Investment decision Group

The project board is not generally empowered to make the investment decision.Project investment decisions affect the ongoing viability of the corporation ororganization and as such can not be made by a project in isolation from corporatemanagement. The investment decision is made by a group that normally alreadyexists within the organization e.g. budget review committee, expenditure reviewcommittee etc. This group is referred to as the investment decision group.

In case, in making its decisions regarding the funding of projects, the investmentdecision group should act in concert with and be informed by programmemanagement. A project is likely to be a part of a larger programme, and the benefitsexpected from the overall programe, whilst not accruing to a single project, may bedependent upon its successful completion. Thus uninformed decisions regarding thefunding of a single project may have implications for the greater programme.

The membership of the investment decision group is drawn from corporatemanagement. Since the investment decision group may already exist under anotherguise, it may be that certain meetings are convened as 'investment decision group'meetings and additional members called in as necessary.

The structural relationship between the investment decision group, the project boardand the project manager and the project team is shown below:

investment Decision Group

1

Project Board

Senior User Project owner Senior Supplier

Project Director

Project Manager

Project Team

Needs of the Stakeholders: To have their opinions sought and to have their views heard. To be able to raise issues and concerns and see those issues being addressed and

resolved by the project. To be able to help shape the project.

Additional needs, driven by their special relationship with the community: They need to be kept abreast of any planned project developments that could

affect the community.

Project Authority / Project Governance

Key project stakeholder needs to form the primary decision making model. Otherstakeholders less centered to the project must still have a platform for addressing theirissues at concerns but this need not be within the decision making body.

Key Stakeholders and the Project Board

The Project OwnerProject governance requires a single point of accountability for success of the project.This person has a service delivery focus and be the owner of the project Hisresponsibilities are:

Accountable for the success of the project Holds operational responsibility for service delivery.

The Senior UserHe is the representative of users of the service that the asset will deliver, whether thatasset is product or service. If user's needs are not adequately met, project success will becompromised, and so users must have adequate representation on the project. He mayalso represent those with an operational interest in the project or those with maintenanceinterest. Where users of the end product are external to the organization or are communitybased and therefore unsuitable for the senior user role, the role may be held by a keyproject stakeholder, for whom the project is delivering benefits, meeting their objectivesor having an impact on their own business activities. The key responsibilities are:

Accountable for ensuring user needs are addressed. Primary responsibility is stewardship of user requirement.

The Senior SupplierAs a part of team work in project there is a need to introduce an asset delivery to theproject. The key stakeholder in this respect is a representative of the organization thatwill delivery assets. This person is referred to as the senior supplier. The keyresponsibilities of senior supplier are:

Accountable to the project owner for ensuring the project owner's needs are met. Primary responsibility is to drive the delivery of services for the project owner. Provides project delivery expertise to the project owner's team.

The senior supplier remains a supplier of services and a senior user must be chosen fromwithin the organization to reflect the needs of users of the delivered service.

The Project DirectorThe project director drives the project on behalf of the project owner and providesproject delivery experience that mayor may not be lacking in the project owner. Onlarge, complex, high risk projects, the project owner position will be held by seniorpersonnel within the organization.

This raises two issues:First, due to the demands placed upon these individuals in their day to day operationalroles, they may not have the necessary time available to devote to the project. Thesecond issue is one of skill set. In some environments and organizations, project ownerswill be highly skilled and experienced in project delivery because it is a regular part of