Please update your browser
We have detected that you are using an outdated browser that will prevent you from using
certain features. An update is required to improve your browsing experience.
We have detected that you are using an outdated browser that will prevent you from using
certain features. An update is required to improve your browsing experience.
@AmbassadorAbraham, could you please elaborate further on the 7 issues you spoke about in your submission on project governance? What are they, and what brief duties are they involved in?
That sounds pleasing @ignitius. We hope you would make the best out of the moment here in PhilanthropyU.
@Bisong, you are right in your assertion. We would appreciate it greatly if you could share with us how the governance structure in your organization works.
I work in a small organisation. The Project manager reports the the director who sit will the donors. The donors are actively involved in the project therefore decision and made with donor engagement. The project manager makes changes with direct approval from the director.
@Lostone ,you've explained your organization's project management structure in a clear,precise manner.Thanks for sharing your answer with us.
Project officer is mostly responsible for all project activities and coordination of goal and objectives between stakeholders. He has all records of proceedings and plannings directed towards the success of the project
@Betterdays1 ,thanks for highlighting the project officer's role in the context of your organization's project governance structure.
how is the project report communicated to different stakeholders? how changes to report and budget is done and whose approval is needed to do these changes?
@17-915 ,the way a project report is presented to stakeholders varies with each organization.Methods of presentation can include face to face meetings,use of social media channels like Zoom,WhatsApp,Slack & Facebook to review a project report's content.Email is also another way of sharing & reviewing report content.
New updates to the report are made by a project staff member that's responsible for compiling the facts & figures about the project that's been running for a certain period of time.Budget deductions or boosts are determined by financial team that the project manager reports to.
In my organization, both the donors and the board participate in decision making especially those that does not have a direct impact on the beneficiaries of the project.
@SarveshSrivastava ,thanks for expressing your point of view on project governance.
In my organization, there are projects from funders as well as normal activities of the organization will be covered by a budget from the government treasury. The formal work run by the government budget the finance director in collaboration with the planning office will give us what is budgeted in the fiscal year and how they used it at the end of the budget year. Meaning they will give us information twice: first how much is the budget of the institute and then how efficient they were in using the budget. However, regarding the budget obtained from funders we don't have any information who is managing and using it. What we know is there are projects in our institution funded by the international conservation organizations.
@yihew_miku ,I love how you've clearly explained your organization's project's governance structure.In the context of your organization,what are the roles of the project manager?
The project managers are responsible in executing the projects activities, developing reports and submitting to the donors. Moreover, they are placed representing the donating organizations in our institution.
Executive Director will organize project governance by setting up team roles and responsibilities. Project Manager will be communicating with the funder and overseeing all the planning and project implementation, budget, task division among team member, risk-assessment and key-decision making. Project Manager reported directly to executive director. Community engagement officer focuses on the project implementation, ensuring the program as planned and involved in assessing and mitigating risk. Monitoring and evaluation officer will assess and evaluate the effectiveness of project delivery, KPI achievement and involved in risk assessment & mitigation.
How does your organization conduct project governance?
The project manager is in constant reporting to the director, the project coordinator, finance and M&E is accountable to the project manager
The work team, the project is part of an area of ​​the organization or institution, so the governance is audited and created, so it is composed of the university's volunteer coordination, the representatives of the resistance student group university, which make up the administration and management part, where the formulator of the project (project director) is located, those who carry out the calls and strategic alliances and the work coordinator. Linked professionals who belong to volunteering or not who make up the coordination of each assistance committee and the informal education group, information management workers who may be students belonging to volunteering or not, in terms of the communications part are student volunteers belonging to the university volunteers. The director reports the project to the Vice-rectory of social projection of the university, the department of student development, the department of integral university well-being, the psychological care program of the university and the group of students "Student resistance of the university" decisions that can take, converge to formulation and endorsement of the project, restructuring of the project, budget, scope, and purpose, linking of personnel, disclosure, administration.
