Project owner

Success Problem

The roles of the project owners of internal and external projects are different.

Impact

Project owner of the internal project (also: project sponzor, project director) is the member of the top management of the procuror‘s permanent organization, knowing what the project should arrive and is responsible for the project financing and for realizing the project goal. The representative of the contractor in the project steering committee is in the permanent organization of the contractor also usually called as the project owner.

Recommendation

Project owner in the procuror‘s organization is competent to allocate the resources to the project and to direct the project manager. The project owner or through him entrusted person should be the chairman of the project steering committee. The project owner of the internal project is responsible for the preparation and adjustment of the project definition report, for the allocation of the financial and other resources to the project and for the professional project management through the selected project manager. The project owner represents the procuror’s interests and assosiates the management of the procuror’s organization with the project manager. He/she should be informed about the procuror’s organization and about the project and should have adequate time and resources for appropriate decisions. It is possible to fuse the tasks of the project owner and project manager of the internal projects. In such case it is necessary to describe clearly and understand the duties and appropriate responsibilities. The role of the manager or sponsor of the external project in the contractor‘s organization is limited to the project scope. The project owner of internal or external project should possess the project management professional competence IPMA B. However, the project owner in the procuror‘s organization often does not possess this authority, nor the professional competence. This is then the source of many misunderstandings in the project management.

Category

• Organization & Structures & Processes