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In my organization, the project manager reports directlty to the Head of Programs who reports to the Executive Director. The Executive Director has the ultimate decision making authority, however, there are certain decisions that he must also consult the prime partner according to the nature of the partnership. The project manager however has the opportunity to make recommendations that can influence some of the decisions made. The structure ensures good communication between the project Manager and project governance team.

The project manager in my organization reports to the COO who then reports to the CEO

Governance depends on the structure of the organisation. In our case, the Principal Tutor heads the Technical team of tutors while the finance and administration officer coordinates all activities and reports to the Executive Officer who is responsible to the Board of Directors who in turn are also responsible to the Board of
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Project Governance is integral part of delivering successful project.

In my organization, the project manager reports to the project director. Decisions regarding changes to scope, schedule or budget are done by the country's leadership team for the organization. The prject manager cannot make huge decisions on their own without consulting the higher managment.

In our project, the Program Manager reports to the Head of Program who reports to the Executive Director. The Manager is only allowed to make assumptions on budget reallocations but this must be approved by either the Head of Programs or the Executive Director depending on the amount.

This was informative. I am going to apply the Work Breakdown Structure to my projects.

I feel like a project manager already!. This course is well-detailed and informative.

Such a great project governance.

The project governance for my organisation falls on the CEO and a steering committee of high-level stakeholders. This group not only provides broad oversight, but they also make decisions about where the project is headed. Additionally, subcommittees may be given responsibility for certain aspects of the project from the steering committee. However, all decisions made by the board must have approval from the CEO before anything is carried out .

With this topic in mind, I am now able see the gaps in our project governance.

@fyebeize said in Module 1 Discussion: Project Governance:

Hi !

How the project Manager can Identify the problem and find solution without participated into the project design?

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

We are currently implementing emergency projects without conducting complete assessment. Even though, head of the department acts as project manager and is authorized by country office to decide about schedule as fit the context. But in budget and scope probably have discussion with head quarter office.

So what does the project manager do in your organization? or the project manager is responsible for just implementation or on other words the project manager is responsible to the committee.

The project manager should report to the director monthly. The Donor is involved in project governance, in that they may need to know and approve changes in the scope, budget, or schedule.

In, My projects , we will ensure about our plans , customer, shareholders, employees and the external factors. These are most valuable for my organisation to reaching out the projects to the ordinary peoples in rural or urban areas of the country.

The responsibility and accountibility of the projects are the organisation managers in all over the post , then CEO of our organisation

Before You Start
AN IMPORTANT REMINDER ABOUT FACT-CHECKING
Some of the information that you communicate with your beneficiaries may be about the disease itself, COVID-19. As a trusted member of your community, you may feel a responsibility to pass along information about preventing the disease.

Unfortunately, it can be very easy to accidentally pass along misleading or inaccurate information about COVID-19. Even careful professionals sometimes struggle to accurately share information about this disease, due to the large amount of misinformation and confusion.

This is why, before you send ANY information about the COVID-19 disease, you need to take additional steps to fact-check the information. In other words, follow the CDC’s rule “Be Right.”

Vet and verify all the information you plan to send, and be sure to point your beneficiaries towards trusted and reliable sources. Here are some websites for accurate COVID-19 information:

World Health Organization: Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) information
World Health Organization: Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) advice for the public: Myth busters
International Fact-Checking Network: Coronavirus facts alliance

Before You Start
AN IMPORTANT REMINDER ABOUT FACT-CHECKING
Some of the information that you communicate with your beneficiaries may be about the disease itself, COVID-19. As a trusted member of your community, you may feel a responsibility to pass along information about preventing the disease.

Unfortunately, it can be very easy to accidentally pass along misleading or inaccurate information about COVID-19. Even careful professionals sometimes struggle to accurately share information about this disease, due to the large amount of misinformation and confusion.

This is why, before you send ANY information about the COVID-19 disease, you need to take additional steps to fact-check the information. In other words, follow the CDC’s rule “Be Right.”

