Project Compliance: How to Set Policies for Your Project

Project compliance isn’t just about avoiding trouble—it plays a great role in creating a trustworthy and efficient work environment.

Effective compliance management not only minimizes the risks of legal penalties for project managers but also enhances the organization’s reputation, operational efficiency, and adherence to the best project management principles.

When your project meets all legal, regulatory, and internal standards, it runs smoothly and gains the confidence of every stakeholder involved.

This article will walk you through the simple steps to create and maintain strong project compliance policies. Whether you’re managing a small team or a big project, you’ll find practical tips and best practices to help ensure everything runs smoothly and by the book.

Let’s explore how to make compliance a natural part of your project management process!

Project Compliance: How to Set Policies for Your Project

What Is Project Compliance?

Project compliance refers to the adherence to laws, regulations, standards, and internal policies relevant to a project’s operations and outcomes. It ensures all project activities are conducted legally, ethically, and within set guidelines for achieving project objectives.

Purpose of compliance in project management

Project compliance has several important functions—mitigate compliance risks, avoid legal penalties, and enhance the integrity and success of a project. Compliance plays a critical role in project governance by:

Ensuring project managers adhere to legal and regulatory requirements
Maintaining organizational standards and policies
Protecting the organization from legal issues and financial losses
Enhancing stakeholder trust and credibility
Facilitating smooth project execution and completion

Compliance vs. requirements

While project compliance involves adhering to relevant rules, regulations, and standards, requirements are the specific conditions or capabilities that the project must satisfy to be considered complete and successful.

Compliance, which involves adhering to a set of external and internal guidelines and standards, is mandatory and often legally enforced. Requirements, on the other hand, are project-specific conditions that govern how the project pans out—these are determined by stakeholders and can include technical specifications, performance criteria, and user needs.

For instance, in software development, compliance may seek to ensure that the project adheres to user data protection guidelines per GDPR laws, while project requirements dictate that the software preserves data in a specified format and is utilized only when required for specific functionalities.

Both project compliance and requirements are essential in project management, although they serve different purposes. Often, they come together to make a project successful.

A good example of this would be the project management maturity model—compliance with project requirements is a key aspect of the model. The higher maturity levels are characterized by standardized processes, consistent implementation, and a focus on meeting stakeholder expectations.

Importance of complying with existing laws and standards

Complying with laws and standards is crucial because it demonstrates ethical conduct, minimizes legal risks, and ensures alignment with organizational goals. It also enhances stakeholder confidence and contributes to successful project delivery.

Different Categories of Compliance

Understanding the different types of compliance is essential for maintaining organizational integrity, avoiding legal pitfalls, and building trust among stakeholders.

Here’s a breakdown of the main compliance categories in successful project management:

Category	Description	Examples	Purpose
Legal Compliance	Ensuring adherence to local, national, and international laws and regulations	Labor laws Data protection laws (e.g., GDPR) Tax laws	Avoid legal penalties and lawsuits and safeguard the organization’s license to operate
Regulatory Compliance	Adhering to specific regulations relevant to the industry	Environmental regulations (EPA) Financial regulations (SEC)	Meet standards set by regulatory bodies, protect the general public and environment, and ensure fair competition
Industry Standards Compliance	Following standards set by industry bodies or consortia	ISO standards (ISO 9001) Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS) Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)	Enhance credibility, operational efficiency, and quality assurance within the industry
Organizational Policies Compliance	Adhering to internal policies and procedures set by the organization	Code of conduct Internal security policies Rules codified in employee handbooks	Ensure consistent behavior and operations, align with strategic goals, and facilitate a positive organizational culture
Ethical Compliance	Following ethical guidelines and standards, often exceeding legal requirements	Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives Fairtrade practices Anti-bribery programs	Build trust and reputation, attract and retain employees and customers, and contribute positively to society
Contractual Compliance	Adhering to the terms and conditions specified in contracts	Service level agreements (SLAs) Vendor contracts	Maintain good business relationships, avoid contract breaches, and ensure all parties meet their obligations
Privacy Compliance	Protecting personal data and ensuring privacy rights are respected	General Data Protection Regulation GDPR) California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA)	Protect individuals’ privacy, avoid data breaches, and build customer trust
Financial Compliance	Adhering to financial regulations and standards	Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS)	Ensure accuracy in financial reporting, prevent fraud, and enhance financial transparency
IT and Cybersecurity Compliance	Ensuring IT systems and data are secure and protected against unauthorized access	NIST Cybersecurity Framework ISO/IEC 27001 GDPR	Protect sensitive data, prevent cyber attacks, and maintain the integrity and security of IT systems
Environmental Compliance	Following environmental laws and regulations to minimize ecological impact	Clean Air Act Clean Water Act WEEE Directive	Reduce environmental footprint, avoid fines, and promote sustainability
Trade Compliance	Adhering to trade laws and regulations regarding import, export, and international trade	International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) Export Administration Regulations (EAR) Customs Compliance	Ensure lawful international business transactions, avoid penalties, and maintain good international relations
Health and Safety Compliance	Ensuring a safe and healthy working environment	OSHA regulations Workplace safety standards Health codes	Protect employees’ health and safety, reduce workplace accidents, and comply with health regulations

