TOP Ideas

The Project Sponsor is ultimately accountable to the organization for the delivery of the business outcomes and benefits. The project team and steering committee exist to help the Sponsor deliver the outcomes and realize the benefits.

Key responsibilities include:

• taking action to ensure the delivery of the business outcomes and associated benefits
• maximizing the (dollar) value generated
• monitoring the project’s focus, risks, issues, documentation and results
• monitoring the ongoing viability and relevance of the project.

To be a Sponsor, they to need to understand project dynamics and controls – what levers to pull to get the results they want.

The primary lever is a constant focus on the delivery of the ‘desired business outcomes’ — and ensuring all aspects of the project are aligned to these outcomes. The delivery of the business outcomes will, in turn, enable the delivery of the business benefits and their value.

Other key levers include:

• the provision and support of project resources — the people with the skills, experience, aptitude and knowledge to get the job done.
• the provision and control of the project funding, including any contingency funding, to ensure the project has the ‘tools to do the job’.
• the appropriateness and management of the project’s scope to ensure the project delivers the maximum value.
• the specification and agreement of clear, process-oriented business needs.
• the agreement of the end-of-project business handover acceptance criteria so that everyone can measure when the project has finished.
• the planning and implementation of an effective organization change program to make change happen.
• a creditable and complete value proposition/business case that spells out what has to be achieved and the project’s relative strategic priority.
• the identification and management of the factors critical to the success of the project (the project’s CSFs).
• the effective mentoring and guidance of the project manager and team to tackle the issues as they arise and deliver the promised outcomes effectively within the constraints of the project.
• the monitoring of the leading indicators of failure to identify any critical problems well before the reporting picks up the issues.

And, if all else fails, stopping, suspending or cancelling the project.

The Sponsor’s key roles

To convince everyone that theirs is the most important project and should, therefore receive the necessary attention
To obtain and retain the quality and quantity of resources required
To lead the project until all of the business value has been delivered.

NB Project Managers deliver projects; Project Sponsors deliver business value!