CRM Project Governance: Keeping Your Implementation on Track

Why Governance Matters in CRM Projects

CRM implementations fail when decisions are made in isolation, stakeholders are not aligned, and issues are not escalated quickly. Governance provides the structure to keep projects on track through clear decision rights, regular oversight, and transparent escalation.

Governance Structure

Executive Sponsor

The executive sponsor provides strategic direction, removes organizational barriers, and makes final decisions on scope, budget, and timeline changes. The sponsor should be a senior leader with authority over all departments using the CRM.

Steering Committee

The steering committee meets monthly (or bi-weekly during critical phases) to review project status, resolve cross-functional issues, and approve major decisions. Members should include:

• Executive sponsor
• Project manager
• IT lead
• Business leads from each department
• Implementation partner representative

Project Manager

The project manager runs day-to-day project operations, tracks progress, manages issues and risks, and escalates to the steering committee when needed.

Decision Rights Matrix

Meeting Cadence

• Daily: Project team standup (15 min)
• Weekly: Project status review with business leads
• Bi-weekly: Steering committee meeting
• Monthly: Executive sponsor update

Escalation Process

1. Issue identified by project team
2. Project manager attempts resolution within 24 hours
3. If unresolved, escalate to steering committee with options
4. Steering committee makes decision or escalates to sponsor
5. Decision communicated within 48 hours of escalation

How AavishkarIT Helps

We help establish governance structures for CRM projects. Our services include governance framework design, steering committee facilitation, decision rights definition, and escalation process setup.