Project Management 101 for the Compliance Professional

According to the Project Management Institute, project management is the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to project activities to meet project requirements.” A project, according to Adobe, can be thought of as “any set of related tasks, deliverables, and activities that collectively accomplish a single goal.” 

Project management skills can greatly benefit someone working in compliance by providing them with structured methods to handle complex regulatory requirements and ensure organizational adherence to laws, regulations, and standards. Some project management skills you likely use in your role but maybe didn’t know were project management skills, including organization and planning, communication, stakeholder engagement, monitoring and reporting, and problem-solving, among other things. 

Project managers utilize these skills to guide a project through a project life cycle, which involves phases (initiation, planning, monitoring and completing tasks, and closing the project) that provide a reassuring structure to see a project from initiation through completion. While the plan for a compliance “project” may differ from traditional examples of projects in project management, there are valuable lessons to be gleaned by applying the phases of the project life cycle to a compliance management plan. 

Initiation

In this initial phase, you would identify the regulatory requirements with which the institution needs to comply and the risks of noncompliance, identify and engage key stakeholders, both internal and external to the institution, and create a high-level outline of the plan's objectives and timelines. 

Planning

In the planning phase, you would develop a detailed plan that specifically outlines what tasks need to be done, who needs to complete them, and by when they need to be completed. The specific tasks that need to be completed will vary depending on the regulatory requirement being addressed, but they may include legal research and analysis, writing or updating disclosures, or developing or updating institutional policies or procedures, among other tasks. 

Monitoring and Completing Tasks 

In this phase, which may also be referred to as the execution phase, you will track progress toward task completion, complete tasks yourself, and adjust the tasks and plans as necessary. This phase will likely require maintaining regulatory communication with stakeholders to ensure that tasks are completed in a timely fashion and that you and others have the information needed to complete their assigned tasks. 

Close the Project

Traditionally, this last phase of the project will formally close. However, since compliance is an ongoing project, in the case of managing compliance with a regulatory requirement, this final phase will include finalizing the tasks related to the regulatory requirement being addressed and transitioning to a monitoring, enforcement, and auditing plan to maintain compliance requirements. It is also important to ensure that planning documents and final compliance documentation are saved for future reference. Conducting a post-mortem to document lessons learned would also be a good step in this phase. Lastly, in this phase, it will be important to plan for and implement a plan to transition into a phase of how you will maintain the compliance requirements via audits or other enforcement mechanisms. 

In conclusion, the project management process can provide helpful structure to those working in regulatory compliance by outlining general steps to take to meet a regulatory requirement. The process is also adaptable and iterative, meaning that some phases may overlap or repeat as new information or new requirements arise. The strategies that institutions choose to achieve compliance may vary, and a general strategy for planning can help all institutions, regardless of the plans they choose to implement, attain their compliance goals. 

Note: This resource was created by the State Authorization Network (SAN) a division of WCET. Regulatory language and references are subject to change. The information should not be considered legal advice. Legal questions should be directed to legal counsel.