Are You My Sponsor?

Andrea Brockmeier is the Director of Project Management at Watermark Learning. She has 20+ years of experience in project management practice and training.

  Stakeholder Management   ProjectsAtWork  

A name in a box on the cover page of a project plan does not a sponsor make. A sponsor must be available to develop a working relationship with the project manager. And if that engaged person happens to be lower on the organization chart, it is still better than a senior executive who never has time for your project’s needs.

In the popular children’s book “A Mother for Choco,” a baby bird named Choco goes looking for its mother. He stops and asks Mrs. Giraffe, Mrs. Walrus and others, “Are you my mommy?” But to no avail. None of these potential mommies looks like Choco and so he is left alone, very sad, and begins to cry, “Mommy, mommy, I need a mommy!” 

Finally, Mrs. Bear comes along and asks, “If you had a mommy, what would she do?” Choco explains that his mommy would give him hugs and kisses, and sing and dance with him to cheer him up, among other things. When Mrs. Bear suggests that she could be his mommy, he happily goes home with Mrs. Bear and meets her other children, his new brothers and sisters: Ally (a baby alligator), Hippy (a baby hippo), and piggy (a baby piggy). This brief recap doesn’t do this tear-jerker justice, but you get the point.

How many project managers feel like Choco, wandering corporate halls looking not for a mommy, but a sponsor, asking “Are you my sponsor?” 

What exactly are these PMs looking for? What do their sponsors need to “…

Please log in or sign up below to read the rest of the article.