review, and make your intentions clear – this will better ensure that people share their experiences openly and honestly. Then make absolutely sure that you stick to these intentions, and that people's egos aren't unnecessarily bruised by the process!

Review key documents – Gather together the key project documents. This will help you assess the project planning process, as well as the actual benefits achieved through the project.

Consider using independent reviewers – Where possible, use outside people in your review process to get an objective, unclouded view of the project. Some people recommend using only independent people in the review, however, you can learn a lot from the perspectives of those who were directly involved in the project – this is why the best strategy is probably to have a balance.

Use appropriate data collection – Collect information in the most appropriate way, for example, by using interviews and surveys. Also, test the deliverable yourself, to make sure you get firsthand information.

Deliver appropriate reports – Report your findings, and publicize the results. Remember that the PIR is designed to help project managers conduct more effective projects in the future, as well as to measure and optimize the benefits of the specific project being reviewed.

Present recommendations – Present the detailed recommendations to the organisation and the project leaders, as well as to customers and other stakeholders. Include as many people as necessary so that you keep – and apply – the best-practice information in the future.

As you plan your PIR, be aware of the costs and benefits of the review process itself. Interviewing stakeholders and customers, testing the solution, and documenting the results are time-consuming activities. Make sure the time and resources dedicated to the review are consistent with the project scope and its output, and that the potential benefits of conducting the review are worth the effort put in.

Key Points

A Post-Implementation Review (PIR) is conducted after completing a project. Its purpose is to evaluate whether project objectives were met, to determine how effectively the project was run, to learn lessons for the future, and to ensure that the organisation gets the greatest possible benefit from the project.

After a long project, the last thing many project teams want to do is relive the process and look for ways to improve. However, a forward-looking review can discover many tips and strategies for improvement.

By conducting a thorough and timely PIR, you'll identify key lessons learned – and you can then apply those lessons to the planning and management of future projects.

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Activity 9

You have been asked to conduct a project governance arrangement and effectiveness review. List 5 questions you would ask as part of the review process.

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Document lessons learned and recommendations to assist future projects23

Project Management Institute (PMI) Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) defines lessons learned as the learning gained from the process of performing the project. Formally conducted lessons learned sessions are traditionally held during project close-out, near the completion of the project. However, lessons learned may be identified and documented at any point during the project’s life cycle. The purpose of documenting lessons learned is to share and use knowledge derived from experience to: • Promote the recurrence of desirable outcomes • Preclude the recurrence of undesirable outcomes As a practice, lessons learned includes the processes necessary for identification, documentation, validation, and dissemination of lessons learned. Utilization and incorporation of those processes includes identification of applicable lessons learned, documentation of lessons learned, archiving lessons learned, distribution to appropriate personnel, identification of actions that will be taken as a result of the lesson learned, and follow-up to ensure that appropriate actions were taken. Lessons learned document the cause of issues and the reasoning behind any corrective action taken to address those issues. When thinking about how to effectively document a project’s lessons learned, consider these types of questions: • What was learned about the project in general? • What was learned about project management? • What was learned about communication? • What was learned about budgeting? • What was learned about procurement? • What was learned about working with sponsors? • What was learned about working with customers? • What was learned about what went well? • What was learned about what did not go well? • What was learned about what needs to change? • How will/was this incorporated into the project? Lessons learned should draw on both positive experiences – good ideas that improve project efficiency or save money, and negative experiences – lessons learned only after an undesirable outcome has already occurred. Every documented lesson learned should contain at least these general elements: • Project information and contact information for additional detail • A clear statement of the lesson • A background summary of how the lesson was learned • Benefits of using the lesson and suggestion how the lesson may be used in the future

23 Source: CDC, as at https://www2.cdc.gov/cdcup/library/practices_guides/CDC_UP_Lessons_Learned_Practices_Guide.pdf, as on 1st December, 2016.

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At any point during the project life cycle, the project team and key stakeholders may identify lessons. The lessons learned are compiled, formalized, and stored through the project’s duration. Upon project completion a lessons learned session is conducted that focuses on identifying project success and project failures, and includes recommendation to improve future performance on projects.

The lessons learned session is typically a meeting that includes: • Project team • Selected stakeholder representation including external project oversight, auditors, and/or QA • Project support staff Participants in lessons learned sessions typically discuss questions similar to the following: • Did the delivered product meet the specified requirements and goals of the project? • Was the customer satisfied with the end product(s)? If not, why not? • Where costs budgets met? If not, why not? • Was the schedule met? If not, why not? • Were risks identified and mitigated? If not, why not? • Did the project management methodology work? If not, why not? • What could be done to improve the process? • What bottlenecks or hurdles were experienced that impacted the project? • What procedures should be implemented in future projects? • What can be done in future projects to facilitate success? • What changes would assist in speeding up future projects while increasing communication? Lessons learned and comments regarding project assessment should be documented, archived, presented, and openly discussed with the intent of eliminating the occurrence of avoidable issues on future projects. The ultimate purpose of documented lessons learned is to provide future project teams with information that can increase effectiveness and efficiency and to build on the experience that has been earned by each completed project. If documented and disseminated properly, lessons learned provide a powerful method of sharing ideas for improving work processes, operation, quality, safety and cost effectiveness, etc. and helps improve management decision making and worker performance through every phase of a project. They also helps validate some of the tougher times endured during the project’s life and helps future Project Managers avoid similar difficulties. Best Practices The following are recommended best practice approaches to Lessons Learned: • Include All Experiences - Lessons learned should draw on both positive and negative experiences. • Act Quickly - Obtain feedback as quickly as possible to avoid people forgetting the challenges faced during the course of a project. • Document - Store lessons learned throughout the project in a central repository. • Make Accessible - Make lessons learned accessible to other projects.

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• Archive Lessons - Lessons learned should be archived as historical project data and incorporate into the organisations lessons learned. • Disseminate Lessons - Disseminate lessons learned to the project management community. • Reuse Lessons - Reuse lessons learned from past projects to help better manage current projects. • Involve Stakeholders - Involve all project participants and stakeholders in the lessons learned process. • Solicit Feedback - Conduct a post-project survey to solicit feedback on the project from the project team, customers, and stakeholders who were well-acquainted with the management of the project. • Identify Lessons Learned - Convene a lessons learned session to promote the success of future projects. • Archive Data - Archive all project data in a central repository. Include best practices, lessons learned, and any other relevant project documentation.


