How do you develop and maintain good relationships with your project sponsors and clients as a line manager?

1 Understand their goals and priorities

The first step to building a strong relationship with your project sponsors and clients is to understand their goals and priorities. What are they trying to achieve with the project? What are their main concerns and challenges? What are their success criteria and key performance indicators? How do they prefer to communicate and receive updates? By asking these questions, you can align your project objectives and plans with their expectations and needs. You can also identify potential risks and issues that might affect their satisfaction and trust.

2 Communicate clearly and regularly

The second step to maintaining a positive relationship with your project sponsors and clients is to communicate clearly and regularly. You need to keep them informed of the project progress, milestones, deliverables, and changes. You also need to listen to their feedback, suggestions, and requests. You can use different methods and channels of communication, such as emails, phone calls, meetings, reports, dashboards, or presentations. The key is to be transparent, honest, and respectful. You should also avoid jargon, acronyms, and technical terms that might confuse them or create misunderstandings.

3 Manage expectations and scope

The third step to ensuring a smooth relationship with your project sponsors and clients is to manage expectations and scope. You need to set realistic and achievable goals and timelines for your project, and communicate them clearly to your stakeholders. You also need to monitor and control the project scope, which is the agreed-upon work that needs to be done to deliver the project. If there are any changes or variations to the scope, you need to inform your sponsors and clients as soon as possible, and explain the reasons and impacts. You should also seek their approval and agreement before making any changes.

4 Deliver quality and value

The fourth step to enhancing your relationship with your project sponsors and clients is to deliver quality and value. You need to ensure that your project outputs and outcomes meet or exceed their requirements and standards. You also need to demonstrate that your project delivers value for money, and contributes to their strategic goals and benefits. You can use quality assurance and quality control techniques, such as testing, reviewing, auditing, or evaluating, to check and improve the quality of your project deliverables. You can also use value management and value engineering methods, such as cost-benefit analysis, value analysis, or value engineering, to optimize the value of your project.

5 Seek feedback and learn from experience

The fifth step to improving your relationship with your project sponsors and clients is to seek feedback and learn from experience. You need to ask for their opinions and suggestions on how you can improve your project management and delivery skills. You also need to learn from your successes and failures, and identify the lessons learned and best practices that you can apply to future projects. You can use feedback surveys, interviews, focus groups, or workshops to collect and analyze their feedback. You can also use post-project reviews, evaluations, or audits to capture and share your learning.

6 Build trust and rapport

The sixth and final step to developing and maintaining a good relationship with your project sponsors and clients is to build trust and rapport. You need to show that you are reliable, competent, and professional. You also need to show that you care about them and their interests, and that you respect their views and values. You can build trust and rapport by being consistent, responsive, and courteous. You can also build trust and rapport by showing appreciation, recognition, or gratitude for their support, collaboration, or contribution.