Challenges and Threats in Achieving Compliance

To achieve and maintain compliance standards, you may need to address several challenges and threats. These obstacles can impede your ability to ensure that your projects meet all regulatory and internal compliance requirements.

Here are some that we’ve outlined:

Changing regulations

Regulatory landscapes tend to evolve with time, and new laws and amendments are introduced regularly. Staying up-to-date with these changes can prove difficult, leading to potential non-compliance if the latest requirements are not integrated promptly.

Solution: Regular training, subscription to legal and regulatory update services, and the establishment of a compliance team to monitor changes can help.

Security threats

Data breaches and cyber attacks can lead to significant compliance violations, especially concerning data protection laws. In many geographies, this may lead to steep fines and legal complications.

Solution: Implementing strong cybersecurity measures, conducting regular security audits, and ensuring employees are trained on security protocols are key to mitigating this.

Stakeholder expectations

Stakeholders—including customers, investors, and partners—often have lofty and demanding expectations regarding compliance. Balancing these expectations with regulatory requirements can be challenging, especially if they conflict.

Solution: This can be managed by clearly communicating compliance goals, involving stakeholders in compliance planning, and setting realistic expectations.

Lack of awareness

Employees and even the management may lack awareness of compliance requirements and their importance. This can lead to inadvertent violations and non-compliant practices.

Solution: Regular compliance training programs must be organized, policies should be communicated clearly, and other steps should be taken to promote a culture of compliance within the organization.

Resource constraints

Compliance activities can be resource-intensive, requiring both time and financial investment. Limited resources can hinder the ability to initiate and run adequate compliance programs, leading to potential oversights.

Solution: You can address this with efficient resource allocation, leveraging technology for compliance management, and prioritizing compliance tasks based on risk assessment.

Steps to Achieve Compliance in Project Management

Ensuring compliance in project management involves meeting all legal, regulatory, and internal standards in every phase of the project life cycle.

You can chart out an action plan with these steps in mind:

Initiation: Identify compliance requirements early on and include them in the project charter and initial planning documents
Planning: Develop detailed compliance plans and integrate them into the overall project plan. Ensure all team members are aware of their compliance responsibilities
Execution: Implement compliance measures and monitor adherence throughout the project execution. Conduct regular audits and reviews
Monitoring and controlling: Continuously track compliance performance, manage any issues that arise, and make necessary adjustments
Closing: Ensure all compliance requirements have been met before closing the project. Document compliance efforts and results and review the process for future improvements

If you function within the agile framework, you may need to create a system to ensure compliance needs are met. For instance, you can include it in the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) or the product backlog for agile projects.

In WBS: Break down the project into smaller tasks and include specific compliance-related tasks. For example, create WBS elements such as ‘Compliance Training,’ ‘Regulatory Review,’ and ‘Audit Preparation.’ Once that’s done, assign resources and timelines to these tasks just as you would for any other project activity.

In product backlog: For agile projects, add compliance-related user stories or tasks to the product backlog. Prioritize these tasks alongside other project work to ensure they are completed timely. Examples of backlog items could include ‘As a project manager, I need to conduct a regulatory compliance review’ or ‘As a team member, I need to attend a compliance training session.’

By following these steps and integrating compliance into the project lifecycle and planning tools, you can effectively manage project compliance requirements and reduce the risk of non-compliance issues.