Business, Accounting and Finance

BSBPMG520 MANAGE PROJECT GOVERNANCE

Identify project management structure

Apply project governance policies

and procedures

Monitor and review project governance

INTRODUCTION TO PROJECT GOVERNANCE

• Introductory video follows:

PROJECT GOVERNANCE FRAMEWORK


ORGANISATION DESIGNS

• Organisation is a social entity that has a collective goal and is linked to an external environment.

• The purpose of an Organisation to coordinate the efforts of many to accomplish goals.

• There are a number of options, functional (pyramid of hierarchy), project, and matrix Organisation

• Project Managers need to understand relative advantages and disadvantages of each

ORGANISATION STRUCTURE

• Represents the management hierarchy: • Reporting relationships who report to whom• The official chain of control or authority, which deals of official

activities, such firing, hiring, and promotion.

• Organisation can be grouped into major subdivisions on the basis of a number of frameworks.

• Responsibilities & type of work for each subdivision

• Official lines of authority & communication

Informal Organisation also important and can exist in parallel to the official Organisation, communication of the informal is socially motivated.

ALTERNATIVE STRUCTURES

• There are a number of options

• Best depends on goals, type of work it supposed to do, and the environment within which it operates.

• Forms of Organisation structures are:

• Functional Organisation

• Project Organisation

• Matrix Organisation

FUNCTIONAL ORGANISATION

This type relies on formal rules, procedures, coordinated plans, budgets, fairly common, segmented by department and their functions.

works well in repetitive, stable environments

Bean KounterAccounting

Silas MarnerFinance

Snidely WhiplashMarketing

Atlanta Phoenix Butte

John DoeProduction

Siegfried HillMIS

Hieronymus BotchCEO

FUNCTIONAL ORG…

• A functional Organisation is the most common type of the three.

• It works best in small Organisations in which the different sections are geographically close together and which provide only a small number of goods and/or services.

• In a functional structure, the Organisation is broken into different sections based upon specialty. For example, there may be one area for sales, one for customer service and one for the supervisors who deal with escalated problems.

• The project manager's role is to ensure smooth execution of processes and projects; however, the functional manager has the most power and makes the final decisions.

TYPES OF FUNCTIONAL ORG

• Geographic Differentiation

• Product Differentiation

• Customer Differentiation

• Process Differentiation

ADVANTAGES OF FUNCTIONAL ORGANISATION

An advantage to the functional structure is the role of the functional manager, which means there is only one boss. This reduces or prevents conflicts of interest and makes it easier to manage specialists:

• Clear line of authority

• Career development

• Comfortable and easy

• Technical expertise

• Flexible resource assignment

DISADVANTAGES OF FUNCTIONAL ORG.

A disadvantage of this type of structure is that the project manager has limited authority and a limited career path.

• No accountability over complete project

• No project emphasis

• Low coordination across function

• No customer focal point

• Low delegation of authority

• Work delays due to red tape

• Heavy politics

• Lack of a big picture view

PROJECTIZED ORGANISATION

• Projectized Organisation is a project focused Organisational structure where project manager has the final authority over the project to make project decisions, priorities, acquire and assign resources.

• A projectized Organisation refers specifically to an Organisational structure that has been set up in a manner in which the project manager leads the group and in which the project manager has the ultimate authority to make any and all decisions involving the Organisation.

• In a projectized structure, all the work is looked at as a project. The project manager has complete control, unlike in the functional structure, and all team members report directly to the project manager.

PROJECTIZED ORGANISATION

• Sometimes these team members are permanent, and sometimes they are hired as temporary workers to help with the project until its completion. If the Organisation takes on a large project, it will have all the necessary resources available to sustain the project and will act as a small, self-contained company.

• The project manager works with complete autonomy (central authority, power) over the project, team is on the project full time and report to the project manager.

• As a project manager, you have the responsibility to take authority, rather than waiting for someone to give you the authority.

PROJECT ORGANISATIONS(ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES)

• Advantages to the projectized structure include the project manager's opportunity for career progression. In addition, because good communication exists within the project work, the team members tend to be more committed to, and excel in, their responsibilities.

• The disadvantage of a projectized structure is that, because the team breaks up and disperses after the completion of the project, there are no long-term goals or sense of job security for the rest of the workers. Another disadvantage is that the Organisation has to essentially clone the same resources for each project (project manager, work area, administrator).

COMPARISON BETWEEN ORGANISATIONS TYPES

There are several differences between projectized and other types of Organisations:

- In projectized Organisations, the Project Manager has all the authority he wants, as opposed to matrix and functional Organisations, where the Project Manager has no or little authority.

- The Project Manager owns the resources, as opposed to matrix and

functional Organisations where he borrows the resources.

- Resources are only allocated to projects in projectized Organisations.

In other types of Organisations, resources report to their functional

managers and usually do routine, non-project work.

MORE ADVANTAGES OF PROJECT ORGANISATION

• The main advantage of having a projectized Organisation is

that decisions are made much faster due to shorter

communication paths.

• Additionally, project managers have real authority and the

team is more loyal, more dedicated, and is not disturbed by the

problem of "multiple managers"

PROJECT ORGANISATIONS

PURE PROJECT Organisation involve creating a separate independent Organisation specifically for accomplishing a particular goal.

The pure project Organisation is characterized by the usually great importance, the large scope, the large uncertainty, the high time pressure, the long duration and the high complexity of the project

TYPES: - Project Center

- Stand-Alone Project

- Partial Project

PROJECT CENTER

- Is linked to parent Organisation to draw resources & personnel as

needed

EXAMPLES:

• General Motors task force to develop

suggestions for downsizing

• Relocation operations

STAND-ALONE PROJECT

- Newly created Organisation for this mission drawn from several

Organisations

EXAMPLES:

• Large-scale public works

• NASA space station development

• Construction joint-ventures

PARTIAL PROJECT

- Project manager responsible for some activities

other activities (support-oriented such as accounting) remain with

functional divisions.

This is a common.

PURE PROJECT DISADVANTAGES

- Cost in personnel (facility duplication)

- Lose training investment

- Team members do not feel secure

- Inefficiency, no place else to use key people

- High risks in early project phases.

MATRIX ORGANISATION

- It is used mainly in the management of large projects or product development processes, drawing employees from different functional disciplines for assignment to a team without removing them from their respective positions.

- Matrix management is a type of Organisational management in which people with similar skills are pooled for work assignments.

MATRIX ORGANISATION

- The matrix structure combines both the functional and projectizedstructures. Each team member has two bosses; they report both to the functional manager and the project manager.

- If the matrix is strong, the power resides more with the project manager.

- If the matrix is weak, the power resides more with the functional manager.

- The key is to find a balance in which the power is shared equally.

