Training for Business Owners and Sponsors

Thanks. I've added them to my personal library and will see what I can take from them to enhance my sponsor interactions. The challenge is to get other PMs to embrace the same.

Nice source. Sections 3 and 6 of the framework document are the best elaboration of the role I have seen so far. Much of it should be included in documentation where the Sponsor role is defined.

Thank you.

Somewhat true. I was hoping for a way to uniformly communicate what is expected of Sponsors across the organization, have it come from the top down and incorporate it adding this competency into their personal goals. The latter is always a good way to get their attention. It may be a stretch to expect PMs to do this uniformly on a sponsor-by-sponsor basis and be effective coaches as well, but we can certainly try.

Thomas,

I put that on 1 slide and gave it to PMs to show their sponsors and tell them that would be the best supportive behaviors they could show. Some sponsors accept it, some say, I will do this except, some look for someone who has the time and power to fulfill it. Bottom-up stakeholder engagement example.

If the CEO is interested he could setup an executive training, maybe incl coaching for potential sponsors, which incldude sponsorship role but probably should cover organizations project management. Top-down organizational change inititation.

When the message comes from a PM, the results can be mixed.

Interestingly, enough Michael van der Molen's April 11 article "Don’t Blame the Project Sponsor! How to Advance Project Sponsorship in Organizations ("http://www.projectmanagement.com/articles/...-Organizations) very well. Most sponsors are focused on their short-term operational concerns and give projects short shrift. PMs have very little influence changing this mindset. If projects are key to future benefits, senior management needs to change that mindset by aligning their performance expectations accordingly. PMs can't do it alone.

Tom,

good article, and I agree don't blame the sponsor - if you do not tell them what they are supposed to do.

I see 2 ways to tell them, and #2 should always apply

1. top-down like Chad's PM101 which requires that the organization (CEO) sees a problem - the result of that is probably that some sponsors get the message and others do not care.

2. bottom-up by each and every PM reminding him of JFK famous words, slightly adapted 'don't ask what your organization can do for you, ask what you can do for your organization'.
Stakeholder management is a key capability of a PM and the first needed.
In most projects, the sponsor is a prio 1 stakeholder.
If the PM meets with the sponsor (and he should asap and regularly), he can and must clarify his own role and that of the sponsor. The PM can then see gaps in what the sponsors can do/wants to do and plan for closing them. He can engage with sponsor, which for me means change his attitude.

Does the PM have the power from the organization to do so? Most probably not. But do not despair, managing without authority (MWA) can be learned. BTW taking on volunteer work is an excellent practice for MWA.

In a nutshell: The PM is in charge to form his sponsor.

(and thanks for changing your name)