Sponsors have a critical role on projects. Therefore, it follows, that if they are not participating in the project, there is an adverse impact on the project.
Absentee Sponsors can be because
- they’re just too busy with more imperative demands on their time and should not be the Sponsor
- they don’t know how to contribute to the project, so see involvement as a waste of their time
- they don’t really believe in the project and, therefore, don’t want to be seen to be associated with it (this happens a lot with appointed sponsors)
- they no longer have a vested interest in the project due to restructures, realignment of accountabilities, etc.
Appropriate sponsor?
The first question to ask is, “Are they the most appropriate executive to be the Sponsor?”
Often everyone wants the Executive General Manager or alike as their Sponsor. Unfortunately, these people have the least time and will give the least level of involvement. Are there other executives who have a vested interest in the project’s success who can perform this role?
Watch particularly for those who no longer have any real interest or commitment to the project and its outcomes — they really need to be replaced.
Changing Sponsors midstream requires convincing the new Sponsor to take on the role and the existing Sponsor to relinquish the role. Start with the existing Sponsor first to ascertain their appetite to relinquish the role. Some will jump at it, others will be affronted so that you’ll need to ‘sell’ the benefits to them of getting all of the beneficial outcomes without the workload!
Then you need to convince the new Sponsor that this is their opportunity to ‘make a difference’. Again, some will see the opportunity and others will see it as additional work. It’s a delicate task to change Sponsors, but worth a try if the current arrangements are not working.
Active sponsor?
The second question to ask is, “Why are they absent/not participating?”
In our experience, behind many of the words and explanations is a fear of failure. Non-involvement equals non-accountability (they hope!).
With so few executives understanding the roles and accountabilities of being a Sponsor, they can convince themselves that this is true. But it isn’t. We are seeing an increasing number of Sponsors being fired when their project collapses.
In our interviews with executives the vast majority agree they do not understand the role and how to perform it. So, rather than look stupid, they don’t appear at all. This can be resolved by one-on-one coaching that takes them through the role and what to look for on projects. This gives them the confidence to turn up and make a contribution.
Project sponsor education is available online.
Being too busy is a time allocation issue. I once had a boss who could only see you for 5 or 10 minutes; he was just too busy to allocate any more time. But, if you asked how his soccer team went at the weekend, you’d be there half an hour later discussing soccer!
It’s not up to you to solve their time management problems, but to spell out the time commitments required by the project and when they are required. Usually, the more regular you make the time commitments (eg one hour every Wednesday at 10am), the easier it is for them to make the time available.
One dimension you will need to be clear on is what this time is needed for — making decisions, handling political issues, being aware of the issues and progress, advising on options, mentoring the project manager, etc.
Perhaps key here is to spell out the consequences of non-involvement. TOP's "The 26 Dimensions of Project Governance" is excellent in this regard as it details for each topic “How value is destroyed”.
Absent Sponsors virtually guarantee a significant loss in the project’s delivered nett value.