- Because of its complexity, this type of structure can lead to problems if it is not used carefully and properly. Good communication is essential for success.

MATRIX ORGANISATION

MATRIX ORGANISATION ADVANTAGES OF MATRIX STRUCTURE

Advantage to the matrix structure lies in the efficient use of resources because of ease of access. This structure also demonstrates efficient communication both vertically and horizontally.

Because of this, once the projects have ended, the team members are likely to receive a job elsewhere in the Organisation.

ADVANTAGES OF MATRIX STRUCTURE

The advantages of a matrix include:

- Individuals can be chosen according to the needs of the project.

- The use of a project team which is dynamic and able to view problems in

different way as specialists have been brought together in a new environment.

- Project managers are directly responsible for completing the project within specific deadline and budget.

- Required resources can be managed moving into and out of the project team

- Project cost is lessened because resources are used as needed

- There are an appropriate focus on the project objectives through a single PM

- The overall enterprise utilization of resources is better handled in the mode

DISADVANTAGES OF MATRIX

• A disadvantage of the matrix structure is complexity, which can be difficult to manage.

• For example, if the functional manager and the project manager do not communicate well, the team members can be caught in the middle, causing confusion.

The disadvantages include:

- A conflict of loyalty between line managers and project

managers over the allocation of resources.

- Projects can be difficult to monitor if teams have a lot of

independence.

- Costs can be increased if more managers (ie project mangers)

are created through the use of project teams.

MATRIX PROBLEMS

• Unclear lines of authority, Two bosses, dual reporting

“No Man Can Serve Two Masters!”

military principle of UNITY OF COMMAND

• chaos, confusion more common

• often project manager tells you what to do, but

your raise comes from functional manager

• Success highly depends on individuals

MATRIX CAPABILITIES

• Functional part provides repository for technical expertise and

physical resources

• When in functional home, workers keep up professionally (train)

• Functional homes a place to go when project over (no new job

search)

HYBRID ORGANISATION

• "Hybrid Organisations" are those that combine the three elements of people, workplace and technology in equal measure. A successful Organisation would be one that empowered its people to work in the way they would be most productive, allowing them to be measured by outputs – empowered through innovative and flexible workplace design and a range of technologies and tools that help them do their jobs more effectively.

• "The Hybrid Organisation" is a business concept created by Microsoft in 2010. Working with experts from the fields of social change, workplace design, economics, technology and public sector development. Microsoft identified several characteristics of businesses and Organisations that are best placed to thrive in uncertain times.

HYBRID FORMS

• Firms combine matrix, functional, project

features, custom design their own

Organisation.

• COST CONTROL: Project matrix best, functional worst

• SCHEDULE: project best, functional worst

• TECHNICAL: functional worst

KNOW WHEN IT’S TIME TO LEAVE

• You have no choice about team member

• Your sponsor insist that people multitask and won’t take “no” for answer.

• You are supposed to contribute technically to the project

• All your project starts with insufficient resources

• You hear that “you’re not a team player all the time”

WHEN YOU ARE NOT RIGHT FOR THE PROJECT

• You do not know enough to manage this project

• Your manager inflict (impose) help on the team and you can

not push back

• You know too much to mange this project

CELLULAR ORGANISATION: SMALL WORK GROUPS WITH PEOPLE SKILLED IN EACH REQUIRED TASK WERE ORGANIZED TOGETHER.

LIAISONS: ARE USED TO INTEGRATE TWO GROUPS NOT PART OF THE SAME ORGANISATION, USEFUL BETWEEN THE PEOPLE WHO FUND THE PROJECT AND THE PROJECT TEAM.

TASK FORCES: TEMPORARY GROUPING OF INDIVIDUALS TO SOLVE A PARTICULAR PROBLEM.

EXPEDITERS (COORDINATORS): ARE INDIVIDUALS WHOSE JOBS IS TO MAKE SURE THAT SOMETHING HAPPENS, NO AUTHORITY BUT THEY INFORM THE PROJECT MANAGER OF THE NEED FOR ADDITIONAL RESOURCES.PUSHES FOR SPEEDY COMPLETION OF WORK.

PROJECT GOVERNANCE CONFLICT


Any Questions?

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Student Assessment Information

The process you will be following is known as competency-based assessment. This means that

evidence of your current skills and knowledge will be measured against national and international

standards of best practice, not against the learning you have undertaken either recently or in the

past. (How well can you do the job?)

Some of the assessment will be concerned with how you apply the skills and knowledge in your

workplace, and some in the training room.

The assessment tasks utilized in this training have been designed to enable you to demonstrate the

required skills and knowledge and produce the critical evidence required so you can successfully

demonstrate competency at the required standard.

What happens if your result is ‘Not Yet Competent’ for one or more assessment tasks?

The assessment process is designed to answer the question “has the participant satisfactorily demonstrated competence yet?” If the answer is “Not yet”, then we work with you to see how we can get there.

In the case that one or more of your assessments has been marked ‘NYC’, your Trainer will provide you with the necessary feedback and guidance, in order for you to resubmit/redo your assessment task(s).

What if you disagree on the assessment outcome?

You can appeal against a decision made in regards to an assessment of your competency. An appeal should only be made if you have been assessed as ‘Not Yet Competent’ against specific competency standards and you feel you have sufficient grounds to believe that you are entitled to be assessed as competent.

You must be able to adequately demonstrate that you have the skills and experience to be able to meet the requirements of the unit you are appealing against the assessment of.

You can request a form to make an appeal and submit it to your Trainer, the Course Coordinator, or an Administration Officer. The RTO will examine the appeal and you will be advised of the outcome within 14 days. Any additional information you wish to provide may be attached to the form.

What if I believe I am already competent before training?

If you believe you already have the knowledge and skills to be able to demonstrate competence in this unit, speak with your Trainer, as you may be able to apply for Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL).

Credit Transfer

Credit transfer is recognition for study you have already completed. To receive Credit Transfer, you must be enrolled in the relevant program. Credit Transfer can be granted if you provide the RTO with certified copies of your qualifications, a Statement of Attainment or a Statement of Results along with Credit Transfer Application Form. (For further information please visit Credit Transfer Policy)

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LEARNING OUTCOMES

The following critical aspects must be assessed as part of this unit:

1. Interact with customers, collect the necessary information and match customers' needs to company products or service

2. Sell products and services including matching customers' requirements to company products and services and finalise and record the sale

LEARNING ACTIVITIES

Class will involve a range of lecture based training, activities, written task, case study and questioning.

