Governance is the process by which organizations make important decisions and ensure the right people are involved, the right decisions are made, and the right processes are followed. Good governance helps organizations focus on the decisions that matter, prioritize key perspectives, and establish feedback to continually improve decision making over time. It helps avoid issues like revisiting decisions, disputing roles and authority, and consulting the wrong people. While all forms of governance can have a place, active governance is needed to prevent decay into inappropriate forms over time.
6. Institute on Governance (www.iog.ca)
They follow an
acceptable process
(“due process”)
We know which
decisions matter
Governance is the process whereby societies or
organisations make important decisions, determine
whom they involve and how they render account.
They track outcomes &
act to improve them
The right people are
involved in these
decisions
Process governance
Feb 2014
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7. Right Decision
Understand context – how decisions affect objectives
Prioritise – focus on decisions that matter
Process governance
Feb 2014
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bertiemabootoo
8. Right People
Don’t waste time
- Deciding who to consult
- Finding the right people
- Politicking, disputing boundaries & authority levels, etc
- Of people who can’t help
Don’t get derailed from unexpected quarters
People buy in to the outcomes
Consider all relevant perspectives
Bring appropriate expertise to bear
Process governance
Feb 2014
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The US Army
9. Right Process
People buy in to outcomes; avoid politicking
Don’t get panicked in emergencies
Don’t waste time define bespoke processes
Know how to do it
Know what to do
Process governance
Feb 2014
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Elsie Esq.
10. Accountability
Don’t make the same mistakes over and over
Feed back to improve the decision making process
Prepared to steer back on course / fix poor decisions
Know how to recognise if off course
Know how we’ll track outcomes
Process governance
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leateds
11. Miss key perspectives
Overlook info and criteria
Lack time
Panic
No feedback & steering
Revisiting decisions
Boundary disputes
Consulting wrong people
Defining bespoke processes
Effort is governance too
Anarchy on unimportant issues
Sep 2013
Canned Muffins
11
peasap
13. Final thoughts
governance
He who forgets history is condemned to repeat it.
Good governance lets you focus energy on decisions, not process
If you don’t define governance up front, you revisit it for every decision
Policy, standards, guidelines support decisions – they’re not primary
All forms of governance (even anarchy & bureaucracy) have a place
But if you don’t actively address it, it decays to inappropriate forms
Process governance
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15. Graham Oakes Ltd
Making sense of technology…
Many organisations are caught up in the
complexity of technology and systems.
This complexity may be inherent to the
technology itself. It may be created by the pace of technology change. Or it may arise from
the surrounding process, people and governance structures.
We help untangle this complexity and define business strategies that both can be
implemented and will be adopted by people throughout the organisation and its partner
network. We then help assure delivery of implementation projects.
Clients…
Cisco Worldwide Education – Architecture and research for e-learning and educational systems
Council of Europe – Systems for monitoring compliance with international treaties; e-learning systems
Dover Harbour Board – Systems and architecture review
Intel – Product Lifecycle & team organisation for mobile device development
MessageLabs – Architecture and assurance for partner management portal
National Savings & Investments – Helped NS&I and BPO partner develop joint IS strategy
The Open University – Enterprise architecture, CRM and product development strategies
Oxfam – Content management, CRM, e-Commerce, Cloud strategy and procurement
Thames Valley Police – Internet Consultancy
Sony Computer Entertainment – Global process definition
Amnesty International, Greenpeace, Endemol, Skype, tsoosayLabs, Vodafone, …
Process governance
Feb 2014
15
Hinweis der Redaktion
Describe the blizzard scenarioAs a senior manager, what do you want your team to be thinking about here – the web strategy? web governance? Setting up a project?You want them to decide & act quicklySo governance is what you really care about: enabling people to make decisions and act
Pattern – everyone goes their own wayInconsistency in decisions – teams go their own way.
Pattern – overlaps, fights & fingerpointingWe get a lot offingerpointing – “why aren’t you doing what you’re supposed to do / why are you so slow”. Leads to politicking and blaming.
Governance is fuzzy in most orgs. It’s got a bad name, as it’s been captured by the compliance industry – people groan when you mention it; see bureaucracy.Hard to do well – need to consider lots of factors, evolve as org & market change, take overview when overwhelmed with day-to-day detailsPolitical benefits – people with power use fuzziness to keep people off guard & avoid accountability; people without power use fuzziness to push their agendas quietly, etcVendors use title inflation try to sell tools (for GRC, for process management) – replace compliance and management with governanceNet effect is we miss strategic value of governance – get caught up in the weeds of compliance and tracking who did what. (Important, but if you’re focused there, you’re looking backwards, not pushing forwards.)
Focus on the right decisions
Appropriate expertise is brought to bearConsider the relevant perspectivesPeople buy-in to the outcomesDon’t waste time deciding who to consultDon’t waste time finding the right peopleDon’t waste time agreeing authority levelsDon’t get caught up in politicking & boundary disputesDon’t get derailed from unexpected quarters
Know what to do – info to gather, criteria to use, etcKnow how to do it – training, systems, etcPeople buy-in to outcomesDon’t spend time defining bespoke process & criteriaDon’t get panicked in emergenciesDon’t get caught up in politicking
Know how we’ll track outcomesKnow how we’ll recognise if we’re off courseKnow how we’ll steer back onto courseHave process, systems, etc, in place to do thisWill feed back in to the decision making processDon’t leave poor decisions uncorrectedDon’t repeat the same mistakes over and over
Wastes timePut effort into unimportant decisionsCreating bespoke decision-making processesBring people into decisions that don’t concern themPoliticking and boundary disputesRevisiting decisions that don’t stickLeads to poor decisionsDon’t involve key stakeholdersOverlook key information and criteriaLack of timePanic in emergenciesNo steering
Who I amIndependent consultantDo 2 things – help set up project (untangle complexity); help keep in touch with what’s going onUnusual perspective on assurancePortfolio of mid-size projects rather than single large programmeDifferent twists, but aligns to where many organisations are at, so will share experienceAgenda