Who wants the project executed and who has the will, energy and power to make things happen? Strong project ownership is a vital source of energy to a project. Strong ownership goes beyond formal responsibilities by actively defining, defending and supporting major project activities from the start to the end (ref 1)
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Project ownership is so important because: it has some unique capabilities that cannot be replaced: Ownership of the business case is the most important thing including the definition of overall goals, timeline, budget, and risk profile. But it also means Ownership of funding for the project, Ownership of organizational prioritizations including allocation of key resources, and ownership of changes required to make the project a success. Who has project ownership: Some organizations have formalized management roles with titles as project owner and project sponsor. It is key to have the key owners defined. In many projects, the actual ownership is however spread to more persons. It, therefore, makes sense to look at a broader ownership landscape. The broader landscape can for example include board, vendors, resource and domain owners, and customer representatives. Steering group: Establishing a project steering committee can be an efficient way to make the different ownership roles work together about the task of owning the project. Further, a steering committee makes one clear interface between the project (the project manager) and the owners. The steering committee may consist of a number of different key roles e.g., chairman representing management, senior user representative, and senior vendor representative (internal or external). More roles may be involved. Small steering groups with 3-5 persons are usually more efficient than bigger steering groups. Invest in ownership involvement: It makes a lot of sense to keep ownership close to the project. First of all to make sure that the project is actually delivering in accordance with the demands and expectations. Second to get the special contribution that only ownership can provide. This is usually easier to obtain when there are a regular dialogue regarding the progress, needs, challenges, and risks in the project. Special “rules” for ownership involvement: Project owners are an important group of stakeholders that need to be handled with careful attention. They are special from other stakeholders in several ways. They can, more than other stakeholders, dictate how they want to be involved. Align with them how they shall be involved. Their time and availability is often a critical constraint (so book them well in advance). They need to receive the information required to perform the ownership roles (often in summarized form without too many details) Ref 1: Tres Roeder, 2013, Managing Project Stakeholders, Wiley |
| Activities |
| Ensure project ownership |
| Define ownership roles and responsibilities |
| Be clear on the owner's level of authority |
| Define and align owners involvement (estimate, practical, role) |
| Book regular meetings with the project owner |
| Set up the steering group |
| Define the role of the steering group |
| Define steering group representatives |
| Define the format for steering groups meetings (material, length, follow-up) |
| Book steering group meetings well in advance |
| Build management support |
| Re-establish project ownership |
| Re-alignment expectations with the project owner |
| Involve management in critical issue |
| Risks |
| Project is on the limit or exceeding sponsors level of authority |
| Problem: The project sponsor is not able to take the required decisions regarding the project but needs to involve additional stakeholders in decision making. Consequence: Decision processes may become time-consuming and additional stakeholders may question both aspects of the project or the relevance of the project in general. |
| Inefficient steering committee |
| Problem: The steering committee does not function as owners of the project by being able to set the overall direction, define success criteria, take key decisions, and ensure funding of the project. Consequence: Important tasks and aspects required for project success and outside the authority of project management is not being handled. |
| Project ownership underestimates the effort |
| Problem: The project is more demanding than expected e.g. taking a longer time, requiring more resources, additional funding, and more direct effort from the ownership. Consequence: The ownership is required to take key decisions regarding value vs. effort including own involvement in the project |
| Insufficient sponsor and owner involvement |
| Problem: The project do not get the required commitment and support from the ownership in the form of the required funding, direction for the work, involvement in change management activities, or engagement of top management Consequence: Important tasks and aspects required for project success and outside the authority of project management is not being handled. |
| Unclear project ownership |
| Problem: It is not clear who wants the project to be executed, setting the overall direction, defining success criteria, taking key decisions and is funding the project. Consequence: The project may not be following the right direction, may spend to a long time on decision making, and lack important support required for success |
OBV Consulting ApS
Skovvej 5 DK-4180 Sorø
info@obvconsulting.dk
Ole Barkou Vilstrup
+45 61 62 73 12
obv@obvconsulting.dk
Good project knowledge base sets the scene for project management and provides an intro to its main disciplines. Get inspiration for project execution through action templates, risk lists, key figures and find inspirational guides on how to deal with typical challenges in projects. Read more