CHAPTER

1

Are we not all actors playing parts in another person's play?

—Shannon L. Alder

Defining Sponsor Responsibilities

Upper managers in many organizations express frustration through statements such as “We did project management in our company, we spent a lot of money and effort training and educating our project managers, and we developed a project management career path. So why do we still have problems on our projects?”

These managers wonder when they will see improved productivity and profitability from their projects. Vendors provide software tools that appear to offer them the help they need. Conferences and seminars highlight best practices learned by other organizations, elicit tips on how to perform portfolio management, and reveal how to capture project requirements. Project managers earn professional certification. They learn that executive support is essential for project management to earn its benefits and enhance the practice. Why, then, do difficulties persist? We believe that an answer may lie in reviewing the organization's sponsorship skills.

In this chapter we define sponsorship and identify roles and responsibilities. We paint a broad picture of sponsorship applicable to all endeavors and then focus on specific duties that apply to the world of project management.

Challenges

Managers are more effective when they are passionate in their approach to projects and people. They should reinforce best practices, often more than once, and explain why those methods make the most sense. To ensure that project activities are done correctly, managers should be persistent. And, taking the necessary time to talk with people and solve problems requires that they be patient. All three of these P-words may be regarded with disdain by certain managers.

Managers need to spend time with every project team member, working out misunderstandings, miscommunication, and varying perceptions. Managers in a sponsor role need to listen to many team members, even when the messages conveyed are not easy to receive. When the focus is on people as human beings, language, culture, and unique behaviors become less of an issue. When people feel valued, they are more proactive, and performance improves. Communication is the underlying problem in many international efforts. Language differences cause difficulty, but a big issue is how different people filter directives they receive. Only 10% of the total message people perceive is communicated through words (Harris & Moran, 1996).

Different cultures have different values, so international team members may misunderstand the approach to executing activities and tasks that are prescribed in another country. Good managers clarify reasons for their priorities. Some multinational companies conduct initial project meetings about mission, objective, and personal roles and responsibilities, using teleconferences and video conferences. They communicate and share information in the same way and rarely hold regular face-to-face meetings. Other companies insist that all team members get together in one place to start up a project. The project manager travels to each country where team members are located to determine the status of activities and to observe feelings, collect inputs, and gather ideas. They give and solicit regular feedback.

Human beings adapt to the environment in which they work. A lack of cultural sensitivity distracts them from the tasks at hand. We advise all managers to understand that in a world of globalization, they need to inspire project managers to advance in their understanding of other cultures and behaviors. Managers acting as project sponsors need to demonstrate their own passion to team members. All these human issues surface as sponsorship issues.

Projects Without Sponsorship

It is perhaps easier to describe what sponsorship is not. All too often, a project may not have a sponsor assigned, or the one who is assigned disappears shortly after the start and is not around when problems or conflicts appear. Some sponsors are passive; others micromanage, getting involved in every detail or decision. Some sponsors are too busy attending to other responsibilities.

Here is an example of a project without sponsorship:

I [Bucero] managed a migration project for an insurance company while working as a project manager for a multinational services company. The project mission was to change the hardware and software platform from proprietary to open systems. My project sponsor was the general manager of that multinational company. After the proposal was signed, my sponsor took the customer general manager to dinner. At the restaurant, they talked about the importance of the project and about our know-how as providers. The customer said, “You know, we also have some software applications in our old system that would be convenient to be migrated.” My sponsor said, “We have a migration center in my company, and we can migrate your applications for you.” The migration took a year and a half and raised a lot of scope changes, issues, and problems.

When the project started, my sponsor told me, “Bucero, if you need me, please let me know.” However, whenever I asked for more skilled resources, which I did repeatedly, I never got them. My sponsor was too busy—always traveling or otherwise occupied. It was impossible to meet him. I talked to him from time to time, but he reacted only when the customer general manager phoned him. It was very frustrating for me as a project manager and for the team members as well.

