Are you a good Project Sponsor?

Projects can be exciting to work on, especially during their early stages when there are loads of workshops, strategy sessions, and planning.

Once the excitement and the initial inertia of the project have subsided, during the delivery phase of a project things can be tough. Things don’t always go as planned which leads to having to communicate challenges to the senior leaders within the business, or there can be really tough decisions to make that can make or break people's positions within the company.

This is where not only great PM skills and experience come into play, but the importance of a committed and available sponsor is key.

What is a Sponsor?

All projects should have at least one sponsor. They are usually the person who conceived the project and/or advocate for its success (usually from the start). A sponsor can be anyone within the organisation but they tend to be the person with the most "skin in the game" and usually fairly senior within the company (e.g. CTO for a cloud migration programme or HR Director for a refresh of people policy)

What does a sponsor do?

• A sponsor is responsible for several key parts of the project, from initiating through to ensuring the project's ultimate success.
• Throughout each phase of a project, several key activities need to take place

Project Definition Phase

• Provides guidance and input to ensure that the business case is valid and in tune with the strategy
• Defines what good looks like and the criteria for success
• Socialises the project early on with key stakeholders in the business to ensure cross-business alignment

Project Creation Phase

• Ensures that the business case is still valid and ensures that it gets the correct approvals (scope, budget, etc.)
• Ensures that resources for the project can be secured with their peers
• Instrumental in selecting who will be managing the project
• Keeps abreast of other projects going on within the organisation to make sure that there are no conflicts
• Offers their support and experience to the project team

Project Delivery Phase

• Keeps the project in line with the Business Strategy & Business Case and provides course correction when needed
• Acts as the escalation point when something is beyond the PM's control
• Is present and active in key project meetings e.g. steering groups & stage gates
• Makes sure that risk is managed appropriately on behalf of the business
• Provides feedback and acts as a coach/mentor to the PM
• Be the cheerleader . . . the one championing for the projects success across the exec

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Project Closure Phase

• Is responsible for and ensures that value and benefit have been delivered in line with the business case
• Makes sure that the transition to business as usual occurs
• Is pivotal in the lessons learnt process

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A great sponsor should have the projects back. Be the advocate in senior circles but know and be honest enough when the project is not delivering and be there to support the team through this time.

They should help streamline communication throughout the organisational structure and remove blockages as they arise at their level.

There is one key aspect that often gets overlooked. Project Managers have a raft of training opportunities to expand their skill sets. There are very limited courses on how to be a great sponsor so if in doubt bounce ideas off peers or reach out to contacts within your network and ask questions!

A Sponsor in name only is as it says on the tin, someone who doesn’t provide the project support, mentorship or simply doesn’t have time in their day-to-day to dedicate to ensuring the successful delivery of the project.