Project Sponsors

“The effectiveness of the project sponsor is the best single predictor of project success or failure”

Make it succeed.

Poor sponsorship is the major contributing factor to project failure. Sponsors often don’t fully appreciate their pivotal role, or as a result make or delegate the time for the task. There is a wealth of resources for project managers, but oddly very little for project sponsors, and we aim to put that right here.

As Tony Adams in his super article 'Keeping Your Project Sponsor Satisfied' put it, one of the best tools in the Project Manager’s kit is a positive, flag-waving Sponsor. In fact, nothing shapes your success in quite the same way as having an engaged, switched-on Project Champion sitting in the Big Chair – leading the charge, clearing roadblocks, keeping momentum and giving your project that all-important credibility.

As ProjExc explain whereas the PM is responsible for creating the deliverables which create a capability for an organisation, the sponsor is accountable for ensuring that the organisation realises the benefits from that capability long after the project is completed. The sponsor sits across the project and the business and should provide essential leadership. The perfect sponsor is an executive with ultimate accountability. If they can't fulfil the role on a day-to-day basis then they must delegate (not abdicate) tasks to ensure that the PM is not left stranded.

Useful Articles

Executive Sponsor Engagement Drives Project & Program Success
BusinessWire

Positive reinforcement as to the importance of project sponsors. Mark Langley makes a valuable quote “Effective project sponsors use their influence within an organization to actively overcome challenges by communicating the project’s alignment to strategy, removing roadblocks, and driving organizational change.”

How to Be a Great Project Sponsor
HR BLR

Russell Harley shares some great tips for being a great sponsor: Be there, Don’t Delegate, Trust your SMEs, and

The PM is NOT a sponsor. How to Smash It as a Project Sponsor
CIO

Colin Ellis provides a few tips for project sponsors:

  • Governance isn’t something you can delegate,

  • Only fools rush in,

  • If you are the only person interested, you should stop it,

  • You need to manage the PM, and

  • Big projects are a thing of the past – break them up.