Some months later, the customer learned to live without a provider sponsor. The problem was that I had to manage all the issues and problems on my own. Many times this was very complicated. My own organization developed animosity toward me because I escalated too many issues. People would point at me and say, “Your project” this and “Your project” that. I took them aside and told them, “This is not ‘my’ project; it is a project I am trying to manage with your support, guys. If you are not supporting me, the project will fail. I will not be able to do it alone.” The general manager was the project sponsor, but he did not act like one, and that left a huge gap.

In this example, the sponsor supported the team during pre-sales activities but caused trouble because he lacked technical knowledge and appreciation about the project and the difficulties generated by his inaction. He visited the customer on very few occasions. From time to time, he asked me about the project. He never read my emails and reports. Consequently, the project was delayed six months. When the project was finally completed, the customer was happy with the efforts of the project team but absolutely unhappy with the provider project sponsor and organization.

A survey conducted with the help of the Cadence Management Company revealed these comments about the (sorry) state of sponsorship at a number of organizations:

• Sponsor in our organization is a committee, not an individual.
• If project sponsors do not understand what is being managed, then they may fail in their attempt to micromanage the project.
• We need to develop a culture of project management ASAP to obtain better results in all the projects we handle.
• There is a lot of variability in our organization depending on which projects and which departments are involved. Some are better than others.
• [Sponsorship] is an area that I believe is weak in my organization.
• Sponsors seem to only be good at signing checks rather than having an understanding of what is needed.
• Most often, it appears sponsors are “overcome by events” and lose sight of the accumulation of minor impacts along the way.
• People play the role of sponsor by default because of their position but do not actively participate as sponsors in our department.
• Sometimes we have one sponsor for all projects (e.g., the general manager). Other times, sponsor is expected to take on the responsibilities that belong to project managers.
• Some areas are better than other areas within our company. In general, I believe those that are not as good lack the awareness of what is expected.
• Most of the sponsors hand you a project and that is the last you see of them until there is a problem.
• Clear statement of goals is still not done consistently. Sponsorship “just seems to happen.”
• The sponsorship process was not part of most of the projects I've done.
• The project sponsor at the facility level has little involvement in the project beyond a “rubber stamp” approval of the project plan.
• Project sponsorship is a known objective but not actively enforced at the upper levels of management.
• Sponsors push the ball off the top of the hill and don't look back or listen for the thud.
• Project management is a nightmare; the focus is on meeting timelines rather than quality and doing it right with the proper resources and being cost effective.
• The sponsor is usually overridden by the opinions of higher management. Project itinerary/flow changes at their [management's] discretion.
• Sponsorship in our organization is more of a political gesture than a real project management discipline.
• Usually the project manager helps the sponsor fine-tune—sometimes establish—the objectives and set expectations.
• I think the managers can learn more from the sponsors if they would work and listen to them more.
• Sponsor engagement is definitely an area that needs improvement.
• It all depends on the project and the particular sponsor at our company.
• We are working internally to manage project with a project manager, but that isn't effective at this point.

Many professionals in organizations do not have a clear idea of what sponsorship entails. The Standish Group, in its report Chaos Manifesto 2012—The Year of the Executive Sponsor, stated, “We believe improvement in the skills of the Executive Sponsor is the single most important factor that will increase project success. Sixty-six percent of Executive Sponsors do a poor job and shirk their responsibilities. However, it is not their fault, because no one has educated them about their roles and responsibilities” (p. 3). We believe that state of mind needs to change.

In a survey to ascertain how to break the cycle of CIO turnover, “the failure of a major IT project is one of the primary reasons that the tide turns against the CIO. And although failure doesn't always lead directly to dismissal, it is often a contributing factor. These projects are typically big-ticket, multiyear, enterprise-wide programs involving new ERP [enterprise resource planning], CRM [customer relationship management], or core industry-specific solutions that promise to fundamentally change business performance and improve competitiveness. Unfortunately, such complex projects are often allowed to deteriorate into costly IT-driven systems implementation and replacement initiatives, which lack genuine ownership and buy-in from the business units involved”(pp. 9–10). Many of these programs were inherited and 60% were doomed to fail (Bhanap, Bieber, & Roets, 2014).

