Friend or Foe: 3 Keys to Building a Positive Relationship with Project Stakeholders

 

Whether or not you have a good working relationship with project sponsors is up to you. Everyone, including the project sponsor, has a role to play that helps determine whether a project is successful or struggles. However, unlike most members of the project team, a project sponsor might not completely understand his or her role. With that in mind, here are some suggestions for keeping sponsors engaged and participating:

1. Schedule regular meetings (generally monthly) with sponsors, team members, and other important stakeholders: This may be a good time for a "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 a 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 within the organization.

Keeping sponsors engaged often makes the difference between a project that succeeds and one that fails. Project management tools that facilitate sponsor and stakeholder communication can make this easier, but regardless of whether or not it's a part of your work management solution, allowing project sponsors to sit on the sideline isn't a good idea.

How do you keep your project sponsors involved? Is there anything else we can add to the list?