Vet and verify all the information you plan to send, and be sure to point your beneficiaries towards trusted and reliable sources. Here are some websites for accurate COVID-19 information:

World Health Organization: Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) information
World Health Organization: Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) advice for the public: Myth busters
International Fact-Checking Network: Coronavirus facts alliance

Before You Start
AN IMPORTANT REMINDER ABOUT FACT-CHECKING
Some of the information that you communicate with your beneficiaries may be about the disease itself, COVID-19. As a trusted member of your community, you may feel a responsibility to pass along information about preventing the disease.

Unfortunately, it can be very easy to accidentally pass along misleading or inaccurate information about COVID-19. Even careful professionals sometimes struggle to accurately share information about this disease, due to the large amount of misinformation and confusion.

This is why, before you send ANY information about the COVID-19 disease, you need to take additional steps to fact-check the information. In other words, follow the CDC’s rule “Be Right.”

Vet and verify all the information you plan to send, and be sure to point your beneficiaries towards trusted and reliable sources. Here are some websites for accurate COVID-19 information:

World Health Organization: Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) information
World Health Organization: Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) advice for the public: Myth busters
International Fact-Checking Network: Coronavirus facts alliance

Hello Ressian, thank you for your post. With a system of having the Project Manager reporting directly to the CEO, I am curious, how many people are in the overall organization? And how many individuals is the Project Manager responsible for? Do you think this is a good system for your current work environment? If not, how would you plan or organize it differently? Thanks so much in advance!

In my organization, I believe project governance happens in ways similar to how Module 1 recommends - on other teams. For over a year now my "project management" role is more of a post-sales service management role. I am assigned to a unique customer and our projects typically have 1-3 individuals working together that could be considered project managers. We can make many decisions and we typically report to the customer and our management. I am excited to take this course and earn the completion certificate to expand my knowledge and skills, and to be better prepared for a more traditional PM situation.

At my organization, the CEO Report to the board, project manager reports directly to the CEO, who independently makes up the entirety of the project governance body, since it’s a small organization. While this hierarchical structure has been put in place, with clear cut job descriptions. Board, Executive and stakeholders participate in decision making.

In my view, having governance board is good but it also has its disadvantages. one othe disadvantages may be delay in decision making since you are involving a gruop of people who may have different interests with the project.

In my organization, the project manager reports to the organization's director. The project manager has the authority to adjust schedules and tasks, but any changes to budgets, deadlines, or requirements must be approved by the director.

In my organization the board of directors take decision on how to tackle issues that arise during a cause of a project

We have a team of administrators that report to a director, who then reports to a superintendent.

manager reports directly to the CEO, who independently makes up the entirety of the project governance body, since it’s a small organization. While this hierarchical structure has been put in place, no clear cut job descriptions and limits are there such as which of the three constraints the project manager is allowed to modify, if any, or how often updates are needed.
Any one here who works in a small non-profit such as mine, please share how you have found it best to work around these situations.

The topic has been profound. Thank you

On our project the project manager has full authority to change project schedule, tasks, resource utilization, but he need to get the permission related to any budget and more resource requirement to the director (CEO). Beside he needs more concentration from the governance issues related to social problems and time extension.

Well said, the topic covers a lot about project management.

Eventhough, project governance has the highest authority, the man on site "project manager" has a lot of obligation in controlling human resource, machionery and material resources.

Great structure

This is a great perspective although the project manager is still very much accountable to the project governance indirectly since changing schedule is also correlated to the budget

Whao, this is really going to mean more work load for the project manager as he has to report to them more often than usual

I'm the only one in my organization so far. Right now I'm just trying to learn as much as possible, gather all the resources I can and then strike when the time is right.

In my organization the project officer reports every details to the director before making a decision. the project donor are not always included in this part.

In my past organization, the decision making for project is made by our Country Director or Programme Director due to the updated project challenges and situation. Then, the manager has to play the functions with his/her project team members.

at our organisation, the project manager follows the decisions made by the board of directors. the directors make decisions and then the project managers and other positions below the Directors follow or implement the given plans

It is a fact that project Governance provides the framework for projects. Good governance includes clear guidance on the role of the project team, project manager, sponsor and decision-making entities such as Portfolio Board.
Also, Good governance ensures we have a clear common understanding of roles and level of responsibility. This provides the foundation for clear escalation of risks and issues as well as proposed changes.