How to Manage Project Compliance

Here are some steps to follow to initiate project compliance within your organization:

1. Prepare compliance policies and documentation

Identify relevant regulations and standards: Determine the regulations, industry standards, and internal policies that might apply to your project. These could include data protection laws, environmental regulations, health and safety standards, and quality management standards
Develop comprehensive compliance policies: Draft clear, detailed policies that outline specific compliance requirements. These policies should be easy to understand and accessible to all project stakeholders
Create documentation templates: Develop templates for compliance-related documentation, which will be used to record compliance activities and evidence. These templates should cover risk assessments, compliance checklists, audit logs, incident reports, and training records

2. Choose suitable solutions to manage compliance projects

Invest in compliance management software that can help automate and simplify compliance processes. Look for tools like ClickUp’s Project Management platform, which offers features such as document management, audit trails, risk assessment tools, and real-time reporting.

Ensure 360° project compliance with ClickUp’s Project Management features

The ClickUp platform can help you with:

Compliance-related task management: Create, assign, and track compliance-related tasks with ClickUp Tasks. You can break down complex compliance activities into manageable tasks and subtasks, set priorities, and monitor progress

Manage all compliance-related tasks on a unified platform with ClickUp Tasks

Document storage: Store and organize compliance documentation on ClickUp. Use ClickUp Docs as a central hub to create, collaborate on, and share compliance policies, templates, and reports with relevant stakeholders. With its version history, you can track changes and maintain an audit trail of document updates, too

Create compliance policies, templates, and reports, collaborate with others, and share them with ClickUp Docs

Automations: Automate routine compliance tasks to reduce manual effort and minimize errors. For instance, you can set up ClickUp Automations to send reminders for upcoming compliance deadlines or to update task statuses when preset conditions are met

Send compliance deadline reminders or update task statuses with ClickUp Automations

Integrations: ClickUp Integrations lets you connect numerous third-party applications like Google Drive, Slack, and Jira, which improves the efficiency of your entire workflow and allows seamless data sharing and collaboration. These integrations ensure that compliance-related information is readily available across different platforms

Share compliance-related information with different apps using ClickUp Integrations

Customizable Interface: Make it easy for team members to navigate and manage compliance tasks efficiently with ClickUp’s customizable and user-friendly interface. The platform offers multiple ClickUp Views (List, Board, Calendar, Gantt, and more) so you can choose the layout that best suits how you work

Choose the layout that best suits your compliance workflow with ClickUp Views

Templates: Use ClickUp’s Compliance Project Plan Template to include compliance tasks in the planning stages of every project. This template ensures that you account for all necessary compliance steps from the outset

Simplify your compliance tracking and compliance documentation with ClickUp’s Compliance Project Plan Template

This comprehensive template facilitates your compliance efforts by consolidating essential tasks in one place:

Gain clarity on how your organization meets compliance standards. Map out the steps involved and identify critical checkpoints
Clearly define the tasks necessary for compliance. Specify responsibilities, resources, and dependencies
Set realistic timelines for each task and monitor progress against goals. Regularly update the status to ensure alignment with compliance objectives

Download This Template

Goals and milestones: Use ClickUp’s Goal Tracking to set and track key performance indicators (KPIs) for compliance performance. Goals can be linked to specific tasks and projects, providing a clear and real-time view of progress

Measure compliance success and stay on track with ClickUp Goal Tracking

Reporting and dashboards: Create customized reports and visualize compliance data using ClickUp’s Dashboards. Configure Dashboards to display key metrics and real-time updates, offering insights into the current state of compliance and areas needing improvement

Monitor key compliance metrics in real-time with ClickUp Dashboards

3. Build your compliance team

Identify key roles: Determine the roles needed for compliance management, such as compliance officer, risk manager, quality assurance specialist, and legal advisor
Assign responsibilities: Clearly define the responsibilities of each team member. Ensure that there is a shared understanding of who is responsible for what aspects of compliance
Provide training: Offer training sessions to educate the compliance team on relevant regulations, compliance policies, and compliance management tools. Regular training updates should also be provided to keep the team informed of any regulatory changes

Pro tip: Videos and screencasts could prove helpful if you work with distributed or hybrid teams or across time zones. Use ClickUp Clips to create, edit, and share screen recordings with your team.

