Relationship with the Project Sponsor

I was only six months into a new project and new company when I presented my resource requirements for the product launch to the project sponsor. He reviewed it and responded that the resources I wanted were insufficient for the event. I went back and reviewed each work package, activities, materials, equipment and personnel requirements carefully. As I expected, everything was thoroughly planned and adequately allocated.

On the third such visit and conversation, I insisted that any additional resources would be wasted, and he should save the time and money. He finally relented with much anxiety and the launch went ahead. It was a big success and highlighted the effectiveness of project management and the rest is history as they say.

I use the term sponsor generally and not in the classic sense. In many companies the sponsor is usually a senior person in the organization chart such as a director, VP or even CEO, however the person who makes the decisions on resources, approves expenditures, provides feedback on the scope and schedule is normally the department head, manager or supervisor that the project manager reports to.

The lesson from the experience is the importance of having a healthy, open, frank and honest relationship with the sponsor. Many times as project managers we are intimidated to communicate that our project needs additional resources (or less in my case), is behind schedule, has to accept additional scope or some major risk is realized. So we spend endless sleepless nights trying to figure it out on our own, become stressed and jeopardize a project that could easily be saved by a discussion with the sponsor. ?

It’s really important to build that confidence and frame of mind that you can approach your sponsor and not feel that the sponsor is there to challenge you to the point of failure.

Whoever plays the role of sponsor has the responsibility to create an environment where project managers feel that support is easily accessible and receptive to listening to concerns and suggestions that can either have a positive or negative impact on their project.