Sep 19, 2019 8:52 AM
Replying to Thomas Walenta
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Well, success means different things to different people. And it is not always (maybe never) defined by a charter or paper.
Sponsor and PM typically have different positions and responsibilities.
A sponsor might have many projects to support and fund and even these might be just part of their overall business responsibility. A sponsor might be successful already when signing the contract (typically in a sales organization) and finding someone to blame (PM as the scapegoat).
Sponsors might sell a project to the organization and leave before project end (which is often seen in government contexts).
There are more examples of where a sponsor and PM do not have the same goals.
In all of these cases, the PM is well advised to do a risk analysis, engage with the initial sponsor (to find out their priorities and engagement with the project) and find additional executive support.