Project Governance
Project Governance is how the University directs and controls the execution of IS related projects.
Objectives
The ISO project management governance has the following objectives:
- Effective strategic decision making
- Positive effect on the quality delivery
- Clear definition of accountability and responsibility
- Ensure clearing of issues with resolution before proceeding to the next stage
- Execute resources and costs management
- Minimize project failure through risk and issue control management
- Monitor overall timeline and status of information system projects
- Ensure project insights are communicated to stakeholders and management
Project Steering Committee (PSC)
Reporting to the ISSC, a number of project steering committees have been established to be responsibled for the planning, budgeting, prioritizing and ensuring timely deliverables of the projects.
At the PSC level, key decisions are made to keep the project on track and aligned with the approved System Request contents. In general, it is not involved with the detailed project development, but is strategically updated on the overall progress of the project from the Project Manager and/or Project Working Group.
Committee Membership
Members of the PSC will normally include the following:
- Project Sponsor - Chair of the Committee
- Key user representative(s) e.g. subject matter experts
- Project Manager(s)
Terms of Reference
The terms of reference of the PSC are summarized as follows:
- To attend the steering committee meetings, where applicable
- To advise and support the project to meet the project objectives and plan.
- To assist and resolve the strategic level issues and risks.
- To approve or reject major changes to the project with a high impact on timeline and budget.
- To approve the final project deliverables.
- To assess project progress and report to University Information Systems Steering Committee
Project Working Group (PWG)
Reporting to the PSC, the PWG is the group responsible to the PSC for the planning, prioritizing, executing and delivering the project according to the System Request time, scope and deliverables of the project.
Committee Membership
Members of the PWG will normally include the following:
- Project Manager - Chair of the Committee
- User appointed representative(s)
- ISO representatives
Terms of Reference
The terms of reference of the PWG are summarized as follows:
- To agree on the project plan, the detailed project tasks and the associated manpower resources allocation.
- To represent the corresponding offices/schools/departments to participate in the regular project activities.
- To attend the working group meetings, where applicable.
- To participate in the discussion meetings in the system design, business processes, controls, segregation of duties, interfaces with other systems such as Student Information Systems etc.
- To prioritize and monitor the progress of the outstanding issues and action items, to assist to resolve the outstanding issues.
- To identify the potential risks/issues in the project that might affect the project scope, duration, user satisfaction, manpower resources etc., and to assist to mitigate and avoid them.
Project Manager (PM)
The Project Manager is responsible for the successful delivery of project outcomes as outlined in the Functional Requirement. A project manager can be taken up either by a user representative or by an ISO representative.
Terms of Reference
- The terms of reference of the project manager are summarized as follows:
- Chairs the working group meetings, where applicable.
- Develops and executes project plan to meet the project objectives and requirements.
- Manages project team resources to ensure effective delivery of projects tasks, deliverables, and milestones on time, on budget, within specification and agreed project scope.
- Identifies the potential risks/issues in the project that might affect the project scope, duration, user satisfaction, manpower resources etc., and assists to mitigate and avoid them.
- Manages change control.
- Communicates project status, progress on deliverables and risks/issues to stakeholders and the PSC in a timely manner.