Cheikh FAYE Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Expert, CEO and owner| Eurêka TechnologiesDakar, Senegal
On project management, how to deal with a reluctant sponsor who is no longer willing to release funds when a misunderstanding between the stakeholders has changed his mind. Saving Changes...
Has the value proposition or business case for the project been sufficiently eroded that it doesn't make sense to continue - if so, the sponsor might be doing the right thing and project termination might be the next step.
If not, then facilitating a resolution to the stakeholder misunderstanding and/or leveraging influence & persuasion to change your sponsor's mind about cutting off the flow of funding is needed...
This is a tough one since it is the sponsors responsibility to ensure funding. I don't believe it is the PM's job to interfere between sponsor and stakeholders regarding funding matters. I know people might jump on me for this. The reason? It is an escalation matter, and the person you escalate funding issues to is your sponsor. "Hey sponsor, the sponsor won't fund the project." So while Kiron as a point about facilitating, believe me 9 times out of 10 if it's a funding issue, it's going to be between sponsor and senior management; the latter obviously having major influence or else they wouldn't have done something or not done something that the sponsor feels should stop funding. Facilitation may be an option but tread very carefully, as it may be a political hot potato. Assuming you listed this an a potential risk, and entered it in the assumption log, update the criticality factor, and of course advise the very sponsor and stakeholder of the threat to the project. Saving Changes...
Cheikh FAYE Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Expert, CEO and owner| Eurêka TechnologiesDakar, Senegal
Hi Sante, I don't share your opinion according to which it is not the PM's job to interfere between sponsor and stakeholders regarding funding matters. I believe that the PM is the masterpiece of the project and that he must manage not only the project team but also the other members surrounding the project, sponsors and stakeholders included.Should it be a facilitation between the those two parties or any other kind of intermediation but in my humble opinion, the PM has the morale obligation to save not only the funding but also any other factor that could impede the successful achievement of the project. For me beyond any written rule, the PM must do his utmost to overcome any kind of barriers whatsoever, otherwise any project could be threatened and then canceled any time because someone interest has been in peril.The PMI must provide greater support on this particular topic.
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1 reply by Sante Delle-Vergini, PhD
Aug 19, 2018 12:09 AM
Sante Delle-Vergini, PhD
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Cheikh, quite often sponsors can be senior executives or business leaders, sit on a project or governance committee, or sometimes even on the Board of Directors. When there are funding issues, the job of the PM is to go to the sponsor, not between the sponsor and whomever they may be wrestling with on funding matters. Now the caveat is funding from external customers, which may be detailed in a contract, for example delays on scheduled payments for services, which the PM can "interfere" with. But that was not the premise you presented in your original question. You presented a situation where the sponsor already had a "misunderstanding between the stakeholders" and "no longer willing to release funds". In that situation, the PM should absolutely not interfere between the parties, and instead wait for the sponsor to advise accordingly. Notwithstanding the fact that the PM quite often reports directly to the sponsor. It wouldn't seem wise to interfere in their misunderstanding, unless they asked you to.
Saving Changes...
RAJESH K LProject Manager, PMP| Bharat Electronics, Bengaluru, IndiaBengaluru, Karnataka, India
Hi Sante, I don't share your opinion according to which it is not the PM's job to interfere between sponsor and stakeholders regarding funding matters. I believe that the PM is the masterpiece of the project and that he must manage not only the project team but also the other members surrounding the project, sponsors and stakeholders included.Should it be a facilitation between the those two parties or any other kind of intermediation but in my humble opinion, the PM has the morale obligation to save not only the funding but also any other factor that could impede the successful achievement of the project. For me beyond any written rule, the PM must do his utmost to overcome any kind of barriers whatsoever, otherwise any project could be threatened and then canceled any time because someone interest has been in peril.The PMI must provide greater support on this particular topic.
Cheikh, quite often sponsors can be senior executives or business leaders, sit on a project or governance committee, or sometimes even on the Board of Directors. When there are funding issues, the job of the PM is to go to the sponsor, not between the sponsor and whomever they may be wrestling with on funding matters. Now the caveat is funding from external customers, which may be detailed in a contract, for example delays on scheduled payments for services, which the PM can "interfere" with. But that was not the premise you presented in your original question. You presented a situation where the sponsor already had a "misunderstanding between the stakeholders" and "no longer willing to release funds". In that situation, the PM should absolutely not interfere between the parties, and instead wait for the sponsor to advise accordingly. Notwithstanding the fact that the PM quite often reports directly to the sponsor. It wouldn't seem wise to interfere in their misunderstanding, unless they asked you to. Saving Changes...