STUDENT FEEDBACK

We welcome your feedback as one way to keep improving this unit. Later this semester, you will be encouraged to give unit feedback through completing the Quality of Teaching and Learning Survey

LEARNING RESOURCES

Other Learning Resources available to students include:

Candidate Resource & Assessment: BSBPMG520 Manage project governance

Presentation handout

PPT Presentation

TEXTBOOKS

You do not have to purchase the following textbooks but you may like to refer to them:

Unit Code(s) Unit Title Reference Book/ Trainer & Learner Resource


The Business Communication Handbook 7th edition

The Principles of Project Management (Merri Williams)

Project Management in Practice by Neil D. Pearson

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Trainer and Learner Resources by LRES Training Management

Additional Reference Texts The Business Communication Handbook 7th edition

The Principles of Project Management (Merri Williams)

Project Management in Practice by Neil D. Pearson

Trainer and Learner Resources by LRES Training Management

ASSESSMENT DETAILS

Assessment Summary

The assessment for this unit consists of the following items.

Knowledge Assessment

Task 1 – Project Governance Management

Formative Activities

In addition to the two assessment tasks, students will be required to complete activities as outlined by their trainer/assessor – these will be taken from class resources, Enhance Your Future Learner Guides.

Referencing Style

Students should use the referencing style outlined by the Trainer when preparing assignments. More information can be sought from your Course Trainer.

Guidelines for Submission

1. An Assignment Cover Sheet (or cover page) must accompany all assignments at front to confirm it is your own assessment/ work.

2. All assignments must be within the specified timeframe (please refer to Due Date).

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Assignment Marking

Students should allow 14 days’ turnaround for written assignments.

Plagiarism Monitoring

Students should use the referencing style outlined by when preparing assignments. More information can be sought from your Trainer.

Marking Guide

C Competent: for students who have achieved all of the learning outcomes specified for

that unit/module to the specified standard.

NYC Not Yet Competent: for students who are required to re-enrol in a unit/ module in their

endeavour to achieve competence

S Satisfactory: has achieved all the work requirements

NS Not Satisfactory: has not achieved all the work requirements

Every student at Danford College can expect to have “timely fair and constructive assessment of

work.” Assessment tasks must be marked in such a way that the result reflects how well a student

achieved the learning outcomes and in accordance with the assessment criteria. In addition to the

final result, returned assignments must be accompanied by feedback that clearly explains how the

marking result/s was derived (summative), as well as how the student can improve (formative).

Refer to observation checklist below and/or consult your trainer/assessor for marking criteria for

this unit.

STUDENTS’ RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES

It is the responsibility of every student to be aware of all relevant legislation, policies and procedures relating to their rights and responsibilities as a student. These include:

The Student Code of Conduct

The College’s policy and statements on plagiarism

Copyright principles and responsibilities

The College’s policies on appropriate use of software and computer facilities

Students’ responsibility to attend, update personal details and enrolment

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Course Progress Policy and Attendance

Deadlines, appeals, and grievance resolution

Student feedback

Other policies and procedures.

Electronic communication with students

International Students Please also refer to ESOS framework for further details https://internationaleducation.gov.au/Regulatory-Information/Education-Services-for-Overseas-Students-ESOS-Legislative-Framework/ESOS-Act

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Contacts:

If you have a query relating to administrative matters such as obtaining assessment results, please contact your Course co-ordinator.

Deferrals/Suspensions/Cancellations

Danford College will only allow deferrals/student requested suspensions under exceptional compassionate circumstances. Once a student has commenced studies, students are not allowed to take leave unless there are compelling and compassionate reasons. Please refer to the College’s Deferment, Suspension and Cancellation Policy available in the Student Handbook and at Student Administration. This policy has been explained to you at Orientation.

Course Progress Policy

You are expected to attend all classes and complete your units of study satisfactorily, within your term. Your Course Trainer will make a report to the Course co-ordinator if there are any concerns about your progress. The Course Progress Policy is available to you in the Student Handbook and at Student Administration or on college website www.danford.edu.au.

Assessment Conditions

Assessment must be conducted in a safe environment where evidence gathered demonstrates consistent performance of typical activities experienced in the Management and Leadership – Project Management field of work and include access to:

examples of project governance documentation

records of governance implementation in stakeholder and team activities.

Assessors must satisfy SRTO2015/AQF assessor requirements.

https://internationaleducation.gov.au/Regulatory-Information/Education-Services-for-Overseas-Students-ESOS-Legislative-Framework/ESOS-Act

https://internationaleducation.gov.au/Regulatory-Information/Education-Services-for-Overseas-Students-ESOS-Legislative-Framework/ESOS-Act

http://www.danford.edu.au/

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Lesson/Session Plan

For face-to-face classroom based delivery as per timetable.

Delivery Day Delivery Topics Activities to be undertaken

1 About BSBPMG520 Manage project governance (Page 3)

Work through corresponding sections of Learner Materials and Assessment Tasks PowerPoint Presentation – Slides 1 - 4

2 Determine organisational governance policies, procedures and expectations of project stakeholders (Page 6)

Work through corresponding sections of Learner Materials and Assessment Tasks Activity 1 (Page 11) Commence Written Questions

3 Negotiate clear and discrete project governance roles and responsibilities with relevant authorities (Page 14)

Work through corresponding sections of Learner Materials and Assessment Tasks Activity 2 (Page 21) PowerPoint Presentation – Slides 5

4 Establish delegated authorities for project decision-making (Page 22)

Work through corresponding sections of Learner Materials and Assessment Tasks Activity 3 (Page 28) Commence Task 1 – Project Governance Management

5 Identify and record differences between the organisation’s functional authorities and project authorities (Page 30)

Work through corresponding sections of Learner Materials and Assessment Tasks Activity 4 (Page 41) PowerPoint Presentation – Slides 6- 37

6 Adopt, document and communicate unambiguous governance plan to relevant stakeholders (Page 42)

Work through corresponding sections of Learner Materials and Assessment Tasks Activity 5 (Page 45)

7 Distribute and present information on governance planning to project team and other relevant stakeholders and ensure common understanding (Page 48)

Work through corresponding sections of Learner Materials and Assessment Tasks

8 Barriers for Distributing Project Information (Page 50)


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Delivery Day Delivery Topics Activities to be undertaken

9 Include delegated authorities within role and project position descriptions (Page 52)


10 Delegating authority skills, tasks and the process of effective delegation (Page 54)


11 Moderate conflicts regarding roles, responsibilities and authorities to support achievement of project objectives (Page 64)

Work through corresponding sections of Learner Materials and Assessment Tasks Activity 8 (Page 84) PowerPoint Presentation – Slides 38-39

