project sponsorship - bridging the gap. apm event - 21 july 2015

www.projectagency.co.uk

Your thoughts…

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So what is project sponsorship like in yourorganisation?

www.projectagency.co.uk 2

APM

Project Sponsorship

Bridging the Gap By Ron Rosenhead

www.projectagency.co.uk

Your thoughts…

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So what is project sponsorship like in yourorganisation?

http://bit.ly/1L5OaOg

www.projectagency.co.uk

Who am I?

• International trainer consultant & coach • Professional speaker• Personally trained over 12,000 people 

• Author:

Strategies for Project Sponsorship  Deliver That Project

• Blogger• Tweeter

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www.projectagency.co.uk

Order of play

• Research on project sponsorship

• What sponsors should be doing

• Group work….what can we do to bridge gap…..?

• Some ideas…..what we can do….

• Q&A

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www.projectagency.co.uk

Overall objective

Increase the probability of project success

“I hit so many walls, people did not support the change and there was no budget. A project with no structure which fizzled out.  I learned a valuable lesson; never attempt to deliver a project without a sponsor” Anon PM

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www.projectagency.co.uk 7

www.projectagency.co.uk 8

All reports point to the 

importance of sponsor role

www.projectagency.co.uk

Standish 

“66% of executive sponsors do a poor job & shirk their responsibilities….

However, it is not their fault, because no one has educated them about their roles & responsibilities.”

Standish, The Chaos Manifesto 

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www.projectagency.co.uk

• 85% of organisations had sponsors in place

• 83% of organisations don’t train or support or guide sponsors

• 100% of respondents believed that having a good sponsor was key to project success

BIG stats 

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www.projectagency.co.uk

Active sponsorship makes a difference

11from PMI’s Pulse of the Profession

www.projectagency.co.uk

Webinar on Project Governance – What gives you mostproblems from 14 different criteria (March 2013)

Project Sponsorship – top problem

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www.projectagency.co.uk

From APM Webinar – accelerated delivery & performance  http://bit.ly/1ALPPhQ

GlaxoSmithKline

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www.projectagency.co.uk

Success will come if you obtain:

Executive Management Support: 

‘The most important person in the project is the executive sponsor….. is ultimately responsible for the success and failure of the project’

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www.projectagency.co.uk

From: PMI Executive Guide 2012

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www.projectagency.co.uk

Wasted time, wasted money?

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PMI Pulse of Profession 2013 

There was a +29% variance with good sponsorship in place

but when there wasn’t good project sponsorship there was a

‐13% variance of ‘Project Failure’ that is, there was a 13% more 

likely chance  of the project not delivering what was

expected

www.projectagency.co.uk

£100m portfolio

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New cost: with poor project sponsorship ‐ £113m 

New cost: with active project sponsorship ‐ £71m 

http://bit.ly/1M5wZwx

www.projectagency.co.uk

The 9 sponsor ‘types’ + 1!

1. The absent sponsor2. The busy sponsor3. The uninterested sponsor4. The inexperienced sponsor5. The sponsor who wants to be the project manager6. The sponsor who gets involved too late7. The untrained sponsor8. The sponsor who is part of a committee of sponsors9. The saboteur or just plain bad sponsor

+ 1: The effective project sponsor

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www.projectagency.co.uk

Question…..

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Is your company missing an opportunity to bemore effective & impact the bottom line?

www.projectagency.co.uk

Summary

• Statistics make grim reading

• Sponsor is a key role in project management 

• Many sponsors are:

not trained not effective

• Active projects sponsorship makes a big difference –(bottom line difference)

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www.projectagency.co.uk

What should the sponsor be doing?

http://bit.ly/1M8a8Ac

How was it developed?

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• Researched what sponsor supposed to do – NEW!

• Experience• Stories sent to us (20‐1)• Spoke to sponsors • Looked at ‘JD’s’• Field test

www.projectagency.co.uk

Checklist for project sponsors

• Provides direction & guidance 

• Works to support/dev charter

• Identifies and quantifies business benefits

• Makes go/no go decisions• Evaluates success on 

completion 

• Negotiates funding• Actively paticipates in 

planning• Reviews, approves changes 

to plans • Identifies steering grp 

members• Gains agreement of 

stakeholders when differences occur

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www.projectagency.co.uk

Checklist continued 

• Assists project when required 

• Helps resolve inter boundary issues 

• Supports PM in conflict resolution

• Advises PM on protocols, political issues 

• Makes project visible in company

• Encourages stakeholder involvement 

• Chief risk taker 

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???

???

www.projectagency.co.uk

What should the sponsor be doing?

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Gap

http://bit.ly/1M8a8Ac

www.projectagency.co.uk

Activity

• What can we do to bridge the gap between the what the sponsor should be doing and what they actually do?

• Get together in groups and come up with somepractical suggestions 

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www.projectagency.co.uk

http://bit.ly/1Gjo2Yg26

www.projectagency.co.uk

Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp)

“The problem is not the problem. Your attitude to the problem, is the problem.”

With acknowledgement to Walt Disney

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www.projectagency.co.uk

Further develop your PEOPLE skills 

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www.projectagency.co.uk

Raise your head above the parapet

“If you are going to get your head kicked in, get it kicked in early”

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Bypass…..but beware…..

www.projectagency.co.uk

SayNO

butDon’t say

NO by…….31

www.projectagency.co.uk

Say no by using PM processes

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www.projectagency.co.uk

Training or presentation 

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Coach your sponsor……

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www.projectagency.co.uk

Milestones and the sponsor

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• Link payments to milestones by contractors

• Project sponsor to sign off thepayment – responsible: link toGateway review

www.projectagency.co.uk

Get your own coach to help you, coach sponsor

“The problem is not the problem. Your attitude to the problem, is the problem.”

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www.projectagency.co.uk 37

http://bit.ly/1Gjo2Yg

www.projectagency.co.uk

http://bit.ly/1TzWBCO

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www.projectagency.co.uk

Conclusion 1

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• Trying to increase  the probability of project success

• Stats – not very positive 

• Active sponsorship can make a big difference 

• Checklist for the role of sponsor – gap 

www.projectagency.co.uk

Conclusion II

• Your ideas for improving the situation – narrowing gap

• Given you some of my ideas…  people

• http://projectagency.co.uk/project‐sponsorship/

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www.projectagency.co.uk 41

Contact Information:

Ron Rosenhead

Project Agency 

Phone: 020 8446 7766

Mobile: 07973 735078

http://projectagency.co.uk/project‐sponsorship/