To have a Governance in which the broad takes into account the opinions of its donors its a very interesting strategy because it manages to bring to the table the interests of different sectors and above all of the donors, whose financial support sustains the organization's activities. It is also interesting to discuss and agree on the degree to which donors' opinions influence the decisions made.

Project governance are the ones in charge of decision making. They are above the project managers and most important decisions are made by them.

At my organization project manager reports directly to CEP

Can you consider all stakeholders to be the project governance ?

@ErApsmalhi what do you mean by that ?

@Reenat
"The PM has the responsibilities to fulfill all the requirements, schedule, time management and modifications if need be and reporting. The PM also works together and consult periodically to the Project Lead"
intresting

My team & me will already defined the all flexibility for our project hope so by applying the module knowledge help us a lot most of the project things we know already but the things which as need to know I learn from this module.

In my previous work, the PM reported to the Director and turned to the Donors only to discuss or get their confirmation for certain sensitive protocol. Most importantly, we needed to communicate the process for budget amendment.

I am new to this aspect of our organization. Our team is currently a finalist for a grant, which requires this course as a component. After our first meeting it was apparent we needed to do more work regarding the project management aspect of the process. It became even more so with this module. We have not established project governance and have not established a project manager. The dynamic of the team makes this even more of an imperative issue for us to address. The idea that has landed us as a finalist was mine, and while it will benefit my area, there are two other departments within our organization that will benefit more. So there is discussion to be had to determine who will "own" the project when we are finished. Additionally, my boss is also on the team, so are they taking on the role of the project manager or should it be me as the originator of the idea, or one of the other department leads as other subject matter experts. At this point, we have much work and communication to do.

I am new to this aspect of project management and your response helped me make some sense of this for our team as we work towards a grant. You mentioned having to have approval from the director. Does your organization also require approval from stakeholders regarding any changes?

super excited

Project governance deals with the strategic management and governance of a portfolio of projects to deliver business value. Project management, on the other hand, manages projects on a day-to-day basis, making any decisions that have to be made based on the scope they have been given by the project board.

Project Governance is the set of rules, procedures and policies that determine how projects are managed and overseen. These rules and procedures define how decisions are made during projects. As part of the oversight process, project governance also determines the metrics by which project success is measured.

This community is the best and am really enjoying and blessed to part of this group develop my knowledge from great Philanthropy University.
I enjoyed studying at my own pace. I was provided a free ebook. Hence, I had the luxury of deciding when I could put them aside.
Thanks to this opportunity, the education and discussion course PU shares with the universe to make the world a better place and friendly environment for every one of us.

thanks all

welcome and we are family now anything please put on the table.

At our company, the project manager reports directly to the managing director weekly. This is so as to create a clear working environment where every progress is taken into consideration as
planned. He is not in the position to make new decisions but is at liberty to make suggestions and allow the governing board through the office of the managing director to decide in his presence. 5

I am current not involved with any project, but will share how we managed projects in my previous work place. Our projects were mainly research which culminated in published books or reports. In other words, we would commission researchers, who will then conduct research, write a book chapter based on their research and as a project manager, i then would manage this project from start to finish, even contributing a chapter(s) if the subject is what I also have interest in. The output would be a published book that meets all ethical requirements, and a policy proposal gleaned from the research findings of the chapters. The policy brief would be shared with policy makers in government and the private sector.
The Board of Governors was responsible for identifying the themes that needed to be researched. For example, the last project I managed was about the Role of Arts and Culture in Democracy and Development in South Africa. I reported to the Research director, who reported to the Executive Director, who in turn was answerable to the Board of Governors. a long chain indeed. However, there was flexibility in terms of tempering with the two or the three constraints - Schedule and Scope, but not with budget. this made it work because the Board of Governors is not full time, and therefore reaching them for every decision was not possible. thus, for the two constrains, exercising due diligence, the research director (mainly on scope) and the Executive director (mainly on schedule) would give me, the project manager guidance. But generally we were give between 12 and 18 months to ensure that project gets to the launch phase. In most cases we would achieve this successfully. There would be several projects being run at the same time. but being managed by different project managers, however reporting to the same research director and executive director.

