The Project Board is part of the PRINCE2 Project Management Structure. The Project Board is responsible for the success of the project based on instruction from corporate / programme management. The Project Board establishes the constraints in which the Project Manager operates.
Structure
The Project Board is intended to represent all stakeholders in the project. An assumption of PRINCE2 is that in any business there is a customer who specifies products (and who typically finances the project) and a supplier who delivers the product.
Three Roles
The Project Board therefore consists of 3 roles:
- The Executive to represent the business.
- The Senior User to represent users.
- The Senior Supplier to represent suppliers.
Depending on natures of both the corporate environment and the project itself:
- the interests of these areas may overlap
- more than one organisation may be represented on the Project Board
- more than one person may be appointed to the Senior Supplier / Senior User roles
Appointing the Board
The Executive (with help from the Project Manager) is responsible for determining who else is appointed to the Project Board. This decision will be based on the project's:
- size
- risk
- complexity
User and Supplier Groups
The Project Board should involve as few individuals as possible whilst maintaining representation of all stakeholders. To facilitate this, groups can be created where wider community of users / suppliers can discuss issues and Senior User / Senior Supplier can represent the group's interests on the Project Board. Where this approach is adopted, the extend and means of this representation must be made clear to all concerned. Additionally, group members may be appointed to Project Assurance roles as appropriate.
Accountability
The Project Board is accountable to corporate / programme management for the success / failure of the project (success being defined on the basis of business, user and supplier interests).
General Responsibilities
- Gives direction to the project, particularly giving direction to the Project Manager. The Project Board must be in agreement over the direction given.
- Delegates appropriate authority to the Project Manager through appropriate PRINCE2 organizational structure and controls.
- Integrates the Project Management Team with internal / external functional units responsible for delivering the project
- Resources / funds the project appropriately
- Ensures decisions are made effectively at all levels within the project
- Visibly supports the Project Manager throughout the project
- Facilitates communication within the project and with other stakeholders, both internal and external.
- Approves major plans and resourcing
- Authorizes deviation from tolerances
- Approves completion of a stage.
- Authorises moving on to next stage.
Communication
The level of detail and frequency of communication with the Project Board will be documented in the Communication Management Strategy. The frequency/detail of reports should be reviewed during each Managing a Stage Boundary process. A higher level of detail is often needed early in the project.
Qualities
Project Board members should have:
- Authority: they should be sufficiently senior to be able to make strategic decisions and provide appropriate resources (human, financial and capital). The authority required will depend on the project.
- Ability to delegate: the Project Board must be able to delegate responsibility to the Project Manager without involvement in the details of the project nor its products
- Availability The Project Board must be available to make timely decisions
Balancing Project Board Membership with Other Duties
Project Board members are typically senior managers within their organisation and their activities on a Project Board are in addition to their regulate management duties. The principle of Management by Exception enables the Project Board to balance their commitments to other areas whilst keeping up to date with the project's progress and enabling it to make decisions at key points.