Project roles & governance for an acquisition project
Governance is a nebulous concept, and the word itself carries some negative valence, like the idea that we are being ‘governed’ or ‘watched over’.
In projects though, where the structure to deliver is temporary and very likely brand new, governance is the framework that holds it together, unites all the different layers that are working on the project (strategic, directing, managing and doing layers) and brings about the periodic checks to make sure the project is holding to a beneficial and coherent course.
I think of it like a project is a ship in the middle of the ocean making a long voyage - we come together every now and then to make sure we are still on track, still know where we are going, and if things have changed, how everyone needs to alter direction.
Governance isn’t about controlling individuals, but rather controlling the ship and the course amidst the vastness, changeability and danger of the ocean.
For acquisition projects, the rhythm I find works in the majority of instances is:
Board updates - Monthly (which is when they usually meet anyway - piggyback off this existing rhythm)
Integration Steering Group - Fortnightly until completion; monthly from completion until TSA exit, with ad hoc meetings called as required to deal with very high priority or urgent risks/issues that cannot be resolved by the project team
Project Team meeting - Weekly for the most part, with daily meetings in the fortnight run up to and after completion date, returning to weekly throughout integration
Functional delivery teams (with suppliers or vendor teams) - As necessary to suit the completion of set deliverables (i.e. TUPE transfer, data migration, property handover or exit etc.) and should be only the people working on that task - not the others who are interested in the outcomes.
All of this combines to produce regular touchpoints at different levels of the project, but without overburdening each individual with too many governance meetings in one week or one day. In the aspiration to ‘go agile’ I have observed organisations attempting to adopt the daily stand-up-type meeting for each and every meeting , when this is not usually necessary and eats into productive time with limited gain, and it actually slows delivery down, reduces focus time for team members. Not enough changes in one day people! Step away from the urge to treat a daily stand-up as the panacea that it is not. It works best for a tight team working on a limited scope of things over which they need to collaborate and bounce ideas off one another.
When it comes to roles, the roles are positioned similarly, at the strategic, directing, managing and doing layers, and I would recommend an acquisition project to have the following:
Strategic - The Board (or Boards, if the organisation is a group, or other kind of multi-entity) and C-suite sponsorship
Directing - Integration Director (or another director whom you name to that temporary position). This person must have the gravitas to liaise directly with the C-suite, power to make decisions autonomously and have the authority to direct or re-direct business resources towards achieving the project’s objectives
Managing - Project Manager
Doing - Workstream Leads (these must be given accountability and resources to achieve the deliverables assigned to their workstream)
To give you a leg up and help you in devising your acquisition project and how that is going to be governed, below is a plain set of two slides you can re-skin to your company colours which outlines the above in greater detail. Feel free to include in your project brief documents, scope documents, or whatever else you use, to document how you are going to keep your ship on course.