Since my organization is a small one, the project manager is saddled with the responsibility of making changes during the project execution process with prior approval of the governing board. Inline with the scope of the project and budget.
that seems to be more inclusive, might work well in smaller organisations i suppose
project governance as far as discussed seems to be an integral part, will make sure to mind that when starting to work or run an organisation
There are no hard and fast rule regarding the structure of project governance. The only constant is the purpose it serves which is to ensure that the interests of all stakeholders in a project is delivered with minimal conflicts.
For small NGOs, it will not be surprising for governance to reside with the project sponsor(s) who are usually the founders. For large NGOs, the governance structure will likely be broader due to the range of interests that need to be served. Projects in large NGOs usually have a comprehensive charter that clearly indicate the decision-making powers of the project manager.
In all cases, no project is embarked upon without a plan. hence, even, for small NGOs, governance conflicts can be avoided during the planning stage by ensuring that decision-making powers of the project team is clearly specified. Responsibility need to be matched with authority.
In most organizations, the project management team is the group of people responsible for updating the project plan. The project plan is many things to the project manager. It is a record of what has occurred on the project. It illustrates what is happening on the project right now. And, it prepares the project team by showing what will be coming up.
Project governance is critical and must be followed correctly to avoid shifting of blames and to ensure the success of the project.
How do you decide what kind of decisions to include the donors and other parts? You include them in all the decisions, or just in the most relevant decisions?
At my organization, I'm the director and founder. All staff report to me weekly.
Tamika, I think if you are using the RACI matrix, you are meant to define one Accountable person. If there is multiple accountable persons, you start losing the benefit of clearly defining a single accountable person for a project.
At my Organization the project Manager is answerable and reports directly to the Chief Officer who has a direct entirety of the project. The project manager normally is allowed to make changes in case of any but upon communicating with the chief officer and presented in documentation in the project charter.
Thank you
Thanks for this course
In my organization the project manager reports directly to the director on issues to do with the project , however if there is a change in scope , schedule or budget the donors must be notified before effecting the changes
At my organization, the project manager reports directly to the CEO, who independently makes up the entirety of the project governance.
Hi !
How the project Manager can Identify the problem and find solution without participated into the project design?
In my organization ,the Manager report to Manager of Operations and then to Operations Director.
Thank you for sharing
@fyebeize, please note that the project manager is ideally suppose to be present at the project design stage, which is also part of his/her duties. Therefore, knowing the anticipated issues even before going into the project execution.
Project Governance is very important as it make the work of the Project Manager easy as the Project Manager always knows the channel of authority to aid in easy and quick decision making.
All should be stated in the charter
Project manager of our organisation report to the project governance which comprise of the Chief Executive Officer, The Head of Programmes, The Head of Finance and the Head of Administration. When the project manager observe that the scope, schedule and budget need to change, he propose it to the project governance in a formal way that shows the proper reason for the change and the proposed plan to be implemented once the changes are done. Once the permission is done to change the constraints of the project, the project manager implement the project as directed by the project governance.
Our project is structured in a way where a project manager reports to the reginal project manager. The project implementation is mainly carried out by our community volunteers that are governed under a community volunteer committee structure. They are answerable to our community facilitators that also operates under the supervision of the project manager.
The frequency of manager's reporting to director depends on the own project and need based.
Our project is at the experimental stage hence we are all pretty much involved in decision making. However we have franchising officers who are allowed to make decision relating to the caregivers we work with, They report to franchising coordinator who then reports to franchising manager. Most of the project strategic decisions are made my the franchising manager in consultation of franchising coordinators. She reports to the country manager who have the final say on everything we do.
Project Governance is very important as it make the work of the Project Manager easy as the Project Manager always knows the channel of authority to aid in easy and quick decision making.
My company project way is structured in a vertical way. On our projects, the project manager reports to his line manager who is a manager also. The project manager can change schedules and tasks, but they need to get the permission of the line manager to change any budgets, deadlines, or requirements.
Hello,
With regard to project governance the project manager must consult with the project director who sits on the trustee board. The project manager is not able to deviate from the scope or budget unless authorized and given prior approval from the project director. All requests to deviate must be forwarded promptly to the project director.