Sponsor Definition

The statements and case study above demonstrate that sponsorship means commitment to people in organizations. When we talk about project sponsors, we refer to managers who are committed to active involvement throughout the project. These are professionals who meet regularly to track progress. One basic characteristic of a good project sponsor is to be clear about the objective and at the same time be consistent, acting as a parachute for the project team. Project sponsorship does not mean doing project planning or work directly.

Sponsorship means dealing with people. The sponsor is both a supplier and protector of resources and the focal point of escalation for the project manager. During every project life cycle, the sponsor acts as a high-level decision maker because he or she is usually more knowledgeable about the business context in which the project operates.

Sponsorship means owning the project objective, determining priorities, and keeping the project going. Many problems can be avoided if a particular project has a sponsor who defends the priority of the project, the project manager, and the team members. For example, it is very common in organizations that provide services to customers to have conflicts in terms of resource assignments among projects. The sponsor plays a key role in easing conflicts by keeping the project priority as established at the very beginning of the project. It is key for project success to have a sponsor who gives his or her team the benefit of the doubt and supports the project manager and the team.

Possible roles that sponsors may embrace include enablers, engagers, embedders, and enhancers. An enabler provides all resources required to achieve desired outcomes. An engager connects projects with the rest of the organization. An embedder brings in new thinking, processes, and procedures. An enhancer provides value-added services, insights, and advice that augment and integrate all project-based work.

Coaching and mentoring are desired characteristics of a good sponsor. In the project field, we do not find many sponsors who have managed projects, making it difficult for them to be effective mentors. Furthermore, they allow themselves to remain woefully ignorant about daily obstacles, issues, and problems. Sponsorship means committing to the project and ensuring alignment to objectives from the beginning to the end of the project.

According to Kloppenborg (2006), one of many stakeholders takes the primary role of sponsorship during project execution. The concept of project sponsor is used to describe either an individual/person or a body/group with a particular role in a project environment. Bryde (2008) reviewed the existing literature and showed that there were many roles for the sponsor during the project life cycle, such as risk taker, financial resource provider, client, and senior management representatives. Additionally, Bryde indicated that the sponsor role was part of the champion role. Roles such as internal and external sponsor are also described, which vary according to the context. An internal sponsor supports the project organization as much as possible, ensuring resources, creating an environment for achieving a successful project, and providing support to project management. An external sponsor defines the business benefits, establishes a project strategy with priorities, agrees on the project definition and its objectives, and monitors the business environment and benefits realization.

The Association for Project Management (APM) defines the project sponsor as: “Sponsorship of a project, programme or portfolio is an important senior management role. The sponsor is accountable for ensuring that the work is governed effectively and delivers the objectives that meet identified needs” (2015, p. 4). Furthermore, a sponsor is the individual or body for whom the project is undertaken and who the primary risk taker is. The sponsor owns the business case and is the ultimate responsibility for the project and for delivering the benefits. A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide) – Fifth Edition defines the project sponsor as: “A person or group who provides project, program or portfolio resources and support and is responsible to facilitate its success” (PMI, 2013, p. 563). Neil Love and Joan Brant-Love (2000) define the project sponsor role as mentor, catalyst, cheerleader, barrier buster, boundary manager, and senior management's liaison.

There are definitions of the role of sponsor that extend beyond projects:

1. One who assumes responsibility for another person or a group during a period of instruction, apprenticeship, or probation
2. One who vouches for the suitability of a candidate for admission
3. A legislator who proposes and urges adoption of a bill
4. One who presents a candidate for baptism or confirmation—a godparent
5. One who finances a project or an event carried out by another person or group, especially a business enterprise that pays for radio or television programming in return for advertising time

Our definition of sponsorship is a commitment by management to define, defend, and support major activities from the start to the end and to ensure desired benefits are achieved.