12 Planning Project Communications (Page 73)


13 Optimising Project Communications (Page 80)


14 Regularly report to the organisation and project authorities on performance and issues arising from governance arrangements (Page 86)


15 Roles & Responsibilities (Page 86) Work through corresponding sections of Learner Materials and Assessment Tasks

16 Analyse and review project governance impact on achieving project objectives (Page 88)


17 How to Review and Key Points (Page 90)


18 Document lessons learned and recommendations to assist future projects (Page 92)


19 ASSESSMENT Complete Written Questions

20 ASSESSMENT Complete Task 1 – Project Governance Management

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Knowledge Assessment (Written Tasks)

1. A project coordinator may typically found in a _________ organisation. (a) Projectized. (b) Strong matrix. (c) Weak matrix. (d) Balanced matrix. 2. The following are advantages of a projectized organisation EXCEPT. (a) Loyalty of the project team towards to the project. (b) Home for the team members after the project is completed (c) More effective communication between team members (d) Efficient project organisation 3. You are one of the five full time project managers in your organisation. You all share two administrative persons. There are generally 20-30 projects per year that involves about 25% of organisational employees – however these employees do not report to you. Your organisation can best be classified as (a) Projectized. (b) Balanced. (c) Strong Matrix. (d) Weak Matrix. 4. All of the followings are feature of projectized organisation EXCEPT: (a) Team Members are often collocated. (b) There is a home for project team member after project is completed. (c) Project managers have great deal of authority and independence. (d) Organisational units (or departments) either report directly to project manager or provide support service to the various projects. 5. A complex project will fit best in what type of organisation? (a) Functional (b) Cross-functional (c) Balance matrix (d) Projectized 6. In which type of organisation is team building likely to be most difficult? (a) Functional (b) Projectized (c) Balance matrix (d) None of the above 7. Communication is the prime responsibility of which of the following role. (a) Project manager in a weak matrix (b) Project manager in a projectized environment (c) Project coordinator (d) Project expeditor

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8. A type of organisation in which the project manager is most likely to have the strongest influence is called: (a) Functional (b) Weak Matrix (c) Strong Matrix (d) Projectized 9. The project governance team would assist in which of the following areas? (a) Developing protocols and procedures (b) Scheduling new employee orientation (c) Writing checks for invoices (d) Interviewing and hiring project coordinators 10. Outline 3 potential effects of a lack of appropriate governance.

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Task 1 – Project Governance Management

This assessment task requires you to:

devise and implement a governance plan, with an appropriate project management structure for a project of sufficient complexity to demonstrate the full range of performance requirements

demonstrate effective team leadership within context of project governance monitor and evaluate a project governance structure.

Assuming your organization was awarded the following tender:

ATM ID: NAA RFT 20xx/1058 Agency: National Archives of Australia Category: 81110000 - Computer services Close Date & Time: 15-Aug-20xx 2:00 pm (ACT Local Time) Publish Date: 15-Jul-20xx Location: ACT Canberra ATM Type: Request for Tender APP Reference: NAA20XX-1 Multi Agency Access: No Panel Arrangement: No Description:

A service provider is being sought for the technical upgrade of the Archives’ website Destination: Australia. In order to ensure the best value for money and optimal functionality (for the website and related exhibition interactive) going forward, it is necessary for the website to be transferred from a proprietary CMS to a commonly available CMS (including, but not limited to, an Open Source CMS).

The website will enable the National Archives of Australia to collect user contributed data about the photographic collection featured on the site. The interface must be modern, engaging and user-friendly, designed to meet the needs of people of all ages, and differing levels of computer and English literacy. The website must interact successfully with an exhibition interactive via an existing API. There is an option for hosting, maintenance and support services to be provided from contract execution until 31 December 2019.

Timeframe for Delivery: November/December 20XX with a possible extension of up to 3 years for hosting and maintenance.

The Requirement The National Archives of Australia (Archives) (the Customer) is responsible under the Archives Act 1983 (Cth) for the preservation and storage of Commonwealth records, including the archival resources of the Commonwealth.

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This procurement request relates to the website redevelopment and hosting and maintenance services for website Destination: Australia. The current website is located at https://www.destinationaustralia.gov.au The photographs showcased on this website are part of the Immigration Photographic Archive (Series A12111). This collection comprises more than 22,000 black-and-white and colour photographs taken by government photographers between 1946 and 1999 to record the arrival and settlement of migrants in Australia after World War II. The photographs were used in newspapers, magazines, posters, brochures and displays to promote Australia as a prosperous welcoming nation to potential migrants and to reassure the Australian public that new migrants would readily settle into the Australian way of life. In 2014, Destination: Australia was upgraded to encourage users to upload their own photographs and stories to share their migrant experience, further adding rich personal context to the Archives’ collection. These ‘Feature Stories’ are also available (via an API) in a ‘Globe’ interactive in the Archives’ exhibition A Ticket to Paradise?, which is touring nationally from April 2016 to September 2019. Required

Redevelopment of existing website Destination: Australia

Software to be either open source or common-use proprietary Content Management System (CMS)

One website prototype round, with testing and feedback

Website testing including content review

Final revisions

Final testing and bug fixes

Website handover

Final documentation including website style guides, master templates, admin user guidelines, technical specifications. This must be written in English with clear instructions for non-technical experts to operate the CMS.

Optional

External hosting and ongoing support with a service level agreement (3 years).

Updates and post implementation changes in response to user feedback Required deliverables API compatibility

The website must continue to work with the pre-existing API linking the content with an exhibition interactive

The administrator account to the Destination: Australia CMS must have a check box function that allows the administrator to select which feature stories will be published through the API to the exhibition interactive.

The API must be able to draw all user-added content in the selected feature stories, including photographs, through to the linked exhibition interactive.

The website will support sourcing and storing its data from the Archives’ API, according to API calls provided by the Archives, to ensure valid, up to date data is displayed on the website.

https://www.destinationaustralia.gov.au/

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The website must successfully GET, POST and PUT and DELETE data using the API within agreed timeframes.

Data from the API contains a mix of official records and user generated content

API compatibility and function must be maintained at all times until December 2019

The successful supplier will be provided with further documentation on the API. Accessibility/compatibility

All elements of the solution must comply with the relevant Australian Government mandatory criteria including meeting Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 – to Level AA. Refer to the Australian Government Digital Transformation Office website for more information – https://www.dto.gov.au/standard/design-guides/

Any online forms should include identifying mandatory fields, error validation and error suggestion on input fields (e.g. include @ for email addresses), as per the WCAG 2.0 Level AA.