Hello,
Thank you for that information, my question however, is who does the project manager report to in your scenario? Additionally, do you have a managing director or a board that determines the feasibility of scope deviation, time extension or budget increase or decrease.
-Delvonne
I'm just new in Project Management but I think Project Governance is very important in every project. I'm looking forward to learn more in the succeeding module. Thank you.
Our organization is small and we have one Project manager and one donor. Both work together dealing with all the problems and barriers to make the project goes on. The communication of the project manager to the donor about the main processes inside the project is made directly, through emails, phone calls, and formal meetings. However, the donor sometimes help the project manager giving some solutions to the problems. The reports happen weekly and the project manager is allowed to change everything that is necessary but before he has to inform the donor what something is going to happen and the reason.
The project manager in my organization answers to the principle investigator. He provides overall oversight to the project and ensure the project deliverables are are achieved as per the budget and schedule.
At I-TECH - Malawi, the Project Manager reports directly to the Project Director but sometimes depending on the nature of the problem identified the Project Manager can report directly to the Country Representative of the organisation. He delegates the tasks and responsibilities to the District Coordinator who in turn delegates the tasks further to the Site Coordinators. Both the District Coordinator and the Site Coordinator are seconded to Ministry of Health based at various districts across the country. At district level the site Coordinator supervises the HDA'S who are based at a health facility.
In my organization the project officer is responsible for all project activities and coordination of goal and objectives between stakeholders. Project officer then directly addresses reports to project manager.
Budget is very important for without a proper budget no everything comes to a stand still.
In my organization (for what I have understood so far): every project has a project leader and coordinator ( who is usually a project manager) then there a main writer, a second writer, someone who will review the first and second draft and the budget, and then two persons in charge of the final reading and approval.
In my organization (for what I have understood so far): every project has a project leader and coordinator ( who is usually a project manager) then there a main writer, a second writer, someone who will review the first and second draft and the budget, and then two persons in charge of the final reading and approval.
In my organization (for what I have understood so far): every project has a project leader and coordinator ( who is usually a project manager) then there a main writer, a second writer, someone who will review the first and second draft and the budget, and then two persons in charge of the final reading and approval.
In the organization I worked with, the project manager has the budget and he/she is allowed to spend it according to the plan decided together and approved. If there is going to be a significant change in the cost, it has to be decided with the administration, and eventually with the team, to understand if there can be other solutions.
I think it depends on the scopes and also the schedule, if there is a limitation of costs, can you reduce the goals and schedule to be lighter so that the budget is not too heavy
As I've worked in a really small organization, there where only 3 projects officers that reported directly to the Director. Each of them always managed projects of the same donor. They could change schedules, tasks, budgets and deadlines but they need to get the permission of the donor. The Director is only informed and gets involved only in problematic situations.
Do you have regular meetings in the organization?
Project Governance is truly a very crucial aspect of project management. There is a hierarchy and one person has to be responsible to the one above them. At my orgaization for instance, project managers are accountable to program coordinators who are then answerable to the country director. This really helps to ensure acountability.
I have learned so much with this introduction, it has been incredibly helpful. Thank you!
In the Organization I work, the Project Manager reports to the Country director who updates all stakeholders and the donors.
Gilbert Banda
Lundazi, Zambia
Project Governance gives flexibility to stakeholders and the Project Manager, it is a powerful tool especially for bigger Organizations. I think your Organization does it well every staff operating within their responsibilities and duties.
Project Governance is very important and critical to the entire project because it helps both the project manager, the stakeholders , and the entire project team to understand their roles and responsibility about the project before it starts and even when on the project.
Our project is structured in a way where a project manager reports to the Senior project manager. The project implementation is mainly carried out by our technical specialists
@Gilbanda, thanks for joining the discussion. Can you please share with us how a change on the project is handled in your organization?
@Gilbanda, yes it is a great tool and so are the other tools used throughout the course. Can you please share with us how a change on a project is handled in your organization.
@MUTHEO, thank you for sharing the project governance structure in your organization with us.
@tcyoung, you have accurately established the essence of the the Project Governance to us in your response.
