How to Support and Develop effective sponsor engagement

The relationship between Project Managers and Project Sponsors is a critical one, often there are significant challenges in new sponsors getting to grips with their role in shaping and supporting their projects. Do not underestimate the value in forming a productive working relationship with a project sponsor. It can be a challenging prospect for project managers, as sponsors are often time poor who are set in their ways of working, which can cause friction in how a project is delivered. Whilst the sponsor may be accountable for the benefits, the responsibility of delivering the project always rests with the project manager — as does the responsibility of setting the tone on how the relationship develops.

Establishing a relationship with a new sponsor can be particularly fraught. New sponsors have never been in the role before and indeed may have little or no understanding of what it takes to deliver a successful project, let alone understand the weight of the role they will play in its outcome. There are a few key aspects an experienced PM can follow to support the novice sponsor.

Wherever a role sits within a project’s organization chart, it’s fair to assume that everyone has been hired on merit, which often includes an interview process to drill into each person’s suitable experience for the role at hand, including their qualifications. Anyone hoping to join a project team, whether they are project managers, business analysts, testing professionals, or change practitioners, it should be expected as part of the process. Except, of course, the project sponsor.

The sponsor is a key role in the project organization and is the person who will ultimately be accountable for the benefits it delivers as well as its success or failure. Yet, despite the importance of the role, a project sponsor is rarely interviewed to understand what their credentials are for the role or if there’s a gap in their skill-set.

Typically, the sponsor is a C-suite manager, and this is how they are interviewed and appointed with a focus on their day job: It is based upon their line management expertise in their field. They are not interviewed in terms of their understanding of project delivery or what it means to be a good sponsor. Thus, a sponsor will often need to learn on the job and this is where a good project manager or PMO can assist.

Once it is clear that a project manager is working with an inexperienced sponsor, this will become apparent very quickly, just ask their understanding of the difference between risks over issue. The focus should be on upskilling them in an ordered way whilst minimizing risks to the project because of their lack of experience.

The optimal approach to upskilling is to make it a collaborative exercise and focus on mutual delivery. An experienced project manager will focus on developing a strong rapport with the sponsor to ensure that they understand the PM is there at all times for the good of the project. They will also establish the link that a successful outcome is a joint outcome which enhances everybody’s reputation.

Everything is easy when a project is running smoothly. It’s only when a project hits challenges that project management can become difficult and that is where it is vital as a project manager to be able to surface bad news to facilitate any hard calls that need to be made.

Inexperienced sponsors often cannot follow the bouncing ball of how a poor decision manifests itself should no decision be made. This is where the project manager needs to be able to be open and forthright with the sponsor to:

• identify the risks that lie ahead
• calculate how a misstep will likely impact the success of the project, and
• shepherd what ‘we’ need to do about it

Again, if the relationship between the sponsor and the project manager is a healthy and collaborative one, having difficult conversations to surface bad news might be challenging but will be considered essential.

Covering up the bad news because there is concern that the sponsor will be displeased or not have the wherewithal to assist in making decisions about where to next is a zero sum game: there will be a price to pay somewhere for not making a good decision early.

It is far better to get this out in the open and be very much on the front foot in involving the inexperienced sponsor in helping facilitate the right outcomes.

The dynamic between an inexperienced sponsor and an experienced PM can be challenging but it is manageable with a couple of critical techniques as has been outlined above. Ultimately nothing guarantees success, but understanding how an inexperienced sponsor might come into the role and having the right approach to working with them give, at the very least, a project manager and the PMO a fighting chance to bring out the best in a sponsor and help make their first and future projects a success.