Project delivery hinges on effective project oversight.
The project manager, programme manager, portfolio manager or project, programme director focused on the softer, cultural, and strategic side of project management and project delivery, without the distraction of too many tools and administrative overhead is responsible for project oversight.
It is important to note that they are unencumbered by toolsets. Project oversight is that nebulous thing that is often less visible. The focus of project oversight is on stakeholder management, change management, performance management, cultural fit, and team cohesion, without the distraction of elaborate toolsets, methods, templates, and heavy administrative overheads.
This is the intersection of cultural practices and strategic ones. Essentially it is where good project management and being the project manager intersect. This makes it a part of project delivery that is heavily dependent on the people involved. Project oversight requires a well-established set of soft skills that match the company’s culture to the strategic management style.
This does not mean to say that the project manager should keep all insight into the project in their own head. They may rely too heavily on gut instinct and memory or their intrinsic skills and experiential techniques to manage projects. This runs the risk of the project no longer being managed by one person and all project knowledge being lost by that manager leaving.
It may also frustrate senior stakeholders, project sponsors or owners owing to lack of project visibility, reporting and documentation. If the project focuses too heavily on oversight and not on visible use of toolsets for the strategy to work, and the method and toolsets to have noticeable impact for the stakeholders involved in the project oversight is key.
Without the soft skills to inform the tool usage and an awareness of the team’s cohesion and productivity even smaller projects will run out of steam before delivery. A good project manager can bridge the gap between what is visible to stakeholders and what needs be done to keep a team on track to deliver a project timeously. Good project oversight is when the culture of the team melds with the strategy used to project manage so well that they cohere in harmony.
If you struggle with project oversight our expert project managers can help create cohesive culture and strategy for your projects. Let WiRD bring good project delivery to your team.
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