Governance Outcomes

ByMack

Governance is a broad term that is open to interpretation. It’s like a giant accordion that can stretch to fit around almost any program or project. And, also like a musical instrument (if you’ll bear with the metaphor) it can play different tunes depending on what the outcomes are for the governance framework.

All governance isn’t create equal, and the design of it should fit key organizational outcomes that can then be measured down the line.

For example, any or some of these outcomes (but, perhaps not all simultaneously) could form the basis of a governance design:

  • Reduce decision delays / day-to-day decision making
  • Clarifying accountabilities & responsibilities for decision makers
  • Improving alignment of products & services to strategic objectives
  • Strengthening risk management
  • Improved communication & collaboration across the portfolio
  • Increased transparency & reporting of product delivery
  • More efficient allocation of capital & operational budgets
  • Adaptive planning allowing for quick responsiveness to changing priorities

And beyond outlining and prioritizing which outcomes are most meaningful to your organization, are you able to characterize what progress looks like in 3-6-12 months? Is there a benchmark today to provide a starting point around how long decisions take to get made; or if the allocation of product increments across a set of teams has become more effective.

Without considering the outcomes of a governance design, and an associated measurable attribute, the design may not meet the moment.