All elements of the solution must display consistently across popular Windows, Macintosh and Linux browsers including Internet Explorer (V9 up), Firefox, Chrome, Safari and Opera.

Code to ensure ease of use and accessibility from desktop, tablet and smart phone / mobile platforms using responsive interface design.

Privacy, security and intellectual property

Data captured in online forms should reflect the Australian Privacy Principles (which unify the National Privacy Principals and the Information Privacy Principles) and security obligations of (ASD). Including any updates to how data should be stored according to the Australian Privacy Principles or security obligations.

Website security appropriate to support administration module, members’ pages, API developer key hidden and enables encryption of stored data including indexes and registered user’s personal details e.g. email address.

Hosting

The website application must be built to be hosted externally to the Archives’ IT infrastructure taking into account data sovereignty, data protection controls (see the Australian Government Protective Security Policy Framework (PSPF) and Information Security Manual) and compliance with the Privacy Act.

Please see ‘Optional Deliverables’ for information on the optional hosting component of this procurement process.

Aesthetic design

The aesthetic design of the website must be maintained for the upgraded website.

Style guides and other necessary components will be provided to the successful Supplier. Content Management System

The website must support formats to enable crowd sourced data and display of collection data including images.

The solution must provide an easy way for administrators to view and record user-generated activity across the site from within the administration CMS.

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The website’s supporting CMS or web application must have both a design and source interface enabling recognition of user contributed data and has the ability to manage full user administration and content moderation in-house. This must include tasks such as updating all content (including descriptions on collection photographs), monitoring and moderating user-generated data and where necessary, blocking, removing, editing and/or extracting user-generated data.

Administration module must be secure

Administration page displays name (as well as screen ID) of contributing users

The solution must support Google Analytics for website visitor statistics and pre-scripted database reports for listing and exporting all user generated content.

The website must comply with records management requirements to enable the website to be archived with user-generated data extracted (e.g. XML, CSV format and image formats) with relevant references for future re-purposing.

Email notifications to administrator

Email notification to be sent to [email protected] when a user adds a comment, tag, person, location to a collection photograph, or adds a feature story. Notifications should include a hyperlink to the new content in the CMS administrator account.

Email notification to be sent to [email protected] when a user reports comments or other content. Notifications must include a direct hyperlink to the reported content.

Public user login

Website users have the option of browsing and searching the website without registration. Anyone wishing to input data to the website must register and login with a unique email address and passphrase.

Existing usernames and passwords must carry over to the redeveloped site

Profile must include an online form for users to contact Archives to remove or edit their user-added content

Optional: ability for the user to ‘link’ together multiple stories that they have contributed by the user, or to allow sorting by tag with user name. The published feature story page would display a link to take viewers to the related stories.

Navigation

Website navigation must align with pre-existing information architecture for Destination: Australia.

Breadcrumbs must be added to the top of each page to enhance user navigation Search function

Ability to query search and return search results, this will be supported through the API calls, and the interface will need to be configured to return merged search requirements and apply search parameters (e.g. filters) for the Discovering Anzacs interface.

Required: free text feature stories and comments contributed by users must be posted back to the API to become searchable on Destination: Australia.

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User-added tags on stories must be posted back through the API to become searchable.

User-added locations on stories must be searchable and clickable to sort stories by place

Adding terms to the search parameters should refine the search (it currently expands the result field)

The website must include all images within the A12111 series/collection, and search results must display all relevant images. Check that search picks up all photographs in collection (or that Destination: Australia captures all images in A12111) – e.g. searching for “Petrus Mouwmans” does not give a result, although it is listed in RecordSearch: A12111, 1/1963/14/9.

Results distinguish between feature stories, collection items and user added photographs.

Results able to be sorted by category (feature story, collection item) or by date range (earliest to latest or vice versa)

Image title to appear at the top of the results display (currently “view this photograph”).

Hit highlighting - the search interface will support search term (eg. keyword, name) hit highlighting using bold or similar

Updates/fixes to ‘add your story’ form (see Attachment B for images of changes)

All free text fields must allow users to copy and paste text from other programs.

The fields ‘Year’, ‘Country of origin’, ‘Theme’ and ‘Photos’ (at least one) must be compulsory

Adding images

‘Add photos’ must be moved to location above ‘Add Your Story’

When adding an image from the website, the citation and image caption must also be imported. The citation (e.g. NAA: A12111, 2/1969/4A/18) must be locked in, with the option for the user to personalise the caption.

When adding an image from the website, users must be able to search by collection control symbols and non-consecutive key words.

When adding an image from the website, user has the ability to refine the search using date range.

When adding an image from the website, clicking ‘enter’ after typing keyword must initiate the search (currently takes user to blank error page).

‘Add image from website’ search must return all results available through Destination: Australia.

The website must perform checks to ensure the user is uploading an accepted size and format (e.g. png, jpeg) and provide error messages where limits are exceeded.

Optional: add a new function to allow users to select from their ‘Favourite’ images to add to their story.

Optional: users able to crop images before they upload. Add your story

‘Add your story’ text field must allow simple formatting: paragraph breaks, italics.

Must display Latin diacritics (accents e.g. acute é, grave è, circonflex ê, caron č; dots e.g. diaeresis ë; cedilla ç, ogonek ą).

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Feature story publishing process

Selecting ‘Preview’ must save a copy that allows for the user to return and edit content. This draft copy must not be publicly available at this stage.

Selecting ‘Save your story’ (on contribution form page) or ‘Save and submit’ (on preview page) submits the story to the CMS and publishes the feature story on the live website

Stories are automatically published on submission. Feature story display page (front end)

On published feature stories, viewers must be able to click on categories (year, country, tags, locations) to bring up a list of any other stories/images with the same user-added metadata

Must display Latin diacritics (accents e.g. acute é, grave è, circonflex ê, caron č; dots e.g. diaeresis ë; cedilla ç, ogonek ą)

Must display simple formatting: line breaks, italics

Images must be able to open for larger display in a lightbox, with accompanying caption

Optional: where a user has added a photograph from the website, the image on the published feature story page links back to the image display page for the particular record (i.e. with metadata, comments, tags etc).

Optional: if users add data to ‘location’, map with tagged locations should be shown on published feature story page.

Record display page (front end)

Required: create ‘order record’ button that takes the user through to PhotoSearch result for that image and the associated ‘ordering images’ text box.

Home page

Optional: preview of ‘Feature stories’ displays feature stories at random Testing

The Supplier must outline the project plan and team roles and the testing strategy and plan. It should also include any handover files and documentation to be provided for implementation.

