C-Level Best Behavior

Ian Whittingham, PMP is director of Calixo Consulting, providing project and program management expertise from initiation through to implementation, covering business transformation, workflow process re-engineering, and enterprise data integration. He is a regular contributor to ProjectManagement.com. You may contact Ian directly at [email protected].

  Governance   Strategy  

What does a project manager most need from their executive sponsor to secure the success of their project? Before you answer that question, or read any more of this article, take a minute and think about your own project, the one you are working on right now. Make a list of what you want your executive sponsor to do for you at this stage in your project. What’s at the top of your list?

I imagine the responses appearing on those lists would be various, ranging in tone from exhausted exasperation (Talk to me!) to the formally solicitous (Secure board approval for project funding). Executive sponsors mostly know what is expected of them when it comes to sponsoring a project for which they are ultimately accountable. And the better ones can actually name some of those accountabilities. But what about the best ones?

What distinguishes those executive sponsors from their C-level peers when it comes to achieving project success? How do they do that? More importantly, what is it that they do that makes such a difference?

Look again at your list, at what you have identified as the most important things your executive sponsor can do to help move your project forward right now. Perhaps you need her or him to prioritize your project’s phase 1 deliverables so you know what can wait until phase 2? Or perhaps you need your sponsor to speak to the Chief Technology …

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