Appointing a Project Board Chairman and a Project Manager

Overview

To get anything done in the project you need a decision-maker and someone to undertake the planning.

Context

Before Initiation of the project can begin, there must be a plan for that Initiation work, and the Project Board has to be appointed to approve the plan.

Process Description

The objectives of this process are to:

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Identify the Chairman from the project's stakeholders

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Identify the Project Manager most appropriate for the project

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Confirm their availability, their acceptance of these roles, and their commitment to carry them out

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Appoint them to their respective roles.

A pre-requisite of this first process is the existence and availability of a Project Directive. Because this is the process that precedes the whole of the project, it will be very variable in application, depending particularly on the quality of the Project Directive information. The following steps will be involved:

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Ratify the key elements of the Project Directive

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Establish any missing information

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Identify candidates for Chairman and Project Manager

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Establish the responsibilities for each role

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Appoint Chairman

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Appoint Project Manager

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Confirm appointments via agreement to job definitions by corporate or programme management and appointees.

The Project Directive should indicate the general type of project, its size and complexity and its political and business sensitivity. This information will help to identify appropriate candidates for the Project Manager role.

There may be a draft Project Plan included in the Project Directive from earlier work. This would give an idea of the timeframe of the project, useful when confirming the availability of people to fill the roles.

If the project is part of a programme, the Programme Director will appoint the Chairman and possibly the Project Manager as well.

Responsibilities

Corporate or programme management.

Information Needs

Management information

Usage

Explanation

Project Directive

Input

The trigger for the Project

Project Board Chairman and Project Manager appointments

Output

Agreed job definitions for the Chairman and Project Manager

Key Criteria

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If the project is part of a Programme, will the Programme Manager take the project Chairman role on the Project Board?

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Does the proposed Chairman have the financial and functional authority necessary to support the project adequately?

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Has the availability of candidates been measured against any forecast duration of the project to ensure that individuals are available for as much of the project as possible?

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Are any candidates likely to change jobs in the near future in a direction that would remove them from the project? If so, has this information been taken into consideration when making the appointments?

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Do the appointees have the skills and knowledge required to undertake their tasks?