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“First, I believe that this
nation should commit itself to
achieving the goal, before this
decade is out, of landing a
man on the moon and
returning him safely to the
earth. No single space project
in this period will be more
impressive to mankind, or
more important for the long-
range exploration of space;
and none will be so difficult or
expensive to accomplish.”
- Rice University, 1962
4. • Chairman of the Board
• Chief Information Officer
• Senior Manager
• Vice President
• General Manager
• Director
• Manager
• Program Manager
• Chief Operating Officer
• Technical Approvals
Manager
• Project administrator
• Independent Consultant
• Program Director
• Vice President
• Head of <Function>
• Associate Executive
Director
• Consultant
• Etc.
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• The Sponsor is a senior executive with business experience.
• We don’t need to formalize the role.
• We assume the project sponsor knows his/her Sponsor
responsibilities.
• What else [discussion]
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• Problems may arise when the role is not well defined or
understood within the organization. It is important that the
project sponsor does not usurp the role of the project manager,
by becoming too closely involved in the management of the
project.
• Sponsors may not frequently act in the role and may not
therefore understand what is required (Morris, 1994). As senior
members of the executive, they may not have an understanding
of project management. Given the importance of the project
sponsor role to project success, some form of guidance, training or
support should be provided for the role.
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• The project sponsor must not only understand but
accept the role (Kerzner, 1998:477).
• For many reasons, including promotions and
organizational restructuring , project sponsors often
change during the course of a project. Potential
difficulties in changeover should be considered and
addressed.
8. “A person or group who provides
resources and support for the project,
program, or portfolio and is accountable
for enabling success.”
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9. • Appointment of a sponsor is a vital factor in project
success.
• It is generally agreed that the project sponsor should
have some understanding of project management.
(Dinsmore, 1993:48), this is often not the case.
• The project sponsor must be at a sufficiently senior
level in the organization to provide the necessary
support for the project.
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10. • Cooke-Davies concludes that “the Sponsor does play a
pivotal role. It is time for project management
professional organizations to provide help and guidance
to executive sponsors!”
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13. • Wikipedia - Responsibilities
• Provides leadership on culture and values
• Owns the business case
• Keeps project aligned with organization's strategy and
portfolio direction
• Governs project risk
• Works with other sponsors
• Focuses on realization of benefits
• Recommends opportunities to optimize cost/benefits
• Ensures continuity of sponsorship
• Provides assurance
• Provides feedback and lessons learnt
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14. • Wikipedia - governance activities
• Provides timely decisions
• Clarifies decision making framework
• Clarifies business priorities and strategy
• Communicates business issues
• Provides resources
• Engenders trust
• Manages relationships
• Supports the project managers role
• Promotes ethical working
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15. • Wikipedia - Sponsor<>Stakeholder Activities
• Engages stakeholders
• Governs stakeholder communications
• Directs client relationships
• Directs governance of users
• Directs governance of suppliers
• Arbitrates between stakeholders
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16. • Provides resources and support
• Enables success – How? [Discussion]
• External or internal to project organization
• Promotes the project from inception to closure
• Spokesperson to higher level management
• Gather support throughout the organization
• Promoting benefits of the project
• Leads project through initiating process [Discussion]
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17. • Plays significant role in the initial scope and Charter
• Serves as escalation path for issue beyond the
control of the project manager
• Authorizes changes in scope
• Participates in phase-end reviews and go/no-go
decisions when risks are particularly high
• Ensures smooth transfer of project’s deliverables
into the business after project closure.
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18. Note: (Numbers in parens refer to PMBOK page #)
• Sponsor is at a level appropriate to procure funding
and commit resources to the project
• Provides statement of work on business needs,
product or service requirements. (95)
• Agrees to the scope and limitations of the business
case.
• Periodic review of the business case
• May provide expert judgment (98)
• May approve change requests (123)
• Define what constitutes project completion (129)
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19. • Should be continuously engaged with the project to
provide feedback on deliverables as they are created
and to ensure the project backlog reflects their
current needs.
• Sponsor acceptance of design document
• Sponsor involved in project initiation to create a
shared understanding of success criteria.
• Formally closes the project or phase (85).
• Author the Charter (94)
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20. • May attend planning meetings (225)
• Define requirements (139)
• Participate in interviews to collect requirements
(141)
• Verify deliverables (161)
• Formal acceptance of deliverables (162)
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21. • May approve any documents that define the
product or report status on product completion.
(163)
• May decide to invest in product quality
improvement. (256)
• May attend product quality planning meetings
(268)
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22. • Works with the project team, typically assisting
with matters such as project funding, clarifying
scope, monitoring progress, influencing
stakeholders in both the requesting in both the
requesting and performing organization for the
project benefit. (283).
• Approve quality and scope reduction (345)
• May assist PM with management of other
stakeholders (433)
• Acceptance of design document (446)
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23. • Sponsor inputs to initiating process: SOW,
business case, agreements. (448)
• Provides acceptance at close of project or phase.
(486)
• Project Governance: Provides alignment of
project objectives with the strategy of the larger
organization by the project sponsor and the
project team. (580)
• May terminate a project (30)
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24. • May identify alignment or potential conflicts
between the organizational strategies and project
goals and then communicates these to the
project manager.
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