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Executive skills for project oversight

Better Practice results: Those with oversight roles for projects achieve, at the planning stage, a clear definition of the project’s business outcomes and an appropriate assurance on project feasibility. This sets the foundation for successful implementation.

As part of their responsibilities, many senior executives oversee a number of projects. This oversight role can encompass the initial planning and approval of projects, through to implementation and handover to ongoing operation. The detailed planning and subsequent implementation of individual projects are often undertaken by separate individuals, leaving the executive as an important point of continuity.

An important responsibility for those with an oversight role is to gain appropriate assurance on the feasibility of the project – generally through review of key planning documents and by forming a view on the quality of advice from those undertaking detailed planning and implementation roles. These executives also have a responsibility to retain a focus on the initially approved business outcomes during the life of the project, to help reduce the risk that the project unintentionally diverges from its agreed objectives.

Achieving a clear definition of business outcomes can be difficult, as project proposals are often presented in great detail – and, for those projects with an ICT component, with a focus on ICT implementation technicalities. Some executives with oversight responsibility may find it daunting to penetrate these technicalities, due to competing priorities, and natural variations in aptitude and experience.

In addition, it takes time to develop the experience and judgement needed to effectively establish an appropriate level of assurance on project proposals, and this experience may vary across an entity’s senior executive group.

It is therefore better practice for entities to identify, or develop, a pool of executives with aptitude for the oversight of projects.

Useful characteristics for executives in project oversight roles include:

• an effective relationship with key stakeholders to assist with formulating and clarifying the project’s business outcomes, including the Minister’s office where appropriate;
• an understanding of the perspective of central entities on program delivery and ICT strategy;
• a consistent focus on business outcomes, including ensuring business outcomes are well defined and maintaining a focus on achieving them;
• sound judgement regarding the technical issues that are likely to be important (often ICT and legal issues), and a firm resolve to understand them – which can involve requiring specialists to clarify the business implications of technical issues and identify those issues requiring executive attention; and
• having a network of suitable contacts to help provide an independent reality check on key aspects of proposals – both business and ICT elements.

The number of executives within an entity with appropriate skills and experience for project oversight can be increased by development activities such as mentoring of executives when initially undertaking an oversight role, and by gradually increasing the number and complexity of projects for which an executive has oversight responsibility.

Another avenue to access suitably skilled executives, which may be appropriate for major initiatives, is to look to transfers within the broader pool of APS executives or externally – for example from organisations with relevant experience. One approach is to consider a time-limited arrangement with a focus on transferring skills into the entity.

There can also be advantages in recognising the variety of skills needed across an entity and consciously focusing project oversight roles on a sub-set of the executive team with relevant aptitude and skills, with other executives focusing on other essential responsibilities in the entity. In some cases, there may be value in having dedicated roles for project oversight.

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