I've been searching the boards for previous discussions about Project Sponsors, but none really fit the question I have today.
My inquiry is basically simple: who is the most suited to act as the Project Sponsor?
The PMBOK says that it's the person or group that provides the financial resources for the project. But can that definition stand the test of a real-life example? Let's examine my organization. Any request for an IT project that gets approved is funded by the IT Department's budget, even if the project is to, let's say, provide Finance with a better accounting tool. So, following the PMBOK's logic, the Sponsor should be the Head of IT, since he's the one holding the strings of the purse. However, what situation do we have then? An IT Sponsor, an IT Project Manager, and an IT team doing the work. Add to that that the Business Analysts are also in IT, and you've got a pretty one-sided situation. Basically, the Client ends up being entirely reliant on the goodwill of IT to get what he asked for.
But if that's no good, then what happens if the Sponsor is the Client? The role of a Project Sponsor is certainly to champion the project, so that's definitely something the Client will do well - they asked for the project, so they are the best placed to know why it must be done. But are they the best placed to see why the project should NOT be done? A Project Sponsor also needs to maintain objectivity and act in the best interest of the organization, which can mean killing the project if the benefits cannot be realized. Can you imagine the Client would ever kill his own project? Yeah, it's never happened to me before, either.
So who else then? One of the Client's peers who isn't involved in the execution of the project? But then office politics come into play - how do you garantee the Sponsor's objectivity?
Ideally, to ensure absolute neutrality, the Sponsor should be an individual who:
- didn't request the project in the first place
- doesn't have to commit any of his own resources
- doesn't stand to gain or lose anything from the project's success nor failure
- has enough power within the organization to curb the Client's enthusiasm for scope creep
- has enough power within the organization to pressure the other stakeholders into supplying the resources necessary for project success
- knows enough about project management as a discipline to perform adequately in his role as Sponsor
To be honest, now that I've written it down, it feels like I'm looking for a completely alien species. So what is the next best thing? Who would you recommend as Project Sponsor? Can you share any ideas, or examples of situations that worked well?
Thanks. Saving Changes...
Naomi: I'm not talking about one specific project, my problem here is to try and give good guidelines for Sponsor selection to the ragtag bunch of poor lost souls who had the misfortune to have the PM sticker slapped on their back by an organization for which, let alone sponsorship, the whole project management thing is a new concept.
By pure coincidence, I stumbled today upon an interesting quote: "The only proven mechanism for ensuring projects meet customer and stakeholder needs, while optimising value for money, is to allocate Project ownership to specialist party, that otherwise would not be a stakeholder to the project." This is apparently taken from Project Governance – A Practical Guide to Effective Project Decision Making, by Ross Garland, and seems to support the view I expressed in my original post about Sponsor neutrality. Saving Changes...
Julien:
Certainly, the rule will apply depending no how you are establishing this~it depends. There is no silver bullet here; just great examples of best practices but it will be a best practice you define for your organization.
PMOs and PPOs define standards, guidelines, tools, tip & techniques for enterprise, strategic, portfolio, operational, program and tactical projects. They manage this with the alignment of their governance model (GM). A PMO GM may be different than a PPO GM. I'd dig up your governance model and if you don't have one this is an opportunity to create one; you might find examples here on gantthead.
Cheers!
Saving Changes...
Elizabeth HarrinDirector| RebelsGuideToPM.comLondon, England, United Kingdom
At the PMI Global Congress last year Elyse Nielson gave a presentation that basically said projects need different types of sponsors at different stages. You can read more about the presentation and her views here.
Another view is that of Eddie Obeng, who says in his book Perfect Projects that a sponsor is someone who owns the money, the resources and the idea. More about that and other sponsor tips here and notes here on how to train your sponsor. Saving Changes...
John ColePM II| County of RiversideRiverside, Ca, United States
Julien,
I really like some of the ideas mentioned below. Another concept would be to have a Sponsorship board per project. The Sponsorship board could consist of the customer, the IT Director and someone else (perhaps Finance). I realize you said that you don't want multiple sponsors, but in this case the board (per project) would act as one sponsor. Any meetings or decisions involving sponsors would need to be made by all three people. I realize this complicates life for you, and it will complicate life for all three of those people. But, since PM and sponsorship is new to your organization, you could start with this, then when your organization matures, change the process to something that will meet your new needs. Remember, there is no solution that will meet 100% of the organization needs, while satisfying 100% of the people. Instead, devise a method, then re-adjust as the business environment changes. Saving Changes...
Wai Mun KooPMO Director| Intergraph PP&MSingapore, Singapore
Julien,
What you have mentioned would be suited for the project board (or steering committee), basically a governance team that watch over the running of the project to ensure that decisions are carried out in a fair and transparent way. There is a need for a role to champion the project and also a channel for people to give candid 'unfiltered' feedback. No doubt on this. Saving Changes...
Alexander LehmingSr. Project Manager| UCLA HealthWoodland Hills, Ca, United States
I concur with Naomi comments that a lot of it depends on your organization (culture, maturity,etc.).
An organization dealing in project work should have a strategic execution framework that can deal with project prioritization, project steering, review and assigning sponsors and PMs. But in real-life that is often a corporate fiction rather than reality, especially in orgs on the lower end of the maturity scale. If you do not have that in your org, you need to figure out a way to introduce the concept of strategic execution framework to your Sr. Management.
A lot also depends on what type of project it is and who the customer is. Is it an internal project where the benefits are for the organization alone? Is it an external project for the benefit of one external customer?
Is it an external project where we are trying to satisfy multiple external clients (product development for example)?
For internal projects, usually the client department head/executive makes for a decent product sponsor, especially if it comes out of his budget. His position should have the cloud to deal with the politics and the big picture awareness to keep an eye on ROI and scope creep.
For single external client project, a good sponsor tends to be the Sales Manager in charge of the account manager. Sales Managers want the deal to be successful, but only if the deal is profitable and they are not so invested in a single deal that they are likely to loose objectivity.
For multiple external client project, product managers tend to be sponsors, but are usually only effective in orgs with high pm maturities and strong execution frameworks. If that is not the case then as the project manager, you need to push for someone higher (Sr. Mmgt/Executive) up. This is especially true if you are in a silo environment. Saving Changes...
Renee GalligherIT Project Manager 3, PMP, ICP| Idaho State Board of EducationMeridian, Id, United States
There are specific guidelines per PMI with any process and role, but they are guidelines. Given that, yes, as you stated the Project Sponsor is the one who provides the funding, but there is also a Business Sponsor - one that the project is for. Let me clarify because they can be one and the same or separate. In my job, if the IT department funds the project for an external department yet within the same organization, then my CIO is the project sponsor and a person that the project is being done for is the Business Sponsor. This Business Sponsor can also be the Subject Matter Expert as well and often is. In some instances, the Project Sponsor is also the Business Sponsor - this person not only provides funding but is also the SME. Saving Changes...
