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Project Sponsors

By Dick Billows, PMP, GCA
Summary: A bad project sponsor can ruin the efforts of even the most skillful project manager.  Too many project sponsors think they don't need to learn any new skills to be an executive sponsor of a project. This is bad enough when they're initiating just one project at a time. But unfortunately the same overconfident executives usually wind up sponsoring multiple projects, which makes the confusion and uncertainty even worse.
 
Obviously, you're dealing with a person who outranks you and may even sign your annual performance review. So training a project sponsor is a touchy topic. You clearly don't want to offend or even appear to be criticizing them. So you need to talk about the right way to do things in a manner that encourages the project sponsor to utilize better techniques without insulting or enraging them.

Our article below addresses the need to train your project sponsor and provides valuable hints and cues about how to do it effectively without ending your career. At the other end of the continuum, good project sponsors know what they're doing and they know what kind of questions to ask project managers to ensure that you are managing their project the right way. Your answers determine a great deal of your credibility with a new project sponsor as you answer their questions about everything from planning the project to managing the project team to reporting variances.

Our video, filmed in gorgeous Kauai, shows a project sponsor asking tough questions of a project manager. Next you'll see Dick Billows, PMP, give suggestions about what not to say, then he'll discuss the right way to answer the questions a good project sponsor asks.

So in sum, we cover both ends of the continuum from project sponsors who can ruin the easiest project to project sponsors who really know what they're doing and have very high levels of project success.

 How to deal with the project sponsor

 Step number

 Responsibility of

 Actions to take

1

Project manager - during initial meeting to discuss the project and its scope

During the initial meeting with the project sponsor, the project manager needs to establish a couple of important concepts.  First, project manager needs to explain that the project has to have a crystal-clear and objectively measurable and result.  This avoids scope creep. Second, we cannot plan the project “as we go.”  that is a sure formula for wasting time and having a project that drips with people uncertain as to what to do

2

Project manager-during the project plan presentation

The project manager presents the plan to the sponsor and stakeholders, we present a number of trade-offs between scope and budget and duration. This not only gives a sponsor choices on different project designs but it also sets up our ability to talk about the consequences of any change to the project. As an example, we need to communicate that we can’t just add new features to the project and hope that will not affect the duration and cost. Project manager needs to illustrate that there are these side effects from adding things to the project.

3

Project manager-with each status report

The project manager always presents the status of the project and any variances to the plan. Then the project manager details what will happen to the project scope, budget and duration if no corrective action is taken. This establishes a baseline for why we have to do corrective action and makes it much easier for the project manager to get one of the alternative solutions approved

4

Project manager dealing with a change request

Building on the previous sessions, the project manager never allows anyone to think that we can make changes to the plan without some consequence. We never “squeeze something additional in.”  There are always trade-offs. When the sponsor wants to decrease the duration that will either decrease the scope or increase the cost. When a sponsor wants to decrease the costs that will either increase the duration or decrease the scope.

Deep Dive on this Topic with Additional Articles:

What Makes a Good Project Manager?

Setting Expectations with the Project Charter

Accepting a New Project Assignment

Why Do Projects Fail?