A few years ago, I found myself in a heated discussion with a senior executive. The topic? Governance vs. agility.
She wanted strict governance—detailed approvals, rigid processes, and heavy oversight. I wanted flexibility—a way to keep projects moving without drowning teams in bureaucracy.
“You can’t have both,” she told me. “You either have strong governance or you have agility.”
That was the moment I knew something had to change. Because the best PMOs don’t choose between governance and agility—they blend them.
That’s where adaptive governance comes in.
What is Adaptive Governance?
Adaptive governance is the ability to apply just enough structure to keep projects aligned with business goals while giving teams the flexibility to adjust as needed.
Think of it as a spectrum:
🔹 Too much governance → Bureaucracy, slow decision-making, disengaged teams.
🔹 Too little governance → Lack of visibility, misaligned priorities, execution chaos.
🔹 Adaptive governance → The right balance of structure and flexibility, tailored to the project’s needs.
It’s about setting guardrails, not roadblocks. You don’t need Agile methodologies to be agile—you need a governance model that evolves with execution.
The Wake-Up Call: When Governance Became the Enemy
I once worked with a PMO that prided itself on flawless processes. Every project followed a strict approval hierarchy, detailed checklists, and structured reporting.
But here’s the kicker: Projects still failed.
Why? Because governance had become the bottleneck.
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Teams spent more time filling out forms than executing.
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Decisions took weeks, causing project delays.
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Leadership was overwhelmed with reports but lacked real insights.
That’s when we made a radical shift. Instead of enforcing more rules, we focused on adaptive governance.
How to Introduce Adaptive Governance Without Overhauling Everything
I’ve worked with PMOs in various industries—finance, government, manufacturing, technology. And in every case, I’ve found that small shifts in governance can create massive improvements in project outcomes. Here’s how to do it:
1. Shift from Process-Heavy to Outcome-Driven Governance
Most governance models focus on process compliance—did teams submit the right forms, follow the right steps, check the right boxes?
Instead, adaptive governance prioritizes outcomes over processes. Ask:
✔️ Are projects delivering the intended business value?
✔️ Are risks being managed proactively?
✔️ Are teams getting the right level of support?
If governance isn’t enabling better outcomes, it’s just adding friction.
2. Implement Tiered Governance Based on Project Complexity
One mistake I see often? Applying the same governance model to every project.
A small, low-risk initiative doesn’t need the same level of oversight as a mission-critical, high-impact project.
A better approach: tiered governance.
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Tier 1: Light-touch governance for small, fast-moving projects. Minimum reporting, quick approvals.
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Tier 2: Standard governance for mid-level projects. Balanced oversight, automated reporting.
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Tier 3: High-governance for strategic, high-risk projects. Frequent check-ins, executive visibility, risk mitigation measures.
This prevents overloading simple projects with unnecessary bureaucracy while ensuring critical projects get the right level of attention.
3. Move from Periodic Reporting to Real-Time Visibility
Traditional governance relies on static, periodic reporting—monthly status updates, quarterly portfolio reviews, annual strategy refreshes.
By the time a problem surfaces, it’s often too late to course-correct.
Adaptive governance embraces real-time visibility. Instead of waiting for the next meeting to discuss issues, PMOs should enable:
✅ Live dashboards showing project health, risks, and dependencies.
✅ Automated alerts for budget overruns, timeline delays, and scope changes.
✅ Self-service access to project data for stakeholders, reducing the need for endless reports.
This shifts governance from reactive oversight to proactive decision-making.
4. Empower Decision-Making at the Right Level
Governance often fails when every decision has to go through leadership.
In adaptive governance, decision-making is distributed:
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Project teams handle day-to-day execution decisions.
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Middle management aligns execution with business priorities.
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Executives focus on strategic direction and high-level risk management.
If frontline teams can’t make any decisions without senior approval, governance is a bottleneck. The best PMOs create clear decision-making boundaries that give teams autonomy while maintaining alignment.
How Adaptive Governance Applies Across Industries
The best part about adaptive governance? It’s not industry-specific.
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Healthcare → Balancing regulatory compliance with fast-moving innovation.
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Finance → Ensuring risk management without stifling digital transformation.
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Manufacturing → Maintaining quality control while accelerating production cycles.
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Technology → Aligning governance with agile product development.
Wherever there’s a need to balance structure and flexibility, adaptive governance works.
Making Adaptive Governance Work at Scale
At this point, you might be thinking: This sounds great in theory, but how do I implement it across an entire portfolio?
This is where the right tools make all the difference. Smartsheet enables adaptive governance by:
📌 Providing real-time project visibility through dynamic dashboards.
📌 Automating reporting so teams spend less time on admin work.
📌 Standardizing governance tiers with customizable workflows.
📌 Enabling decision-making autonomy with shared access to live data.
I’ve seen PMOs struggle for years trying to balance agility and governance manually. When they move to a system that adapts to both structure and flexibility, everything changes.