4. Create processes for compliance audits

Let’s say you run a small medical practice that accepts credit cards for co-pays and deductibles. This means you must comply with PCI DSS (for credit card information) and HIPAA (for patient health information).

Here’s how you can create a process for your compliance audits:

Develop an audit plan: Create a detailed plan that outlines the scope, project objectives, and schedule for compliance audits. This plan should specify what will be audited (credit card processing systems, patient data storage practices), how often audits will occur (quarterly for PCI DSS, annually for HIPAA), and who will conduct them (internal staff or a qualified external auditor)
Use standardized checklists: Develop and use standardized checklists during audits to ensure a consistent and comprehensive review of compliance requirements. For PCI DSS, you develop a checklist that ensures you’re meeting requirements like strong passwords, system firewalls, and encryption for credit card data. For HIPAA, you create a checklist to verify patient data access controls, breach notification procedures, and employee training on privacy regulations
Document findings: Maintain thorough documentation of audit findings, including any identified non-compliances and recommended corrective actions
Follow up on corrective actions: Track the implementation of corrective actions to ensure that issues identified during audits are resolved promptly. This might involve implementing stronger passwords, encrypting credit card data, or providing additional training for staff on HIPAA regulations

5. Measure compliance extent

Define key performance indicators (KPIs): Establish KPIs to measure the effectiveness of your compliance program. These may include the number of compliance incidents, audit findings, and time taken to resolve issues
Regular reporting: Generate regular compliance reports that provide insights into the current state of compliance, trends over time, and areas needing improvement
Conduct compliance reviews: Periodically review compliance performance against KPIs and make adjustments to policies and processes as needed

6. Implement a compliance process in project management

Integrate compliance into project planning: Incorporate compliance requirements into the project planning phase. Ensure to include all compliance-related activities in the project schedule and budget
Monitor compliance throughout the project lifecycle: Continuously monitor projects for compliance during their execution. Use compliance management tools to track activities and maintain visibility into compliance status
Involve stakeholders: Engage all relevant stakeholders, including project team members, management, and external partners, in compliance activities. Ensure that everyone understands their role in maintaining compliance

Tips and best practices to improve compliance

Promote a compliance culture: Encourage a culture where everyone perceives compliance as a shared responsibility and integral to project success. Encourage open communication about compliance issues and celebrate compliance achievements. Some teams also designate compliance champions who are responsible for raising awareness of compliance issues within the project
Stay informed: Keep updated with changes in regulations and industry standards. Subscribe to regulatory updates and participate in industry forums to stay informed
Leverage technology: Use technology to automate compliance processes and reduce the risk of human error. This includes using software for document management, workflow automation, and real-time monitoring
Conduct regular training: Regularly train employees on compliance policies, procedures, and updates. Ensure that training is practical and relevant to their roles. Many online learning platforms offer pre-built compliance training modules to make your job easier
Perform continuous improvement: Continuously seek ways to improve compliance processes. Conduct regular reviews, solicit feedback from team members, and implement best practices

Achieve Project Compliance with ClickUp

The importance of compliance in project management in enterprises can’t be overstated. As a project leader, you must ensure your projects meet legal, regulatory, and organizational standards. Effective compliance policies reduce risks, avoid penalties, and enhance project quality and success.

Promoting a culture of accountability and transparency helps maintain stakeholder trust and achieve project goals.

However, compliance evolves with time. As regulations become more complex, you must stay informed and continuously adapt to policy updates. This commitment to ensuring project compliance not only protects your projects (and the organization) against risks but also promotes ethical standards and operational excellence.

And tools like ClickUp can help you keep up. To know more, sign up for ClickUp today!

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. What is PMP compliance?

PMP (Project Management Professional) compliance ensures that project management practices adhere to the standards set by the Project Management Institute (PMI). It involves following PMI’s guidelines to confirm project compliance requirements, maintain certification, and uphold professional integrity.

2. What is PMO compliance?

PMO compliance ensures that a Project Management Office follows organizational policies, procedures, and best practices. This helps maintain consistency and quality across all projects the PMO manages.

3. What is the process of compliance?

The process of compliance involves identifying compliance requirements with applicable regulations, implementing policies to meet these standards, and regularly auditing for adherence. It ensures that all activities and outputs meet required legal and ethical standards.