Project governance in my project organization is the committee of all team manager(s), VPO and managing director, we have different departments (Production department, Quality department, HR department and engineering department) all managers make up a project governance team. There is no project amendment decision made by only one team member.

Project governance can be defined as the set of rules, procedures and policies that determine how projects are managed and overseen.

In my organization, the project manager reports directly to the country director, who reports to the Project Advisory Council and Funders.

My organization is very small and consists about 10 people hence the project governance is the CEO himself only.

At my company, project manager will be directly report to my project director. Manager need to do everything it need start from planning until project executions with approval from director.

Distributing tasks at the beginning of the project is an important step for the success of the project, reducing pressure on employees, and ensuring the success of the project

I too work in a small organization but it isn't an NGO/ non-profit. Generally it is an EPCIM and training company. Most Projects are run by different people based on their field of study. But the Project Governance Body of the company is The CEO of the company, Technical Director and the Accountant Himself . The Accountant and Technical Director play the role of Discussing with the Project Manager in charge of the project and every issues experienced on the project are relayed to the CEO through them. The Project Governance is something that many people dont really give thought.

Can the Project manager be part of the Project governing body?

this just turned up my understanding about the wbs but please sir i want to ask if there is another method to the approach systematically breaking down the project task.

On our projects, the project manager reports to the accountable partner, typically a principal or partner at the organization. The project manager can change schedules and tasks, but they need to get the permission of the director to change the scope of the project, the timeline of the project, or any staffing shifts.

In our organization, the project Manager reports to the Organization's unit Manager who is part of the project Governance Structure.
The project manager can advise on the best Beneficiaries of a project based on experience, The project manager can also determine the best time to carryout activities and change schedule when the need arises.
But the project manager cannot make any financial decision without the approval of the Unit Manager and the Director's.

On our project, the project manager works closely with the program manager. The project manager makes the work plan and schedule, shares this with the program manager who makes changes or additions where necessary, and shares the same with the management team who then provides approval. whenever there is a need for change or modification, it follows the same route from the project manager, to programs to senior management and back to the project manager.

Project Governance is a group of persons that poses power over the Project Manager. They have the powers to decide to what extent the Project manager can exercise their authority. This can include changes in schedule, scope and budget.

In my organisation, the Project Manager reports to the Founder/Executive Director who takes a number of governance decisions. The Executive Director in turn reports to the Board of Trustees which is the highest decision making body in the governance structure.

In our organization, the project Manager reports to the Organization's unit Manager who is part of the project Governance Structure.
The project manager can advise on the best Beneficiaries of a project based on experience, The project manager can also determine the best time to carryout activities and change schedule when the need arises.
But the project manager cannot make any financial decision without the approval of the Unit Manager and the Director's.

In my organisation,the project team meets and discusses every detail about the project at hand then the project manager finalize everything and report to
the CEO

In our organization, the project manager reports directly to the executive coordinator of the structure who in turn reports to the board of directors and donors.
For the modification of any thing he must address to the coordinator.

yep, on our project, the project manager reports to the director of the organization. The project manager can change schedules and tasks, but they need to get the permission of the director too

In my organization, governance are senior staff who are taking decision on the project. They allow project manager to go ahead in implementing project and also have power cancel project when it not going with organizational vision or strategy. Those are head of sub office and program manager.

Project manager is not taking part in the governing body since he is hired after the project design and set up. Project manager is only allowed by governing body to implement the project.

Excellent outil

It's vital for donors to have a say in the project governance. Brilliant!

How do questions get presented to the donors and the board? Is there a procedure for discussing decisions to ensure equal representation from both sides? Does the project manager have a say in the decision making? Who makes decisions that do have a direct impact on beneficiaries? Is there a timeline for decisions to be made? How do beneficiaries make their opinions known?

In my previous company. The project manager was often the director. I have however noted, based on what I learnt in Module 1 that the project coordinator's assumed most of the project manager's roles. This is a lesson learnt for future projects. To separate the roles of a director and the project manager and to define the project's governance structure. for clarity and effective implementation.

