Do You Know Where Your Project Sponsor Is?

When my children were young, they loved looking for Waldo.  They would spend what seemed like hours scouring the posters and books trying to identify where Waldo was hiding.

Keeping project sponsors visible and engaged often makes the difference between a project that succeeds and one that fails.  Project management tools that facilitate sponsor and stakeholder communication can help make this easier, but regardless of your work management solution, here are some suggestions for keeping sponsors engaged and participating:

1. Schedule regular meetings (usually monthly) with sponsors, team members, and other important stakeholders.  This may be a good time for "quick" status update; but more importantly, it is a time for reinforcing the value and significance of the project in terms of business value and the sponsor's commitment to helping the team.
2. Educate the sponsor on their role as part of the team.  The sponsor has a significant role as a project advocate in the steering/stakeholder committee as a way to communicate with stakeholders and provide visibility to executives.
3. Don't neglect impromptu one-on-one time with the project sponsor.  Make sure your sponsor is willing to have the occasional informal meetings as needed.  It's not only important to cultivate the relationship with the sponsor—your success impacts their success, too.

Everyone involved in the project management process makes an important contribution to project success.  How do you keep project sponsors visible and engaged?