We consider sponsorship as an active role during the project life cycle. Sponsors need to develop a vision—for the organization and its operating environment, about the people, and for the outcome from each project—and share that vision passionately with all stakeholders. Obviously, the types of activities to be done by each sponsor may differ, but there are some commonalities in expressed values expected from all sponsors, including obligation, devotion, and achievement—in other words, commitment.

Usually, the project sponsor is a professional with a higher level of authority than the project manager and project team in the organization. It is preferable for the sponsor to be an experienced executive. The person's experience is crucial to ensure that projects execute organizational strategy because the sponsor is aware of the strategy and can affect resources to support it.

Project Roles and Responsibilities

The project sponsor, the senior manager, the project manager, and the project team all have specific roles and responsibilities.

Project Sponsor

The project sponsor has a relationship with all project stakeholders but more frequently with the project manager. In addition to broad roles mentioned previously, a project sponsor performs specific and varied roles during a project life cycle: seller, coach and mentor, filter, business judge, motivator, negotiator, protector, and upper management link (see Figure 1.1).

Seller: The project sponsor is able to sell the project to project stakeholders. The sponsor believes in the project, speaks positively about it, and passionately sells the benefits.

Coach and mentor: A good project sponsor increases the level of confidence felt by the project manager. The project sponsor needs to have the ability to instill a sense of confidence in the project manager and protect the project manager from losing that confidence. The sponsor may help the project manager understand the business context. In this role, the sponsor also improves problem-solving skills and judgment exercised by the project manager. The sponsor promotes knowledge creation and reuse of project intellectual capital.

Filter: The project sponsor is able to motivate project leaders by allowing them to focus on the work at hand. The sponsor challenges the project manager to consider more plausible options and reactions but not get distracted, obliging them both to think before taking action. To be objective in assessing project relevance is an obligation of the sponsor.

Business judge: The project sponsor uses sound business judgment to coach the project manager when making decisions. The project sponsor is recognized as a focal point for decisions beyond the project manager's scope of authority.

Motivator: The project sponsor helps the project manager stay positive and solve problems with the project team. The project sponsor asks for and listens to bad news. The sponsor needs to share status and feelings with the project team about changes happening in the organization. The sponsor is present for celebrations and milestone meetings. The sponsor constantly reminds the project leader about the importance of the project mission.

Negotiator: The project sponsor is swift and decisive in resolving conflicts, often requiring advanced negotiating skills to work through differing agendas and options. The sponsor helps overcome obstacles that are not within the project manager's control. Obstacles may include managers who are not supportive, resource assignment problems, people problems, deadlines, lack of tools, and logistics.

Protector: The project sponsor works proactively with the project manager to manage risk. The sponsor is actively involved throughout the duration of the project. The sponsor keeps executives, managers, and other professionals from interfering with the team and protects the team from unnecessary bureaucracy. The sponsor demonstrates, through personal involvement with the team, that the agreed-upon activities are important.

Upper management link: The project sponsor actively develops and manages relationships with peers in client organizations and rapidly builds trust with project managers and clients. Before establishing the project team, the project sponsor explains to the management team the project mission and objectives, the desired team, and the project descriptions. During the course of a project, the sponsor communicates to senior management and to other stakeholders. The project sponsor asks management for help and support when needed.

Senior Manager

Senior managers have a number of obligations relevant to project success throughout the project life cycle. They delegate upper management support to middle managers in the role of project sponsor. Senior managers need to communicate periodically with project sponsors, and vice versa. Senior managers need to support and listen to project sponsors.

For this to happen, senior managers are more effective when they are clear about the objectives for each project, understand and support the project management process, and know the role of sponsors. This requires time and commitment. Since senior managers are involved in changes that affect the whole organization, they need to assess how changes affect projects, be proactive in communicating with project teams, stay informed on project progress, and continuously review the project portfolio, both for meeting strategic goals and for necessary revisions. These activities may require additional training.

