The program manager is accountable for the program's governance and its ultimate success in delivering benefits. Phase gate reviews are a fundamental component of the program governance framework, designed to ensure the program remains aligned with strategic objectives and that the business case is still valid at key points. Eliminating these reviews, even when the program is performing well, introduces significant risk. The program manager's primary responsibility is to advocate for and maintain the processes that ensure program effectiveness and benefits realization, rather than removing a critical control mechanism at a stakeholder's request.

A. Ask the stakeholders what they want and proceed with their recommendations.

This approach abdicates the program manager's responsibility for governance. The program manager must guide stakeholders and uphold the established governance plan, not simply follow directives that could jeopardize the program.

B. Agree with the customer and initiate change control procedures.

Agreeing to remove a critical governance control without a thorough impact analysis is premature and irresponsible. The change control process is for implementing approved changes, not for initiating a discussion about a potentially detrimental idea.

D. Replace program reviews with periodic communications of the program's status.

Status communications are informational and are not a substitute for the formal decision-making and oversight function of a phase gate review. This would significantly weaken program governance.

1. Project Management Institute. (2017). The Standard for Program Management (4th ed.).

Section 3.3

Program Governance: This performance domain states

"The program manager is responsible for ensuring that the program adheres to the established governance structure

processes

and functions" (p. 50). This supports the program manager's duty to uphold the phase gate review process.

Section 3.3.3

Program Governance Practices: This section describes phase gate reviews as formal reviews to "authorize the continuation of the program" (p. 53). Eliminating them removes a key decision point for program viability and benefits alignment.

2. Project Management Institute. (2017). A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide) (6th ed.).

Section 12.3.2.4

Phase Gate: While from a project perspective

the principle is identical for programs. A phase gate is "held at the end of a phase. The project’s performance and progress are compared to project and business documents... A decision (e.g.

go/no-go) is made as a result of this comparison" (p. 49). This highlights its function as a control point

which should not be easily discarded.