Project Audit and Oversight, Essay Example

The purpose and value of project oversight resides in the ownership of the entire project or program by a sponsor. The project sponsor signs off on the project proposal process, champions the project in the terms of leadership support, and is the ultimately the decision maker for the project. This project sponsor has the ability to make all critical decisions based on the scope and budget of the project. The oversight of the project and the expansion or contraction of the project’s scope and budget reside with the project sponsor but are heavily influenced by the project manager and his or her ability to provide the information necessary to make those critical business and project decisions. The oversight of the project provides governance to the project and enables the progress of the project when critical decisions and support is required from leadership of the organization (PMI, 2008).

The oversight of a project by a steering committee and project sponsor enables the adherence to the organizations project management framework. This includes enabling the allocation of the appropriate resources for the project including properly trained and certified team members as well as the funding necessary to meet the scope and schedule of the project. The oversight of the project also oversees that key metrics, parameters and tollgates are met which are established by the project framework of the organization (Schmidt, 2009). The oversight enables a level of accountability to accomplish the tasks necessary to promote an environment for successful project completion.

The oversight of a project is a form of checks and balances to ensure the scope of the project is meeting the expectations and requirements of the project sponsor and in the same token meeting the financial and budgetary objectives of the organization. The oversight also ensures the proper protocol for the best practices of project management are accomplished by the project team.

References

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Highsmith, J. A., & Highsmith, J. (2010). Agile project management, creating innovative products. Addison-Wesley Professional.

Prencipe, A., Davies, A., & Hobday, M. (2007). The business of systems integration. Oxford University Press, USA.

Project Management Institute, P. M. (2008). A guide to the project management body of knowledge. (4^th ed.). Newtown Square: Project Management Inst.

Schmidt, T. (2009). Strategic project management made simple. (1 ed.). Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Shockley-Zalabak, P. 1999, Fundamentals of Organisational Communication: Knowledge, Sensitivity, Skills, Values, Longman. New York, NY.