Project Manager

The project manager is the person responsible for getting things done. He or she requires a proactive relationship with the project sponsor and acts at all times as the one person responsible for the project. Good project managers need to develop key skills in a number of important areas:

Leadership: The project manager leads the team in the use of project management methodology.

Business judgment: The project manager demonstrates sound business judgment in managing all aspects of a project. The project manager makes quantitative and qualitative risk analyses and sound contingency plans. The project manager leads the team to achieve maximum business returns.

Motivation: The project manager provides a stimulating work environment and opportunities for people development.

Effectivity: The project manager manages overall project timelines and is effective and timely when issues need to be escalated.

Proactivity: The project manager needs to be proactive in anticipating the needs of team members, the sponsor, and customers.

Communication: The project manager needs good communication skills and needs support to develop whatever additional communication skills may be required.

Risk control: The project manager deals with uncertainty and finds ways to manage and control project risk.

Relationships: The project manager builds relationships with all other project stakeholders.

Project Team

Team members need to understand the high-level methodology process within the context of the project. They can identify phases, major activities, and deliverables within project management methodology. They understand and can articulate standards of business conduct.

They can describe what is legally binding and understand the project terms and conditions for the part that affects their work. They remain cognizant of customer and end-user requirements as they strive to meet those requirements.

Business Analyst

Analysts prepare business cases that aid the sponsor, project manager, team, and all other stakeholders to understand and incorporate customer, market, and business needs into project plans. They also are the liaison among stakeholders, business units, and solution providers. They analyze, negotiate, verify, and validate solution requirements.

Project Sponsor Activities

In some organizations, the project manager is selected by the project sponsor; in other companies, that selection is the result of an organizational process related to organization portfolio management. Taking into account the project characteristics and the available project managers from the organization, one professional is selected.

Assignment of the project manager is a formal process that gives the project manager enough authority to manage the project and also formalizes the existence of the project in the organization. The project manager needs to be respected by everyone in the organization and needs to possess not only project management experience but also business context knowledge. It is very important that team members regard the project manager as their leader and the link between the team and the sponsor.

An area of focus for sponsors is the start-up phase, when most crucial decisions are made, setting the tone and pace for the rest of the project. Sponsors make a huge impact by actively participating at the start of each project. The following are some essential activities for project start-up:

• Develop a draft document with project mission, objectives, and constraints
• Identify the right project team members
• Sell the projects to executives and team members (gain commitment)
• Communicate the importance of the project's mission
• Help refine the team mission and objectives as required
• Identify deficiencies in the project plan
• Sell the project to management and/or clients

Escalating Issues

Although issue management is a project management responsibility, some issues may not be solved by the project manager and need to be escalated to somebody in the organization who has enough power or authority to do so. A wise sponsor coaches the project manager to separate technical issues from organizational issues. Escalate organizational issues that require a broader perspective or authority to resolve. The project plan needs to include a flowchart, including trigger criteria, for an escalation process.

Sponsorship Behaviors

To implement project sponsorship in organizations means to change typical behaviors for many managers. Some sponsors suffer from less than adequate leadership and people skills; others do not know what customers need and do not see the big picture.

Figure 1.2 shows desired behaviors to be implemented in organizations that want to support excellence in project sponsorship. A good project sponsor needs to deal with resource availability, minimize functional barriers, seek help from upper management, and ensure the right tools are used. For example, a good project sponsor attends management meetings and project portfolio meetings and deals with maintaining project priorities. Project sponsors ensure projects link to organizational strategy. The sponsor role is sometimes a difficult and unpleasant job, and it is also a challenge. As each project moves forward, many issues come up with the team, project manager, other stakeholders, and sometimes the project sponsor.

Environment Problems

A key obligation of the project sponsor is to create the right environment for project success. When a team is in trouble, it is helpful to find out if there are any problems in the organization (crises, bad figures or results, changes, etc.)—anything that can divert the attention of team members. The project sponsor spends time explaining the importance of the project and how every team member will be part of project and organizational success.

Promoting dialogue and discussion among team members and with the sponsor helps a lot. For this reason, the project sponsor may want to attend some team meetings and gain a sense of the team.

