Project sponsorship: senior management’s role in the successful outcome of projects
Summary
Project success is a team effort, and when the project sponsorship role is better understood, the whole team benefits. This is not a portfolio management paper; while it addresses some aspects of portfolio management; it focuses on streamlining the working relations between the project manager and the sponsor, so both “speak” the same language.
Perhaps the value of this paper can be summed up best by a member of senior management of a large company who, after being exposed to the concepts presented in this paper, made the following statement: “I now understand that a project I recently sponsored was not nearly as successful as it could have been—partly due to my not having understood my role as sponsor.”
This paper caters to project managers who need to “manage up” in order to bring their sponsor up to speed with relevant knowledge and skills, and to senior managers in their role as project sponsors.