Extensive testing will be required prior to the website launch. This includes iterative testing during development, implementation of changes and subsequent re-testing.

On implementation and handover the Destination: Australia website should be fully functional and populated with relevant content and data. As part of the website handover, training sessions and support documentation for nominated administrators will also be required.

Testing must include success of API calls to/from the Destination: Australia website for creation, deletion, updates and retrieval of data in conjunction A Ticket to Paradise? ‘globe’ interactive.

The National Archives will determine when the website is ready to be launched and the date. However, the supplier must be able to meet the nominal launch date of 25 October 2016.

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Acknowledgements The banner (visible on all pages) must include:

Destination: Australia web tile

Multi-agency logo for the National Archives of Australia and the Department of Immigration and Border Protection (to be provided by the Customer)

The following tagline: o ‘The National Archives acknowledges the support of the Department of

Immigration and Border Protection for the Destination: Australia website’, with the text ‘Department of Immigration and Border Protection’ hyperlinked to the website https://www.border.gov.au/

Progress meetings and reports The successful Supplier will be required to:

Attend the project kick-off meeting (face-to-face / teleconference)

Attend regular updates at an agreed time and day, at least fortnightly.

Attend scheduled project meetings to report at key milestones or deliverables throughout the project.

Communicate any issues which may impact agreed project tolerances as they occur

Attend project wrap-up meeting with final deliverables and website handover including report/documentation.

Work collaboratively with National Archives staff and Suppliers to meet expectations and resolve issues.

Optional

Should the option of host services be agreed to by the Customer, the Supplier must attend ongoing support meetings or maintain regular communication as required, up until the end of the contract.

Project Management Requirements

The Archives will nominate a Project Manager who will be responsible for liaison with the successful supplier in relation to management of the contract and overall service delivery.

Potential Suppliers must specify all staff and subcontractors proposed to complete the work.

The successful Supplier will be required to nominate a Project Manager as the primary point of contact for the Archives. This person will be responsible for the management of the contract as a whole and for liaison with the Archives’ Project Manager.

After delivery The Supplier must commit to providing defect resolution in the post-launch period, up to 30 April 20xx, in response to Archives user testing and feedback. In this period the Supplier must complete full internal testing and bug fixes before any solution release for publishing.

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Optional deliverables Hosting and maintenance The Potential Supplier should provide a response for an optional service level agreement, to host the website externally to the Archives’ infrastructure, provide ongoing maintenance and support until 31 December 2019.

The website application must be hosted externally to the Archives’ IT infrastructure taking into account data sovereignty, data protection controls (see the Australian Government Protective Security Policy Framework (PSPF) and Information Security Manual) and compliance with the Privacy Act.

Quality of service requirement in order to maintain its effectiveness; available 99% of up time annually and has appropriate back-up (with equal features to meet above-mentioned data security and privacy requirements) scalability options and recovery processes.

Response time for issues to be negotiated and confirmed with the successful Supplier. Capability to function with future API’s Potential to link with National Archives’ and external sources’ collections and data, via API’s that may be developed in the future.

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PART 1

Governance Plan

ATM ID: NAA RFT 2017/1058

Agency: National Archives of Australia

Category: 81110000

Computer services

Template with guidelines

Prepared by:

Position:

Date:

Version No:

Explain the use of this type of table

in a governance report Explain the

DOCUMENT REVISION HISTORY

DOCUMENT REVISION HISTORY

Version Changes Date Updated By Authorised by: (Name/Title)

Approval signatures

Explain the governance relationships for Administrative closure for the

National Archives Project.

Explain the “Distribution to the stakeholders” process for this project:

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Table of contents (Insert the page numbers below)

1. Introduction

2. Governance Framework and Structure

3. Project Governance Roles and Responsibilities

4. Risk and Issue escalation process

5. Project Management Documentation

6. High level stakeholder engagement process

7. High level funding agreement

1. Introduction

1.1 Overview of the client company (National Archives) and its requirement.

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1.2 Define project governance plan and the scope of the document.

1.3 The key objectives of the governance plan are:

1

2

3

4

1.4 Identify Project components/ key stakeholders that makes up the steering committee and

advising team.

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2. Governance framework and structure

2.1 Discuss the project’s policies and procedures in compliance with corporate governance.

Also, mention where project governance approach needs to be documented. (Audit

process)

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2.2 Explain how the project governance ensures that project portfolios are aligned with

organisational goals and strategy. Outline how the governance framework keeps the

components on track and coordinated to achieve the common outcome for this project.

What activities were undertake to ensure that all the project stakeholders had a common

understanding of the project’s governance plan? Who approves this approach to

stakeholder engagement?

2.3 Design an organisational and project structure chart for each of the organisations in the

project. Highlight the people that you would include in a steering committee or advisory

group for the project.

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Project Team

Client

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Steering Committee:

Explain how this steering committee would influence the project.

3. Project governance roles,

responsibilities and

delegation.

3.1 This section explains the roles, responsibilities and delegations for the key people in the project team.

Name/Title Role Responsibility Delegations

Explain the use of this type of table in a governance report Explain the

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3.2 Describe how these governance roles and responsibilities were negotiated with the project stakeholders.

3.3 Provide an example of a project team member’s position description that includes the project’s delegated authorities.

Explain the

3.4 Project Governance reporting requirements.

This section lists the report recipients and outlines the type, format and frequency of

project reporting.

Name/Initiator Title Report Type

Delivery Method

Format Recipient Frequency


4 Risk and Issue Escalation

Process

4.1 This section identifies various risks and issues involved at various stages of project development.

Explain how escalation works in this project Explain

the.

Identification Prioritization Analysis Reporting

Escalation

N

Y

e

Resolution

Closure

Resolution

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Name/Role Risk/Issue reported Description/Analysis Timing Action Issue status (open/closed)

Lessons learned/Raised By


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4.2 Provide an example of project

governance conflict and state how

was it resolved? Also, provide an

example of issue or risk that was escalated to the project steering committee for review and resolution.

5 Project Management documentation

5.1 List the various project documents for review, approval and compliance audit.

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5.2 Project Management

deliverables

This section outlines project management deliverables in each phase of the project (the project management deliverables

(e.g. project schedule, communication plan, progress report, etc.))

Once the project management documents are submitted, they are reviewed and approved by the concerned authorities in the project team.


Deliverable Recipients Delivery Date Delivery Method

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5.3 Review and Endorsement

process

Project Documents Reviewer Approver


Explain the

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6 Describe the various funding

sources and explain who is

responsible to gather project-

specific information regarding funding process.