Problems with Team Members

Sponsors can be helpful in a number of ways:

Project sponsors can ensure that project team members attend project meetings. Missing team meetings may cause team productivity problems and lead to more problems for the rest of the team, such as lack of motivation and low morale. The sponsor is best advised to deal with the problem immediately, talking to each person who misses a meeting, finding out the causes, and ensuring resolution. Teamwork is crucial for project success.

Project sponsors can protect team members from serious conflicts. Sometimes the stress of project work or other circumstances generates conflicts between two or more people. The project sponsor can ask individually about the causes of the conflict and try to resolve it.

Project sponsors can keep the team from becoming too dependent on the sponsor. Some teams require too much direction from the project sponsor. This usually happens when the organization has an autocratic management style. The project sponsor needs to delegate sufficient authority to the project manager.

Project sponsors can prevent team conflict during presentations. Sometimes team members have different opinions or arguments regarding project activities and execution. If during management presentations, some of them seem to not fully support recommendations, fall apart, or argue about their differences, the project sponsor may need to facilitate more effort on teamwork and motivation.

Project sponsors can ensure that team members do not skip steps. In some projects, the team skips actions or tasks in the project plan or does an inadequate job. Sometimes this is because the project manager lacks authority. In this case, the project sponsor needs to reinforce the power and authority of the project manager within the team, as well as support following project management methodology.

Project sponsors can keep team members from becoming dysfunctional. A team member can disrupt teamwork and team progress during the project life cycle. Project managers usually deal with that situation first, but if the manager is unable to solve it or tarries too long, the issue needs to be addressed by the project sponsor.

Project sponsors can keep the team moving. When the project manager acts to speed up a slow-moving team but fails, the project sponsor may want to organize a meeting and investigate the circumstances.

Project sponsors can prevent stalemates. The project sponsor supports the project manager to choose the best people available. However, getting the right people is not always possible, and some projects do not make progress, even after meeting and brainstorming. In this case, the project sponsor and project manager need to talk, discover the obstacles, and develop a different approach before reconvening the project team. The reason may require unseating false expectations and creating clear stakeholder expectations. It may mean rescoping the project to match the resources and time available.

Project sponsors can prevent meeting interruptions. A best practice for the project leader, with support from the sponsor, is to ask each member to accept accountability for meeting success and discipline in following effective meeting processes. Mobile phones should be turned off. People should commit to the whole meeting and be actively engaged. The first person who should set the example is the project sponsor.

Project sponsors can ensure that the project's mission and objectives are validated throughout the project life cycle. This means that the project sponsor clarifies the desired specific achievement and answers questions that may arise. The sponsor has a key responsibility to keep the team on track and to handle changes when they are mandated by circumstances or strategic shift or when progress (or lack thereof) suggests that the objective may need modification.

Project Manager Problems

Sponsors may have to deal with some of the following scenarios:

Project manager avoids project sponsor. Sometimes the project manager does not understand the role of project sponsor or does not want to be available for meetings with the project sponsor. In some cases, the project manager feels intimidated by the project sponsor; at other times, the project manager is uncomfortable in that role or is afraid of reporting negative behaviors from a team member. Sometimes there are problems with communications or team cohesion. Although it is a requirement of project management to work well with people, not all project managers and project sponsors can understand each other. Believe it or not, even some sponsors are very difficult to work with.

Project manager in the middle. The project manager feels bad because the team is heading one way and the project sponsor wants something else to happen. Sometimes that situation is also a communication problem. The project manager and project sponsor need to agree on and clarify all project objectives. The project manager has a role to create teamwork and motivation from the beginning of the project. In order to help, the sponsor needs to create and support an open, trusting atmosphere among the project manager and team members.

Project manager not working out. It may be that the wrong manager was assigned to the project. In many companies, there are no established criteria for project manager selection. Accidental project managers—those assigned at random or because they happened to be at the place at a certain time or made a suggestion—are not prepared for the job. Sometimes technical experts are assigned as project managers, and they do not like to deal with people.