In my organization project Governance is the nitty gritty in my organization before any project set up

In my organization, there are several Directors who have governance authority over their projects, under the Executive Director who in turn reports to the Board of Directors. These Directors often struggle to understand scope, budget, and timelines! This means that by default, the Fund Development Director serves as the Project Manager because she secures funding and contracts with the donors/grantors. When seeking funding, she organizes the Governance Team (usually the Director of that project, the Accountant, the ED, and any project staff) to align on scope, timeline, and budget. The Director signs off on each grant, in which the project plan is delineated. The Fund Development Director organizes quarterly meetings to ensure the project is remaining on budget, timeline, and within scope. She reports to the funders on the progress of the projects. Struggles can occur when Directors fail to deliver, struggle to accept the input of the Fund Development Director, or deflect governance responsibility. The Fund Development Director/Project Manager does not have the authority to change the budget, scope, or timeline. She must negotiate with the funder for an adjustment. An organizational Project Charter would truly help to alleviate these issues!

Caroline, it seems like your previous company operated like mine. We need clear roles! But since project managers often lack the ability to make changes, we need to clarify where responsibility lies too.

It's vital for donors to have a say in the project governance. Brilliant!

It's vital for donors to have a say in the project governance. Brilliant!

In my previous company. The project manager was often the director. I have however noted, based on what I learnt in Module 1 that the project coordinator's assumed most of the project manager's roles. This is a lesson learnt for future projects. To separate the roles of a director and the project manager and to define the project's governance structure. for clarity and effective implementation.

Within my organization, we have a Board of Directors setup of which the Executive Director is an ex-officio. We have a project management team, which is also headed by a hired project manger when ever we have a project at hand. The governance committee constitute five members, one from the project management team, one from the M&E team, one from the secretarial, one from finance & budget and the executive director. The project manager submits his report to board of directors for revision and ratification.

At my organization, the Project Manager reports to the Executive Director, who is the overseer of everything of the project. He reports to the Executive Director through progress reports and face to face oral meetings. every information about the project is reported to the Project Manager who makes suggestions to change where necessary and will inform the Executive Director before putting the proposed changes into action

In our organization, the project manager and the team leader can collaborate together on certain maintenance projects to pool budgets together and allocate resources.

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Our team has a flat governance structure where the project manager has full autonomy to make decisions. However, they are required to keep the team informed of any significant changes or decisions made. In addition, the team holds a weekly meeting to discuss the project's progress, and if any issues arise, they are addressed collectively.

I'm curious to know how your team manages conflicts when the project manager's decision conflicts with the team's consensus or opinion? Does the project manager have the final say in such cases, or is there a process for resolving conflicts?

The decisions that the project management can to take are about schedule, budget, or change of activities, but only if these are accord with the criteria that our Principal Investigator did.

On my Project the Project Manager, has a limit to the decisions he takes, He has to report to the director to take certain crucial decisions and for those decisions above the Purview of the Director she directs it to the Donors for approval.

I am not currently working in an organization. I am, rather, an independent project evaluator and that is why I know the importance of project governance. In general terms, it could be said that the governance of a project consists of the framework, roles, and processes that guide project management activities in order to create a product, service, or result to meet organizational, strategic, and operational goals. Therefore, it is the heart, the skeleton and the starting point of the management of a project.

I am not currently working in an organization. I am, rather, an independent project evaluator and that is why I know the importance of project governance. In general terms, it could be said that the governance of a project consists of the framework, roles, and processes that guide project management activities in order to create a product, service, or result to meet organizational, strategic, and operational goals. Therefore, it is the heart, the skeleton and the starting point of the management of a project.

The decisions that the project management can to take are about schedule, budget, or change of activities, but only if these are accord with the criteria that our Principal Investigator did.

How often does the project manager communicate with the CEO? since it's a small organization and there are no clear-cut instructions.

In my previous role and managing projects, I reported and updated status on a weekly basis with the managing director, reviewing the status on a Gantt chart. If there were any issues that arose, it was an open door policy to update as needed. His main concern was staying on budget and timeline for the deliverable and not to micro-manage. I believe one of the most important factors in managing a project is to ensure that you have a good detailed understanding of all of the details and are able to speak to them - a full scope of the project and all the working parts. If there's something that you do not immediately know, you have an understanding where to get the information quickly.