{"id":527,"date":"2010-05-28T13:47:12","date_gmt":"2010-05-28T18:47:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.watermarklearning.com\/blog\/?p=527"},"modified":"2022-08-08T09:37:30","modified_gmt":"2022-08-08T14:37:30","slug":"getting-the-most-from-your-sponsor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.watermarklearning.com\/blog\/getting-the-most-from-your-sponsor\/","title":{"rendered":"What’s On Your Sponsorship Short List?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"manWhat is it with sponsorship? If I had a nickel for every story I heard in the classroom about poor or completely non-existent (!) sponsorship, I\u2019d be writing this blog from somewhere more exotic than my cube. Sponsors who aren\u2019t available for meetings. Sponsors who don\u2019t have time to read reports. Sponsors the project manager never sees. Ever. Who is driving the project train here?<\/p>\n

If an organization really wants their projects to succeed, and if you\u2019re not convinced of that you\u2019re really in trouble, then why is good sponsorship so elusive? As a project manager<\/a>, is there anything you can do to improve the chances of a real partnership with a sponsor? That partnership is, after all, one of the top indicators of project success.<\/p>\n

In this blog I\u2019d like to suggest that we define what we should reasonably expect from a sponsor. In my next post, I will look at who is the \u201cright\u201d person to sponsor a project. Then I\u2019ll suggest some things that PMs can do to improve their chances of sponsorship success.<\/p>\n

So what should a PM expect from a sponsor? Actually, let me rephrase that: What should a PM reasonably expect from a sponsor given the project and the organization? The key word here is reasonable. If regular attendance at team meetings isn\u2019t feasible, for example, then let\u2019s not set anyone up for failure. PMs need to think about their Sponsorship Short List. What are the absolute must haves from this<\/em> sponsor for this<\/em> project? Your short list may differ depending not only on the organization, but also the sponsor and the project.<\/p>\n

Some Sponsorship Short List options could include:<\/p>\n

1. Articulate business and project vision
\n2. \u201cPrepare\u201d and distributes the Project Charter
\n3. Obtain funding
\n4. Define project benefits
\n5. Facilitate definition of requirements and acceptance criteria
\n6. Assist in acquiring resources
\n7. Approve deliverables
\n8. Make scope decisions
\n9. Resolve cross-functional and external conflicts
\n10. Champion the project
\n11. Provide guidance and direction as needed<\/p>\n

Clearly, unless your sponsor is experienced and familiar with best practices, it\u2019s probably not going to serve you well to present an 11-item list and announce that you need all of these things from them. Not only will they insist that they don\u2019t have time (which is probably true), but it may be intimidating. If they\u2019ve never done these things, how are they to know how to do them? No one wants to look incompetent, especially if you\u2019re supposed to be the owner of the project.<\/p>\n

So it\u2019s up to you, project manager, to think about it and help them do their job<\/em>.  Create your Sponsorship Short List: Pick three and define what, specifically, they mean.<\/p>\n

If you determine that what you need most is a project champion, for example, what does that mean? What do they actually have to do?  <\/em>Make a presentation at a meeting?  Include project update on senior management meeting agendas? Come in and cheerlead for the team once in awhile?  Write it down so you understand it. Use small, simple words so you know you understand. (No leveraging synergies!) Then, and only then, present it to them\u2026and set them up for success. When they look good, chances are you will, too.<\/p>\n

So if you are feeling like an unsponsored PM, give some thought as to what you\u2019d really like from a sponsor and come up with your Sponsorship Short List.  Remember: Sponsors are sometime lousy at sponsoring because they don\u2019t know<\/em> what\u2019s expected of them.  Help them understand, and make it palatable.<\/p>\n

It’s probably a learning opportunity for both of you.  If you aren\u2019t used to sponsorship, then you will have to explore how to use them in whatever capacity you have suggested, as well.  Win-win.  It’s a beautiful thing.<\/p>\n

How do you get the best out of your sponsors? I’d love to hear your thoughts.<\/p>\n

Next time, Are You My Sponsor?  Who in the organization is the best candidate for project sponsor.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What is it with sponsorship? If I had a nickel for every story I heard in the classroom about poor or completely non-existent (!) sponsorship, I\u2019d be writing this blog from somewhere more exotic than my cube. Sponsors who aren\u2019t available for meetings. Sponsors who don\u2019t have time to read reports. Sponsors the project manager […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":10812,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[26,211,1],"tags":[213,22,56],"coauthors":[140],"class_list":["post-527","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business-analysis","category-project-management","category-watermark-learning","tag-business-analysis","tag-project-management","tag-sponsorship"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.watermarklearning.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/527","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.watermarklearning.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.watermarklearning.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.watermarklearning.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.watermarklearning.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=527"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.watermarklearning.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/527\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10813,"href":"https:\/\/www.watermarklearning.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/527\/revisions\/10813"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.watermarklearning.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10812"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.watermarklearning.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=527"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.watermarklearning.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=527"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.watermarklearning.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=527"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.watermarklearning.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=527"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}