Vicki James, PMP, CBAP, PMI-PBA, CSM

This week I gave a presentation to a group of people who made up the governance stakeholders of a newly initiated, multi-agency, federally funded project.  The presentation was developed to be generic and geared towards a large, diverse audience that may include a mix of sponsors and project managers from different organizations and different projects.  There was an unforeseen advantage to giving a general sponsorship presentation to a specific group that I wanted to share.

The discussion at the presentation was among individuals with a vested interest in the governance of the upcoming project.  They were able to review general the definitions, responsibilities, and recommendations within the presentation and have candid conversations about the needs for this project. It helped open the minds and the discussion to who should be invited on the Steering Committee, how the sponsors could work together to complement each other and acknowledge competing interests in the project, and helped give light to what they will need in selecting a project manager to help the project succeed.  The downside was I had to cut the presentation short because we ran out of time, but given the work and discussion that did happen, I’m okay with that.

The point in posting this is to say that by presenting sponsorship in a way that promotes discussion of the concepts with all of the governing stakeholders allowed that group to discuss their needs rather than being told what the needed to do.  For me, their discussion was validation that they understood the roles of the sponsors and steering committee, and how they could set the project up for success.