Project manager burnout. The project manager's spirit is sinking because he or she is overloaded or has a poor relationship with the project sponsor or team (or both), or does not receive sufficient support from the sponsor.

Problems with Other Managers

Sometimes, mainly in non-project-oriented organizations, we find three types of difficult managers: unsupportive managers, who refuse to allow employees to attend project meetings; sabotaging managers, who undermine the team's mission, performance, or recommendations; and threatened managers, who are upset that employees are meeting with upper managers and the project sponsor. These problems require advanced people skills to resolve.

Project Sponsor Problems

Sponsors can cause problems too. Project sponsors tend to use certain styles of management that are ineffective or inappropriate:

Tendency to over-control. The project sponsor acts like a super project manager. Sometimes this is a management style. At other times, the project is very critical and the project sponsor is nervous or uncomfortable.

Proximity. The project sponsor stays too close to the team or too far from the team. For example, the project sponsor attends all meetings and asks too many questions of all team members. Or, the project sponsor attends the project start-up and management meetings but does not display interest in the project's day-to-day issues. Or, the sponsor is virtual, residing at a distant location.

Lack of time. The project sponsor is unable to spend time supporting the team by meeting with the project leader, is unable to attend team meetings, or is too busy with other activities.

Manipulating the team. The project sponsor believes that he or she knows the right team approach or plan and influences the team to do only what he or she wants.

Not sharing. The project sponsor does not believe in the team and refuses to share thoughts or ideas, assuming that the team must explore everything from scratch.

Tools

Tables 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, and 1.4 in the Appendix reflect four different approaches to the sponsorship role. Table 1.1 is based on the PMBOK® Guide – Fifth Edition (PMI, 2013); Table 1.2 is client-based; Table 1.3 is for new product development; and Table 1.4 is International Project Management Association (IPMA)-based. Each table provides a proactive basis for creating an effective project environment and avoiding problems.

Summary

Project success can be ensured through better project sponsorship. Sometimes executives are unable to pull the plug on “ill projects.” Yet all the resources, energy, and passion not poured into those ill projects could substantially improve the company bottom line. Project sponsors fulfill a crucial role by guiding decision making throughout project life cycles, and linking all activities to strategic goals. They are the means to embed new and improved thinking among all stakeholders.

Executives are advised to support project management in organizations in order to reap the benefits. This means they spend time understanding their many and varied roles and responsibilities during project life cycles. Unfortunately, many professionals operate without a clear definition of sponsorship. Sponsorship requires taking an active role during the whole project. Serving as the project sponsor requires making a commitment to define, fund, defend, and support major activities from the start to the end…and beyond.

While sponsorship activities may vary across industries and disciplines, excellence in sponsorship essentially means dealing with people. As explained in this chapter, the project sponsor has a relationship with all project stakeholders, especially the project manager. The sponsor performs various roles (such as seller, coacher, and mentor) during the phases of each project. Many of these roles require that new skills be developed, which takes time.

Sponsor activities and behaviors vary with the organization. The lack of good project sponsorship is a major case of difficulties and problems on projects. In contrast, well-executed sponsorship by upper managers enables execution of strategic goals and achieving better project results.

The key lessons are as follows:

• The absence of thoughtfully assigned sponsors with well-defined and clearly understood responsibilities is a major cause of project difficulties and frustrations.
• Complex programs that cross internal and external organizations require a structured approach to sponsorship.
• Senior executives are more effective when they understand their role as executive sponsors and do not delegate this responsibility to lower levels.
• Well-executed sponsorship brings financial results, increases motivation and participation, and improves the impact of project-based work on the organization.

A good project sponsor needs to deal with resource availability, minimize functional barriers, get help from senior management, and be sure the right tools are used. A key obligation of the sponsor is to create the right environment for project success. Problems and issues that arise from people working on projects are greatly eased when effective sponsors are fully present and skilled in fulfilling their roles. The rest of this book addresses how to make this happen.