Thank you for this informative post. it is very helpful
In my organization we have a properly laid out organogram that displays the ogranization structure and who reports to who also stating close and distant supervisors. The project manager is however responsible to make decisions with the help of the team and final word on decisions made is given by the director as his superior.
In my organization, the Project Manager reports to the General Manager, the CEO of the organization. The CEO is the secretary to the Board of the organization. And the Board serves as the Project Governance responsible for setting the directions of the project, making decisions of the project, and serves as the oversight of the entire project. At times, the project manager is invited to the Board to answer questions pertaining the project.
I think it depends on the scopes and also the schedule, if there is a limitation of costs, can you reduce the goals and schedule to be lighter so that the budget is not too heavy
For my case , am the contractor majoring in small projects especially finishing and designing of residential houses. In most cases I have acted as a sub contractor. I usually take it upon myself to manage the tasks or work at hand and in case of any challenge I talk to my boss or the main contractor. Of course we usually agree on the project scope and the role of each one of us in case we met any challenge.
I can definitely relate to your situation. As a very small organization made up of mostly volunteers, our founder is the main person delegating tasks. We are, however, given assignments that we are free to design and implement as long as she has approved. It gives a small sense of pride, I think, when we are trusted with such projects.
In our organisation, the project manager reports the president of cuncil. He can not to change thé schedule, budget and deadlines.
@Sakhile, thanks for sharing your organization's governance structure with us.
Thanks for sharing @Amdany.
@jurdy258, there are ways to handle a change on a project stipulated in the Project Charter, hence a change cannot be handled in a way to suit a situation by personal dictates. A change has a domino effect on the project thus ought to be handled carefully.
@BenBen, thanks for sharing the governance structure of your organization with us.
Project Governance in our project is structured in the sense that the project Manager reports to project Director. He only have the authority to change the project team members, schedule and the budget can be changed by the project Director.
In this module, the importance of project governance is emphasised. A project manager should not shy away from having this important conversation even though it might be difficult. This is to make sure that there is no power struggle.
In my previous organisation, the reports to the director. The manager met the director once every month and the leadership team once a month to update on progress. The manager could decide on minor changes on all areas 5% or less change anticipated, anything above that it was decided by the Director though the manager proposed the changes
Our project the project manager reports to the managing director of our organization. The project manager can change the tasks, deadlines and schedules with approvals from the managing director.
In our office, the Project Manager is responsible to the Programmes Director and he reports in a weekly basis.
He is responsible to provide overall project management and supervise Field Officers. He can make decisions in all matters except on budget reallocation and work plan.
@ndemaleo, thank you for enjoying the discussion.
That was rightly said @R_o_s_e_l_i_n_e_.
@ALICEM, thank you for sharing with us the Governance Structure in your organization.
@Bulugurm, thank you for your contribution.
When the chief operational officer provides report updates to the Managing Director, does he or she excludes updates on the organization's finances since the MD receives those reports from the finance officer directly?
The donors some times have influence over the planning and execution of project; this where effective communication, transparency and accountability comes in.
Because during the planning session, your donors are carried along as they might need mid report for clarification on project execution which therefore can lead to them pinpointing some plan adjustments.
This so on point..... you nailed it
How does your organisation deals with volunteer in managing their work input in the organisation
Project governance is the management framework within which project decisions are made. ... Therefore, the role of project governance is to provide a decision making framework that is logical, robust and repeatable to govern an organization's capital investments.
according to me i always give reporting directly project manager daily monthly quarterly and annually
In our office, the Project Manager is responsible to the Programmes Director and he reports in a weekly basis.
He is responsible to provide overall project management and supervise Field Officers. He can make decisions in all matters except on budget reallocation and work plan.
Great work
Decisions are made at the meeting after discussing on the project status
Responsibilities start with a low-level employee in the community; the employee reports to the Director then the director submits it to the executive Secretary.
The project manager report to the Director General of the Institution.
The Project Manager makes decisions related to Personnel Management and other minor issues
Serious issues are first discussed with senior executives before decision making
Do you ever see conflicts between shifts requested by funders and what the project management feels is best? If so, how do you work through them?