project-sponsorship

Q:  I am an architect in an architectural firm with the title of project manager.  I can only assume that the “sponsor” would be my immediate supervisor/boss who is to keep me up-to-date on critical project information, time lines, etc. The thing I am looking for is how to get project information out of my [...]

Two current or former colleagues will join me at the  PMI NorCal Symposium 2008 on September 3-4 at Stanford University.
My co-author of Project Sponsorship and close friend is Alfonso Bucero.  All projects need an executive sponsor.  Upper management support for projects consistently surfaces as a critical success factor and sets the pace for [...]

Ok, we have performed a number of interviews and town hall meetings at all levels of the company, evaluated the company culture, and elected to develop a PLC.   Now we need to define our implementation and get the job done.
Implementation:  Based on the feedback

Technorati Tags: Program-Management, project-management, Project-Portfolio-Management, project-sponsorship

The applause was thundering as the magician completed his performance. Proman A. Jecgert had hired the magician to help celebrate the completion of what would come to be called Phase One. The party included all participants across the organization. The grove in the trees was a perfect setting, and the sun shone [...]

Seated at the table across from him, Toni made a grimacing face. The news was not good. Proman had started the weekly meeting by reminding key engineers from each of the study groups that resolving these issues was the top priority for the group. The group general manager had come by his [...]

Proman looked over the agenda for the first meeting of the management team. It was phenomenal how the champion for resolving these issues got this cross organization group to convene. Toni personally went to each of the key stakeholders and discussed the problems, pointed out the consequences, identified the benefits to each person’s [...]

Proman A. Jecgert put the phone back in its cradle.  It was a distressing call.  The caller was very frustrated and negative about what was going on.  “The place is in a mess,” she said.  “People are doing their own thing, and managers aren’t stepping in to guide the development process or make crucial decisions.  [...]

 Brilliant adolescence is not a recipe for continued success in Silicon Valley, although it has been largely responsible for a great deal of momentum to date.
To address this concern in your organization, invite your sponsor to invigorate your organization at the Project Management Institute (PMI) Silicon Valley Maturity Forum 2007 Projects Programs and Portfolios in [...]

I recently watched Night at the Museum with commentary turned on by director Shawn Levy. He stated that he story-boarded almost everything and that really helped stay focused and get the shots he needed when the [project] team was there to film the movie. It also helped him get sponsorship to film certain sequences or [...]

In my role now as an executive consultant (since leaving HP in the year 2000), I note how difficult it is to work through the political environment in client organizations.  I’ve seen projects fail not because project managers were not enthusiastic about what they were doing but because they failed to get effective sponsorship support.  In contrast, [...]

The payment is project failure.  The investment is effective project sponsorship.  Successful project managers invest in managing their sponsors: they avoid becoming victim to bad situations by proactively eliciting the support they need.
Examples abound about how project managers manage upwards. 

Technorati Tags: action, building-executive-support, communication, Leadership, project-management, project-sponsorship, sponsor

Many executives are assigned as project sponsors, but their organizations do not spend time training and explaining their expected roles and responsibilities during project life cycles.   The accidental project manager role is well known, and the same applies to sponsors.
The sponsor role can have a tremendous impact on project success.  However, reality is quite different. [...]