How to ensure Technical Governance Groups contribute to Project and Program Success

​🔍 How to ensure Technical Governance Groups contribute to Project and Program Success

Rationale and Purpose: 
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In today's business landscape, projects and programs involve complex technical components requiring specialised oversight and inputs. Technical Governance Groups, such as Technical Oversight, Review, Reference, Standards, Architecture, and Excellence committees, play a pivotal role in ensuring effective governance, alignment with objectives, and adherence to standards and best practice.

Technical Governance Groups provide guidance, oversight, and governance for technical matters within projects and programs. They bring subject matter experts together to address specific technical challenges, foster collaboration, share knowledge, uphold standards, mitigate risks, drive innovation, and optimise outcomes.

Ingredients for success:

1️⃣ Clear Objectives and Scope: Define objectives and scope aligned with organisational goals and project objectives.
2️⃣ Effective Leadership: Strong leadership through the chair ensures focus on organisational interests, fosters collaboration and avoids pet interests or agendas.
3️⃣ Expertise and Diversity: Careful selection of diverse subject matter experts enhances problem-solving. Consider inclusion of an external expert.
4️⃣ Authorities and Decision Processes: Clearly define decision rights (note, some may only be permitted to make recommendations), supported by agreed decision processes. 
5️⃣ Position in Governance Ecosystem: Appropriate position in the governance hierarchy to appropriately influence technical outcomes. 
6️⃣ Structured Processes: Establish structured pathways for decisions, recommendations, information and problem resolution.
7️⃣ Regular Communication: Foster open communication for knowledge-sharing and consensus-building.
8️⃣ Adaptability and Flexibility: Be flexible to accommodate changing circumstances, emerging trends, and alternative ideas.
9️⃣ Transparency: Maintain transparency and hold members accountable for actions and recommendations.
🔟 Continuous Improvement: Strive for continuous improvement through evaluation and implementation of changes.

Avoiding Adverse Outcomes:

When not appropriately constituted, there may be adverse outcomes from these groups e.g. "Gold Plating". To prevent this, implement strong leadership, encourage transparency, diverse representation, open discussions, conflict resolution, review mechanisms, and stakeholder engagement throughout the decision-making process.

In summary:

Technical Governance Groups are invaluable in driving project, program and portfolio success by providing specialised technical advice, oversight, and governance. Embracing these strategies enables organisations to deliver impactful outcomes.

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For more insights on better practice project governance, the P3G Guide is go to resource.
 
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