At its best, governance in project management creates clarity, alignment and fewer surprises. From defining stakeholder groups, meeting structure, and making decision pathways more visible, small changes can make a big impact.
Erica Mohre, Information Services Strategy and Organization Change Management Program Director at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, encourages teams to think about governance as a shared understanding for how teams will work together. A big part of Erica’s approach is identifying team patterns and collaboration runs more smoothly.
We caught up with Erica to talk more about the “prenup” metaphor, common governance challenges, and what attendees can away from her session at IPM Day 2026.
Q: The "prenup" framing is memorable, but it can also feel a little adversarial. How do you introduce the concept to teams without making it sound like you're preparing for the project to fail?
Q: You make the case that the biggest governance mistake is managing individuals instead of managing groups, decisions, and information flow. What does that shift look like in practice for a project manager who's used to working stakeholder-by-stakeholder?
I would frame it less around failure and more around change. Governance is really a plan for how the team will work when plans need to shift, because that is a normal part of project work.
If you are constantly deciding who needs to be copied, invited, informed, or consulted, you are spending energy solving the same coordination problem repeatedly. The shift is creating a clearer meeting structure, so those expectations and decisions are built in.
Q: Agendas, minutes, and decision logs sound almost too simple to be "the most powerful governance tools". Why do these basics get neglected, and what changes when teams take them seriously?
Q: If an attendee can only implement one thing from your presentation, what do you think it should be?
Q: Final thoughts?
Governance can sometimes sound bureaucratic, top-down, and slower than anyone wants a project to be. I think of governance as the early agreement that helps teams work better together before pressure and complexity make those conversations harder. If you’ve ever been part of a project where the work itself was not the real issue, but the structure around it created friction or delays, it may be time to rethink your approach to governance.
Follow Erica Mohre on LinkedIn or learn more about Erica and the 30+ speakers presenting at International Project Management Day.
Erica Mohre
Erica is the Information Services Strategy and OCM Program Director at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. She is a powerhouse in the world of digital transformation, known for her unique ability to align high-level strategy with boots-on-the-ground execution.
Erica doesn’t just talk about frameworks; she lives them. Her approach is famously pragmatic and collaborative, focusing on translating “complex strategy” into “actionable change.” By bringing a people-first mindset to the high-pressure world of Information Services, she has become a go-to expert for strengthening organizational readiness.
