The Right Project Sponsor

Do you have the right sponsor to deliver the project?

No project will ever get off the ground without a sponsor. They are the person who has identified the need for change in an area of the business and is committed to making that change happen.

The project sponsor is the person who proposes the project and who procures the resources (the people, the money, the time etc.)

Not having the right sponsor, with appropriate authority, more often than not results in a stalled project.
This can be because they cannot:

Provide the resources

Approve the budget

Set the vision and purpose of the project

Promote the project across the organisation

It is not unusual for there to be a change of sponsor as the project progresses.

We are currently working with a large health care provider on a Quality Management System replacement.

The first sponsor had the authority to kick off the project up to the preliminary business case stage but not the authority for the full business case.

The preliminary business case indicated that the project was worthwhile (benefits outweighed the costs) but higher approval and authority was required to drive change across

Benefits

As this was going to impact all staff, an executive sponsor was required, not only for the resources required, but also for the organisational approval to proceed. Staff knew that if the executive was sponsoring and driving the change it was going to happen.

This was not just a case of having an executive as a sponsor in name only. They had to behave and drive the project as a sponsor must do.

In summary, having the right sponsor is critical in delivering a project. The sponsor needs have the right level of authority to drive the project, which does mean that there may need to be change of sponsor for the project to be successful.

For a discussion on how we can help, please contact us via:

0487 410 772
info@projectmentors.com.au
Advice – Mentoring – Coaching – Training Project Mentors