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Working with the “Accidental Project Sponsor”
By Bob McGannon, PMP
We hear this all of the time – project management is the “accidental profession.” Very few of us went to university with the objective of being a project manager, nor did we enter the business world with that objective. Somehow, through the course of human events, we ended up at the wheel of a scheduling management tool, and we stumbled into a new career. This pathway to a role in the world of projects is not restricted to the project manager. Project sponsors also end up in their role by accident; often with little personal focus towards that role, and with little knowledge of what they are supposed to do. As project managers, it is up to us as to train and leverage this reluctant resource. We need to teach without lecturing, and engage without monopolizing the precious time of the senior executive that serves as “the accidental project sponsor.” Here are a few techniques you can start using today, as we walk this tightrope in the “mahogany row” hallways of the businesses we serve…
Don’t tell the sponsor what to do, ask about acceptable techniques
Senior leaders are used to carving out their own way and capitalizing on approaches that are comfortable to them as individuals. Telling them what their role needs to be is rarely an accepted approach. Define your own role as the project manager through the eyes of the sponsor, while at the same time asking when and how the sponsor wants to be engaged in project decision making. It is a good idea to have a checklist of things that you feel you need from the sponsor; you can share that checklist if you believe it will be well received. In cases where you don’t think it will be taken appropriately, prioritize the items on the list in the order in which they will have the greatest impact on the project or will require the greatest degree of time and attention from the sponsor. Ask how and under what circumstances the sponsor wants to be involved and informed in that area of the project, focusing on what authority for decision making you will take on as the project manager. When you understand the limits of decision making the sponsor will provide to you as the PM, it then leads to an opportunity for productive dialog about sponsorship activities. Asking the question “When a decision has to be made and reaches beyond the limits you have defined for me, how would you like me to engage you in that decision, and what information would you like me to bring to you to facilitate that decision making?” can be a powerful tool. Along the way, in striving to receive an answer to that question, you can certainly make suggestions about that process and the data you provide. In that way, you are actually educating the new, accidental or hesitant sponsor, without preaching about what they “should be doing.”
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