The project sponsor plays a pivotal role, providing the link between corporate strategy and project governance. In delegating responsibility to a project manager, the sponsor represents management, provides leadership and governance oversight, establishes and monitors the boundaries within which the project manager operates, and fronts any issues escalated by the project team.

As sponsor, you play a vital role throughout the project. This course will enable you to appreciate that their role is not passive but is of vital importance to project success. You play a powerful governance role, must show active support of the project manager, and can have a significant impact on the team’s effectiveness.

By taking this course you will be able to:

• understand the roles/ responsibilities of project sponsor and project manager
• use a common lexicon
• know how to provide the necessary governance, direction, support and oversight to the project manager and understand their expectations of you;
• support your authority with knowledge and skills that enable effectiveness
• recognise the importance of the sponsor as link between strategy and action
• be able to represent the project to senior management

You are a project manager or fulfil a project governance role - sponsors, programme managers, portfolio managers, project management office directors etc.

Organisational Setting

• Purpose of projects
• Measures of project success
• Strategic management process
• Project management process
• Portfolio management: bringing them together

Project Manager Role

• Responsibilities/Accountabilities
• Key deliverables
• PM expectations of the sponsor
• Questions PMs should ask of sponsors

Sponsor role

• Responsibilities/Accountabilities
• Relationship to the business
• Relationship with project managers
• Sponsor expectations of the PM
• Vital contributions to project success
• Questions to ask project managers
• Steering committee leadership

• Approvals, decision-making and direction setting
• Business mentor for the PM

Key Project Contact Points

• Project establishment
• Business case
• Objective setting
• Establishing realistic project estimates
• Stage Gates/Milestone Reviews
• Status/performance reporting
• Risk and issues management
• Recognise and respond to troubled project warning signs
• Stakeholder management
• Approvals in change management
• Project close-out / benefits realisation

1 day