Practical Principles for Program Governance

We're strong believers in program governance that links every activity back to your objectives. It doesn't have to be overwhelmingly complicated or impenetrable - in fact, it shouldn't be.
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By Chally Kacelnik

If you’re working on a substantial program, it’s vital to have good program governance in place – especially if it is a program of major change, involves many parts of the organisation, or requires the coordination of efforts from several organisations. Here are some directions for turning this into reality.

We advise our clients on governance frameworks and meeting protocols that we have previously supported to be implemented effectively. This includes factors like:

  • Identifying authorities and the work of each role in line with the governance arrangements
  • Establishing an accompanying communications plan and matrix that links back to the program objectives – matching key topics, messages, channels, methods, and communication needs for each stakeholder group
  • Designing, reviewing, and recalibrating proposed program plans and designs for practicality, coverage, resourcing, risk and corporate planning links
  • Specific, activity-level design and scheduling of tasks for areas of focus
  • Implementation advice for sustainably establishing the new ways of working
  • “Intelligent client” support for the assessment, procurement, and implementation of external support, like new business systems

Most crucially, the change needs to be anchored in a clear and deliberate vision of the future. We support this through:

  • Target operating model design – containing the underpinning principles and drivers for how the organisation (or the shared enterprise) will operate in the future
  • Service model design – for localised change in specific service areas while using a consistent basis across the organisation’s (or organisations’) services

This advice supports program governance that facilitates useful transformation outcomes against our clients’ goals. We’re strong believers in program governance that links every activity back to your objectives. It doesn’t have to be overwhelmingly complicated or impenetrable – in fact, it shouldn’t be. Excellent program governance does have to be diligent, consistent, and justifiable. It’s the difference between a bright idea that sparks out and sparking real success.

At LKS Quaero, we design programs that set organisations up for sustainable success. For more information, visit us at lksquaero.com or follow us on LinkedInFacebook, and Twitter.

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