Explain the

7. Indicate how the project’s governance arrangements impacted on the arrangement of the project’s objectives. (Connect with item 1.3)

Source: Australian Institute of Company Directors

Reference: http://www.companydirectors.com.au/~/media/resources/director-resource-

centre/publications/company-director-

magazine/images/2012/cdcgovframework.ashx?w=760&h=1013&as=1&la=en&hash=03B52B2EBA93157A1C2

07B8E14789B67C03E5A9C

http://www.companydirectors.com.au/~/media/resources/director-resource-centre/publications/company-director-magazine/images/2012/cdcgovframework.ashx?w=760&h=1013&as=1&la=en&hash=03B52B2EBA93157A1C207B8E14789B67C03E5A9C




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BSB51415 DIPLOMA OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT

College Copy

Unit Code and Title: BSBPMG520 - Manage project governance

Assessment task Due Dates

Assessment 1 Due Date:


I Student ID acknowledge receiving the

Student Assessment Information Pack, which contains:

o Assessment Due Date Sheet

o Time table /Training Plan

o Lesson Plan

o Student Assessment Information Guide

o Assessment Cover Sheets

o Feedback form

o Student Resource

o Internet Access for online Business Environment Simulation with Login Key or access to college

simulated business documents on internal intranet.

Student Signature:

Date :

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BSB51415 DIPLOMA OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT

Student Copy

Unit Code and Title: BSBPMG520 - Manage project governance

Assessment task Due Dates



I Student ID acknowledge receiving the

Student Assessment Information Pack, which contains:

o Assessment Due Date Sheet

o Time table / Training Plan

o Lesson Plan

o Student Assessment Information Guide

o Assessment Cover Sheets

o Feedback form

o Student Resource

o Internet Access for online Business Environment Simulation with Login Key or access to college

simulated business documents on internal intranet.

Student Signature:

Date :

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A S S E S S M E N T S U M M A R Y / C O V E R S H E E T

This form is to be completed by the assessor and used a final record of student competency. All student submissions including any associated checklists (outlined below) are to be attached to this cover sheet before placing on the students file. Student results are not to be entered onto the Student Database unless all relevant paperwork is completed and attached to this form.

Student Name:

Student ID No:

Final Completion Date:

Unit Code: BSBPMG520

Unit Title: Manage project governance

Assessors Name: Unit

Outcome C NYC

Result: S = Satisfactory, NYS = Not Yet Satisfactory, NA = Not Assessed

Knowledge Assessment - Questions and Answers

S | NYS | NA

Task 1

S | NYS | NA

Is the Learner ready for assessment? Yes No

Has the assessment process been explained? Yes No

Does the Learner understand which evidence is to be collected and how?

Yes No

Have the Learner’s rights and the appeal system been fully explained?

Yes No

Have you discussed any special needs to be considered during assessment?

Yes No

I agree to undertake assessment in the knowledge that information gathered will only be used for professional development purposes and can only be accessed by my manager and the RTO:

Learner Signature: I have received, discussed and accepted my result as mentioned above for this unit assessment and I am aware about my rights to appeal.

Date:

Assessor Signature: I declare that I have conducted a fair, valid, reliable and flexible assessment with this student, and I have provided appropriate feedback.

Date:

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ASSESSMENT COVER SHEET

Unit BSBPMG520 - Manage project governance

Course BSB51415 DIPLOMA OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT

Student Name: Student ID:

Group: Date

Title of Assignment:

Knowledge Assessment - Questions and Answers

Assessor Name:

This cover sheet must be attached to your assignment.

Declaration:

1. I am aware that penalties exist for plagiarism and unauthorized collusion with other students.

2. I am aware of the requirements set by my educator with regards to the presentation of documents and assignments.

3. I have retained a copy of my assignment.

Student Signature:___________________________

Date:________________________________________

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QUES TI ON & A NS W ER C H EC KL IS T

BSBPMG520 - Manage project governance S NYS Learner’s name:

Assessor’s name:

Question Correct ()

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10 Feedback to Learner:

Assessor’s Signature:

Date:

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ASSESSMENT COVER SHEET


Course BSB51415 DIPLOMA OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT

Student Name: Student ID:

Group: Date

Title of Assignment:

Task 1

Assessor Name:

This cover sheet must be attached to your assignment.

Declaration:

1. I am aware that penalties exist for plagiarism and unauthorized collusion with other students.

2. I am aware of the requirements set by my educator with regards to the presentation of documents and assignments.

3. I have retained a copy of my assignment.

Student Signature:___________________________

Date:________________________________________

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TA S K 1 C H EC KL IS T

S NYS

Learner’s name:

Assessor’s name:

Observation Criteria S NS

Determined organisational governance policies, procedures and expectations of project stakeholders

Negotiated clear and discrete project governance roles and responsibilities with relevant authorities

Established delegated authorities for project decision-making Identified and recorded differences between the organisation’s functional authorities and project authorities

Adopted, documented and communicated unambiguous governance plan to relevant stakeholders

Distributed and presented information on governance planning to project team and other relevant stakeholders and ensure common understanding

Included delegated authorities within role and project position descriptions

Moderated conflicts regarding roles, responsibilities and authorities to support achievement of project objectives

Regularly reported to the organisation and project authorities on performance and issues arising from governance arrangements

Analysed and reviewed project governance impact on achieving project objectives

Documented lessons learned and recommendations to assist future projects

Feedback to Learner:

Assessor’s Signature:

Date:

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Student Feedback Form


Student Name: Date

Assessor Name:

Please provide us some feedback on your assessment process. Information provided on this form is used for evaluation of our assessment systems and processes. This information is confidential and is not released to any external parties without your written consent. There is no need to sign your name as your feedback is confidential.

Strongly Disagree

Agree

Strongly Agree

I received information about the assessment requirements prior to undertaking the tasks

1 2

3

4

5

The assessment instructions were clear and easy to understand

1 2 3 4 5

I understood the purpose of the assessment 1 2 3 4 5

The assessment meet your expectation 1 2 3 4 5

My Assessor was organised and well prepared 1 2 3 4 5

The assessment was Fair, Valid, Flexible and Reliable 1 2 3 4 5

My Assessor's conduct was professional 1 2 3 4 5

The assessment was an accurate reflection of the unit requirements

1 2 3 4 5

I was comfortable with the outcome of the assessment

1 2 3 4 5

I received feedback about assessments I completed 1 2 3 4 5

The pace of this unit was: Too Slow Great Pace

Too Fast

Comments: