Attaining Harmony with Your Sponsor
Harmony between the project manager and project sponsor increases your ability to achieve project objectives. Because each relationship is unique, you must build it with intention. Here are critical items to understand to increase your harmony with your sponsor:
- Your sponsor’s perspective of their strengths and areas to improve. Everyone has strengths and areas for improvement. Determine where your sponsor sees themselves as a solid contributor, and where they feel they could improve. That way, you can optimize the contributions you make. Prioritize the outcomes that the sponsor needs the most, that you can produce given your strengths, and the sponsor might struggle to produce. This collaboration inspires confidence and increases productivity. When you support each other, your interactions become more comfortable and predictable, and that benefits every project you two work together on.
- How your sponsor processes information. Some people like to see the big picture, while others prefer diving into details. A sponsor might focus on task status or concentrate instead on budget status. Think communication plan: what information, presentation format, communication method, and frequency. Communicate the information your sponsor cares about most in the way that makes it easiest for them to understand. When other information is significant, point it out to the sponsor. Use the sponsor’s preferred method and frequency of delivery, such as face to face every Friday, by email as needed. Make sponsor communication high-priority. When you follow your sponsor’s communication preferences, you will increase your effectiveness and your sponsor’s confidence.
- Your sponsor’s triple-constraint priority. Manage your project according to your sponsor’s priority of cost, scope, and time. That way, you know the trade-offs your sponsor would be willing to make. For example, if time is most important, followed by scope, and then cost, you can guess that the sponsor would choose to spend more and shave a little scope in order to stay on schedule. This priority also guides you in how to manage risk responses and report variance. With this knowledge, you can proactively recommend or implement adjustments as the project progresses. You and your sponsor will be aligned, even when things aren’t on track.
- Your sponsor’s decision-making approach. Some managers prefer having facts so they can analyze them to figure out a course of action. Others want you to do the analysis and present options with pros and cons so they can choose. Your sponsor will make decisions more quickly when you give them the information they want. Following their decision-making approach can also streamline how you manage change in your projects.
Have you discovered other things that can help build a better relationship with a project sponsor? Or do you have questions about how to implement the ones in this article? If so, share with us in the comments section.
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