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Auditing Project Management Practices

2. Outlining specific objectives.
3. Outlining the team’s standards of engagement.
4. Developing intervention and execution strategy, including the gap analysis.
5. Ensuring organizational alignment and buy-in through transparent project communication.
6. Defining the key milestones that will be assessed during the go/no go decision-making
processes.
7. Establishing accountability and responsibility through continuous communication amongst
the team and with key stakeholders.
8. Utilizing retrospective activities (or ceremonies in Scrum) designed to assess current project
management processes and reviewing the return on investment (ROI) and critical success
factors (CSF). Also, making the necessary adjustments to continuously reflect and improve
the project management process.

Project Governance

One critical aspect of the assessment is the evaluation of the existence and effectiveness of project
governance. Let’s review the IIA’s International Standards for the Professional Practice of Internal
Auditing (Standards) regarding governance.

IIA Standard 2110: Governance

The internal audit activity must assess and make appropriate recommendations to improve
the organization’s governance processes for:

• Making strategic and operational decisions.

• Overseeing risk management and control.

• Promoting appropriate ethics and values within the organization.

• Ensuring effective organizational performance management and accountability.

• Communicating risk and control information to appropriate areas of the organization.

• Coordinating the activities of, and communicating information among, the board, external
and internal auditors, other assurance providers, and management.

Governance and Project Management

Project governance is critical to the success of the project management function. The
project governance committee, commonly referred to as the change board, is
accountable for ensuring resources are used wisely and projects are executed in a
matter to reduce risk.

Project governance activities generally include:

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