Project Governance In An Agile World – Part 3

This week, we’re diving into the details of project governance. In previous posts, we’ve taken a broad, enterprise-wide perspective—viewing the organization as a living organism where every component must work in sync to evolve and thrive. Whether the controls are obvious or subtle, misalignment can disrupt even the most agile organizations.

The chapter opens with a framework from Miller and Turner’s A Framework for Building Successful Project-Based Organizations (2007), highlighting three pillars:

Continuous learning is fundamental to agility. Without it, agile methodologies risk becoming little more than “Waterfall with new labels”—just filling in steps without real adaptation. Unfortunately, the book’s focus is often on upskilling the project manager, not the team as a whole. This mindset is reflected in many job descriptions for agile coaches, scrum masters, and project managers, where the burden of success falls on a single role. True agile success comes from building the collective knowledge and capability of the entire team—not just relying on the coach or scrum master to know it all.

Research from the Agile Alliance and State of Agile reports consistently shows that high-performing agile teams invest in ongoing education and cross-functional learning, leading to better outcomes and higher team satisfaction.

Traditional governance often defaults to a command-and-control approach, managers dictating not just what needs to be done, but also how. While guidance and direction have their place, agile organizations thrive when leadership shifts toward enabling teams by setting clear priorities, supporting stakeholder collaboration, and empowering teams to determine the best way to deliver value. If management continues to micromanage, innovation and team motivation suffer.

Studies in Harvard Business Review have shown that organizations with servant leadership models—where leaders support rather than control—experience higher engagement, creativity, and performance.

Economic pressure is a reality for every organization. In traditional models, the project manager often bears the brunt of this stress, expected to deliver on time, on budget, and within scope—the classic “Iron Triangle.” In agile environments, transparency and real-time data empower all stakeholders to make informed decisions collaboratively. Yet, many organizations that claim to be agile still push top-down pressure, missing the opportunity to leverage transparency and shared accountability.

Research from McKinsey and the Project Management Institute indicates that organizations that embrace transparency and distributed decision-making respond more quickly to market changes and experience fewer costly project overruns.

As the chapter progresses, it becomes clear that many organizations only partially implement their agile transformation. They adopt agile frameworks for teams, but leave the rest of the governance structure—and its command-and-control mindset—untouched. This creates friction and undermines the benefits of agility.

The framework continues to emphasize individual responsibility rather than collective team ownership. Muller notes that while learning, improvement, and process adaptation are present, the authority to make decisions often remains with steering committees, PMOs, or upper management—not the teams themselves.

Muller wisely points out that what works for one organization may not work for another. Each company must find its own path to effective project delivery, whether it employs traditional or agile methods. This aligns with research from Berriault & Associates, which emphasizes the need for customized, behaviour-focused approaches rather than rigid frameworks.

In the upcoming chapters, we’ll explore governance roles in more detail, building on the four paradigms: Flexible Economist, Versatile Artist, Conformist, and Agile Pragmatist. By the end of this series, we hope to propose additional paradigms that reflect the realities of organizational agility.

Want to keep the conversation going or have questions about governance and agile transformation?
Book your Strategy Session Call with us at jberriault@berriaultandassociates.com. Let’s explore how you can build a governance model that truly empowers your teams and drives real results.