Delivery Governance for Busy Client Teams

If your supplier sets the agenda, you only hear about problems when they spill over. Delivery governance is not about bureaucracy—it is a lightweight rhythm that keeps you in the driver’s seat.

The symptoms of no governance

• Status emails that read like marketing pieces, not progress updates
• Escalations that go from “everything is fine” to “we need more budget” overnight
• Sponsors who feel out of the loop and start questioning the partnership

A weekly cadence that works

Keep notes in a shared document so any absent stakeholder can catch up in minutes.

Dashboards that tell the truth

Track three categories only:

1. Scope – Completed vs. planned deliverables
2. Schedule – Milestones due vs. achieved, including slippage reason
3. Health – Defects, risks, and change requests in red/amber/green

If a metric turns amber, log the root cause and an action owner immediately.

Roles you need (even if one person doubles up)

• Client lead – Runs the cadence, updates the dashboard, calls out blockers
• Vendor lead – Brings evidence (progress, metrics), proposes fixes
• Sponsor – Makes budget or scope decisions, removes internal blockers

Document responsibilities in a RACI so nobody guesses at who owns what.

When to call for support

• Meetings feel like storytelling with no proof
• Risks keep bouncing between teams with no closure
• Sponsors ask for a reset or threaten to cancel the contract

That’s when we step in: we rebuild the cadence, introduce objective evidence, and facilitate the tough conversations until the project is back on solid ground.