The Project Sponsor Guide

Project sponsors can have a tremendous impact on the success of key projects. However, in reality, they miss the mark and are often uninvolved or over-involved and confused about their roles. The purpose of this guide is to help managers add value as sponsors of cross-functional projects; including development projects, information system projects, organizational change projects, and process improvement projects.

Section I explains the roles of the project sponsor as mentor, catalyst, motivator, barrier buster, boundary manager, and liaison to senior management. Key tasks of the project sponsor are explained, including how to effectively set up a project team and how to support the team throughout the project cycle.

Section II identifies over 20 common project team problems that arise, and provides alternate solutions for dealing with them.

The Appendix provides some helpful tools to increase team effectiveness and, therefore, project performance. This to-the-point and quick reading for today’s busy executives and managers is a one-of-a-kind source that describes the unique and challenging support that executives and managers must provide to be effective sponsors of project teams. It’s intended for executives and middle managers who will be, or are, sponsors of a project, particularly cross-functional projects. It is also helpful reading for facilitators and project leaders.

Neil Love is a certified management consultant and is president of LBL Improvement Partners, which specializes in project and organization performance improvement. He has facilitated over 200 working sessions with senior managers, product development teams, process improvement teams, and problem solving groups. Neil has held management positions at Hewlett Packard, General Electric, and Texas instruments.

Joan Brant-Love is Internal Operations Manager at Mockingbird Networks. Previously, she was manager of Order Fulfillment Process at Network Computing Devices, and was an independent consultant focusing on business process improvement and organization change projects. Prior to that, Joan has held positions in finance, marketing services, sales administration, human resources, and technical documentation. She has extensive experience in leading multifunctional projects.