This document discusses the importance of effective project sponsorship. It notes that research shows sponsors are often not properly trained or supportive of projects, and active sponsorship can significantly impact project success rates and costs. The document advocates for bridging the gap between what sponsors should be doing according to best practices and what they currently do. It encourages groups to generate ideas for improving sponsorship and lists suggestions such as training, coaching sponsors, and linking payments to milestone completion.

1. 15/07/2015
1 January,Proms G Presentation 2015 1
www.projectagency.co.uk 1
APM
Project Sponsorship
Bridging the Gap
By Ron Rosenhead
www.projectagency.co.uk
Your thoughts…
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So what is project sponsorship like in your
organisation?
http://bit.ly/1L5OaOg
www.projectagency.co.uk
Who am I?
• International trainer consultant & coach
• Professional speaker
• Personally trained over 12,000 people
• Author:
 Strategies for Project Sponsorship
 Deliver That Project
• Blogger
• Tweeter
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www.projectagency.co.uk
Order of play
• Research on project sponsorship
• What sponsors should be doing
• Group work….what can we do to bridge gap…..?
• Some ideas…..what we can do….
• Q&A
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www.projectagency.co.uk
Overall objective
Increase the probability of project
success
“I hit so many walls, people did not support the change and
there was no budget. A project with no structure which fizzled
out. I learned a valuable lesson; never attempt to deliver a
project without a sponsor” Anon PM
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www.projectagency.co.uk 6

2. 15/07/2015
1 January,Proms G Presentation 2015 2
www.projectagency.co.uk 7
All reports point to the
importance of sponsor role
www.projectagency.co.uk
Standish
“66% of executive sponsors do a poor job &
shirk their responsibilities….
However, it is not their fault, because no
one has educated them about their roles &
responsibilities.”
Standish, The Chaos Manifesto
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www.projectagency.co.uk
• 85% of organisations had sponsors in place
• 83% of organisations don’t train or support
or guide sponsors
• 100% of respondents believed that having
a good sponsor was key to project success
BIG stats
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• 79% of high-performing organisations
enjoy active project sponsors;
• compared to less than half (43 percent) at
low-performing organisations’
PMI Pulse Report (2013)
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Active sponsorship makes a difference
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from PMI’s Pulse of the Profession
www.projectagency.co.uk
Webinar on Project Governance – What gives you most
problems from 14 different criteria (March 2013)
Project Sponsorship – top problem
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3. 15/07/2015
1 January,Proms G Presentation 2015 3
www.projectagency.co.uk
From APM Webinar – accelerated delivery &
performance http://bit.ly/1ALPPhQ
GlaxoSmithKline
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www.projectagency.co.uk
Success will come if you obtain:
Executive Management
Support:
‘The most important
person in the project is
the executive
sponsor….. is
ultimately responsible
for the success and
failure of the project’
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www.projectagency.co.uk
From: PMI Executive Guide 2012
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www.projectagency.co.uk
Wasted time, wasted money?
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PMI Pulse of Profession 2013
There was a +29% variance with good sponsorship in place
but when there wasn’t good project sponsorship there was a
‐13% variance of ‘Project Failure’ that is there was a
13% more likely chance of the project not delivering what was
expected
www.projectagency.co.uk
£100m portfolio
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New cost: with poor project sponsorship ‐ £113m
New cost: with active project sponsorship ‐ £71m
http://bit.ly/1M5wZwx
www.projectagency.co.uk
The 9 sponsor ‘types’ + 1!
1. The absent sponsor
2. The busy sponsor
3. The uninterested sponsor
4. The inexperienced sponsor
5. The sponsor who wants to be the project manager
6. The sponsor who gets involved too late
7. The untrained sponsor
8. The sponsor who is part of a committee of sponsors
9. The saboteur or just plain bad sponsor
+ 1: The effective project sponsor
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4. 15/07/2015
1 January,Proms G Presentation 2015 4
www.projectagency.co.uk
Question…..
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Is your company missing an opportunity to be
more effective & impact the bottom line?
www.projectagency.co.uk
Summary
• Statistics make grim reading
• Sponsor is a key role in project management
• Many sponsors are:
 not trained
 not effective
• Active projects sponsorship makes a big difference –
(bottom line difference)
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www.projectagency.co.uk
…trying to deliver a project without a sponsor is like playing football
without a:
 rule book
 a coach
 any funds for new players or even
 a referee
If trying to manage a project without project management is
like trying to play football without a game plan….
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www.projectagency.co.uk
What should the sponsor be doing?
http://bit.ly/1M8a8Ac
How was it developed?
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• Researched what sponsor
supposed to do – NEW!
• Experience
• Stories sent to us (20‐1)
• Spoke to sponsors
• Looked at ‘JD’s’
• Field test
www.projectagency.co.uk
Checklist for project sponsors
• Provides direction &
guidance
• Works to support/dev
charter
• Identifies and quantifies
business benefits
• Makes go/no go decisions
• Evaluates success on
completion
• Negotiates funding
• Actively paticipates in
planning
• Reviews, approves changes
to plans
• Identifies steering grp
members
• Gains agreement of
stakeholders when
differences occur
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www.projectagency.co.uk
Checklist continued
• Assists project when
required
• Helps resolve inter
boundary issues
• Supports PM in conflict
resolution
• Advises PM on
protocols, political
issues
• Makes project visible in
company
• Encourages stakeholder
involvement
• Chief risk taker
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???
???

5. 15/07/2015
1 January,Proms G Presentation 2015 5
www.projectagency.co.uk
What should the sponsor be doing?
http://strategies4sponsors.com/
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Gap
www.projectagency.co.uk
Activity
• What can we do to bridge the gap between the
what the sponsor should be doing and what they
actually do?
• Get together in groups and come up with some
practical suggestions
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www.projectagency.co.uk
http://bit.ly/1Gjo2Yg
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www.projectagency.co.uk
Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp)
“The problem is not the problem. Your attitude to the problem,
is the problem.”
With acknowledgement to Walt Disney
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www.projectagency.co.uk
Further develop your PEOPLE skills
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www.projectagency.co.uk
Raise your head above the parapet
“If you are going to get your head kicked in, get it
kicked in early”
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6. 15/07/2015
1 January,Proms G Presentation 2015 6
www.projectagency.co.uk 31
Bypass…..but beware…..
www.projectagency.co.uk
Say
NO
but
Don’t say
NO
by…….
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www.projectagency.co.uk
Say no by using PM processes
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www.projectagency.co.uk
Training or presentation
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Coach your sponsor……
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www.projectagency.co.uk
Milestones and the sponsor
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• Link payments to milestones by
contractors
• Project sponsor to sign off the
payment – responsible: link to
Gateway review

7. 15/07/2015
1 January,Proms G Presentation 2015 7
www.projectagency.co.uk
Get your own coach to help you, coach sponsor
“The problem is not the problem. Your attitude to
the problem, is the problem.”
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www.projectagency.co.uk 38
http://bit.ly/1Gjo2Yg
www.projectagency.co.uk
http://bit.ly/1TzWBCO
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www.projectagency.co.uk
Conclusion 1
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• Trying to increase the probability of project success
• Stats – not very positive
• Active sponsorship can make a big difference
• Checklist for the role of sponsor – gap
www.projectagency.co.uk
Conclusion II
• Your ideas for improving the situation – narrowing gap
• Given you some of my ideas… people
• http://projectagency.co.uk/project‐sponsorship/
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www.projectagency.co.uk 42
Contact Information:
Ron Rosenhead
Project Agency
Phone: 020 8446 7766
Mobile: 07973 735078
http://projectagency.co.uk/project‐sponsorship/