Project Governance Theory and Application in the APS—Research Overview
Project Governance Theory and Application in the APS—Research Overview
This article was originally presented in the July 2010 newsletter of the ACT Chapter of AIPM.
Susan Woodcock spoke at the July WIPM talking about her progress to date on her PhD where there is a significant research thesis component which is focussed on governance in the Australian Public Service. To highlight why she chose the topic, she listed a number of quotes from the popular press reporting on major project failures.
Having talked about her research approach, Susan gave some definitions of Project Governance:
- Project Governance is a framework that sets out the structure, resources, communication, reporting and monitoring systems to manage a project consistent with an organisations corporate or strategic vision (Wilson & Connell, 2008)
- Project Governance can be seen as a discipline under Corporate Governance. It refers to the design and implementation of processes, structures and communications that need to exist for a successful project (AGIMO, 2007)
In talking of the principles of good governance, Susan used the following diagram from the Office for Public Management, London, 2004.
Susan then moved onto the elements of a Governance framework based on the work done by Mueller (2009), namely:
1. Focus on what is done
–Processes and Practices
–Audits/reviews
–Mentor programs
–Maturity Model
2. Focus on what should be done
–Steering Committees
–Project Management Office
–Benchmarking
3. Focus on what can be done
–Methodology
–Certification
–Education and Training
Susan then covered the six elements the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO, 2003) consider to make a difference in successfully implementing
government policy and delivering public services.
These were:
1. Ensuring the governance formalities are in place:
2. Providing leadership:
3. Understanding your organisation its goals and its environment:
4. Investing in a sound planning approach to drive the agency forward and obtain ownership of the goals and strategies:
5. Investing in risk management at the enterprise, divisional and project level — the goal is to develop a culture that manages risks as part of day-to-day management.
6. Measuring, monitoring and evaluating performance: measure KPIs, self-evaluating; self regulating: However, as Susan pointed out, application of these elements can be complex—and very subjective!
Click to return to News
