9

Preparing Sponsors for Their Role

IN FIGURE 9.1, the project manager is attempting to influence the behaviors of the users of the project deliverables (the actions taken by individuals to complete the work that comprises their job). Several elements influence conduct, including beliefs, cultural norms, experience, and perception. This is the context we must understand when we hand off our project deliverables to operations. For example, a project will not be sustainable after completion if it requires behavior that is highly individualistic (e.g., make a decision to provide a customer a financial refund) in a company culture that values command-and-control (e.g., in the past only senior managers could make those decisions). Any person who was not asked to provide refunds would be highly suspicious of any requirements for them to make that decision in the future. As you can imagine, the employee would want ironclad assurance that there would be no negative repercussions.

Figure 9.1: Influencing Behavior Is a Complex Process with Several Important Aspects to Consider

Determine Where and How Your Sponsor Can Help

In preparing sponsors for the project, we need to think of distinct areas where their help can be important to the success of the project:

What actions are required from the sponsor to demonstrate commitment to the change?

Are there any risks from the risk register that require our sponsor?

Are there certain messages from our communication plan that require authority to deliver?

What actions require our sponsor to address if there is a lack of readiness on the part of the business for our project deliverables?

Unfortunately, as project managers, we have very little impact on people’s beliefs and experience. And we need to understand the cultural norms that influence people so that we can be sensitive to those norms as we prepare operations for the project deliverables.

Culture is a set of norms related to shared values and behaviors in a group of people. It defines what the group values and how they should act. If individuals in the group stray from the norms, their peers within the group will give them feedback, without even thinking about it—either directly through words or indirectly through body language—to return to the normal behavior.

Persuading Stakeholders

Most of the time when we are asking sponsors to get involved, we are trying to convince or persuade them. To understand how people are influenced and how to successfully engage our sponsor, we need to understand that there are principally three ways people are influenced:

1. Authority

2. Technical expertise

3. Relationship

Obviously, the best utilization of our sponsor is to influence through authority. For example, in a project where we were implementing a new trading system for gas traders, one of the key concerns was related to security. Past bad behavior had led traders to give their log-in ID and password to interns so the interns could enter trades while the traders returned to the telephones to capture more orders. As should be apparent to anyone, giving others your corporate log-in information is very hazardous both for the individual and for the company.

Once the new system was implemented, that practice would no longer be tolerated. It may be apparent, but our sponsor, the vice president in charge of all the traders, was the one who had to make it clear that the new system meant changes. He was their boss. As we moved closer to the go-live time, we set up a series of meetings and messages from the sponsor detailing expectations about the new practices. The meetings were part of the strategy because the traders had to see their boss supporting the project and answering specific questions about what would happen if a trader were caught operating in the old way of sharing log-in information.

To influence this group in accepting the new trading system, we relied on two key traders who were recognized by the entire team and very good at their job. These two individuals were at the director level and reported to the sponsor.

In other projects, it may require a different authority to deliver the message, for example human resources, but in that case, the sponsor can reach out to a peer in that department to request assistance.

In a completely different project, the relationship form of influence was required to support the project. The project was building a pipeline that would require landowners to provide a right-of-way over their property. As I am sure you can imagine, the landowners had several concerns, not the least of which was the safety in the construction and operation of a pipeline. In that project, we identified three landowners who were seen as leaders by their neighbors and who had the confidence of the community that they would not place themselves or their friends in jeopardy. Those three individuals became a committee that reviewed all the plans and procedures utilized by the company to provide safety and security during both the construction and the operation of the pipeline, and they became a powerful voice in the community. Admittedly, some landowners remained skeptical, but when their neighbor leaders felt comfortable with the project, a great many of them accepted it.

Building a Leadership Plan

It may seem obvious, but the figure 9.2 identifies the type of executive support you need. It is your job to help your sponsor provide leadership by building a leadership plan to supplement the communication plan.

Figure 9.2: Effective Leadership Requires Time and Energy as Well as Vision and Perspective

In a leadership plan, it is best to develop answers to the following questions and collaborate with your sponsor to get alignment:

From the communication plan, what messages require authority to be delivered?

From those messages, which leader would be most appropriate to deliver the message?

What would be the best forum or medium for the delivery of this message? Please don’t just default to an e-mail message!

What information or preparation is required by the project team to support this business leader?

Is there a way to get feedback on the message to ensure it had the desired effect?

Is there a proper timing for this communication to be successful?

Finally, do any company protocols have to be followed for this communication?

From an assessment of the impact of changes created by the deliverables:

Who will be responsible for the changes to be implemented successfully?

Do we know their level of support for the project?

Does the sponsor need to engage this person or these people to gain their support?

What actions will be required of this leader to demonstrate commitment to the change wrought by the deliverable?

What information or support can the project team supply to assist leaders?

Is a proper timing required for the action to be successful?

From the risk register:

Are any risks identified that need someone from the leadership team to assist in mitigating them?

What would our sponsor suggest related to the risk and the actions required to mitigate that risk?

Will this activity reduce the likelihood of the risk occurring, or will it reduce the negative impact if it should happen?

What information or support would that leader require from the project team?

Points to Remember

Identify how and when a senior manager is required, and prepare your sponsor for that role.

Remember that technical expertise is more persuasive than authority in many situations.

Build a leadership plan to complement your communication plan.