Tag: Project Management

How to Make Every Project a Sustainable Project

Written by Gary Scharf on March 1, 2023. Posted in Articles.

Every organization brings a variety of motivations to its sustainability initiatives. Some aim to satisfy regulations, some install them as part of company culture, and some derive brand value from them.

In most cases, it’s a mix. In many cases, there’s a direct tie between sustainability and the for-profit projects a company pursues. Building electric vehicles or developing renewable energy technologies are examples of this intersection of interests.

But now that sustainability and ESG performance are part of the management landscape, it has something in common with everything else: It feels the effects of the macro environment. With fears of a recession on the horizon, a recent KPMG survey found 59% of CEOs plan to put their ESG efforts on pause or under review in the coming six months.

That exposes a potential contradiction. If sustainability is part of the business now, it’s no longer an “extra” that companies should trim early in a recession-proofing effort. So how can they bridge the gap between intention and execution in today’s business climate?

Whatever an organization is in business to do, there is an untapped opportunity to approach all projects with greener ways of working by embedding sustainability into the heart of project delivery. Every project has the potential to be a sustainable project. Project managers, naturally focused on execution, are the ideal partners to make sustainability strategies a reality, while delivering tangible organizational benefits, such as reducing resource consumption and expanding stakeholder understanding and engagement of sustainability.

Here’s how to shift your mindset and approach any project sustainably:

KNOW YOUR STAKEHOLDERS—ALL OF THEM

Every skilled project manager understands the importance of stakeholder management: knowing who is impacted by a project and how it affects them. The most obvious, and longstanding, definition of stakeholders starts with the people a project is “for,” such as customers, investors, and your leadership team.

But a comprehensive view of sustainability execution requires you to broaden this definition. There are the employees who work alongside you and the contractors, partners and suppliers who do their part to move your work ahead. Your project likely has ripple effects throughout an entire community, or several—residents, small business owners, local governments, and others.

It’s clear that important environmental, social and governance goals and frameworks have birthed a new ecosystem of stakeholders. According to Green Project Management’s recent “Insights Into Sustainable Project Management” report, 97% of executives say that projects and project management are integral to sustainable development. As sustainability broadens our perception of responsibility, everyone who leads projects must be aware of all stakeholders and the impact each project has on them.

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SET SUSTAINABILITY GOALS

One lens that can help us understand this new challenge comes from the United Nations, which created 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2015. The list includes concerns such as “no poverty,” “zero hunger,” “responsible consumption and production” and “peace, justice and strong institutions.” What’s more important is that these aren’t separate items. They affect and support one another.

Not every SDG will be relevant to every project. For example, your project may have nothing to do with clean water or quality education. But at least one SDG relates to every project, and the link isn’t always obvious.

Suppose you’re developing software. SDG No. 8 likely comes into play: decent work and economic growth. No. 10, reduced inequality, is probably relevant too. What are the labor conditions, including for outsourced workers? Do your vendors and suppliers pay fair wages and provide equal opportunity in hiring?

Through this lens, it’s easy to see how ESG factors and the stakeholders they touch can multiply quickly. A broader stakeholder view, informed by sustainability goals and guided by the United Nations’ SDGs, can help a project deliver more positive benefits to more people.

THINK LONG-TERM

Sustainability expands the project management view along another dimension: time. Your work plan may have an end date, but the effects carry on. Especially if you work to create something tangible, such as a building or a vehicle, your project can impact the world over the years or decades until that work product is discarded or dismantled.

How long will the building last, for example? How will it serve and shape its community while it’s there? What economic effects will it have? And when its day is done, what will be the environmental impact of deconstructing it and accounting for its materials? According to Green Project Management’s report, 38% of project managers say that extreme weather events such as flash floods, wildfires and sea-level rise impact their project work, up from 4% in 2019.

Whether you operate on long timeframes like that or produce end products that come and go within days, the scale changes but the questions remain. Anyone who leads projects should probe to find and answer as many of them as possible.

A REWARDING MINDSET

There is a strong link between sustainability and innovation: to see change happen on the ground, and quickly. The world needs new ideas and out-of-the-box thinking. Approaching projects through the lens of sustainability adds a new way of thinking and opens the way for innovative approaches to sustainability execution. And the payoffs are for society and the planet.

Doing work that generates more value can’t help but be a long-term benefit to you and your organization. The good news is that the tools you need to drive sustainability are ones you already have in your project management toolkit.

So, take a step back—and take a look around. You got into this line of work to make things happen. Your opportunity to do that just got bigger.

Innovation on the Clock: How Taking Time to Work Smarter Can Drive Success

Written by Laivy Brown on February 22, 2023. Posted in Articles.

I want to talk about an oldy but goody, the importance of innovation, aka work smart not hard, or maybe both. In our current environment, the importance of innovation is even more pronounced as many industries are experiencing layoffs and downsizing. With limited resources and increased workloads, professionals who remain in their positions or with the company in any fashion are often expected to take on additional responsibilities and tasks that were previously handled by those who were laid off. This leaves them with less time to focus on their own work, let alone innovate and think creatively.

Yet, it is precisely in times like this that innovation is crucial for organizations to stay competitive and succeed in the long run. While it may be tempting to simply focus on completing immediate tasks and meeting short-term goals, taking the time to innovate and find more efficient ways of working can ultimately help organizations thrive in the face of uncertainty and change.

Professionals who make time to innovate can help themselves as well as their organizations. By developing new skills and expanding their knowledge, they can increase their own value in the job market, which can be especially important during times of economic uncertainty. Additionally, by finding ways to work smarter and not harder, they can prevent burnout and maintain their motivation and engagement in their work. Engagement is no small task, especially at times like these.

So, while innovation has always been important, it is even more critical in the current environment of layoffs and downsizing. Although it may seem difficult to find the time to innovate amidst increased workloads, it is precisely in times of uncertainty and change that innovation is needed the most.

Innovation is key to growth and success in any organization. It allows for the development of new ideas, products, and services, and helps companies stay competitive in an ever-changing market. However, finding time to innovate can be a challenge for professionals across various industries, from secretaries to project managers to developers. In this article, I want to explore the importance of professionals having time in their days and weeks to innovate, and how it can benefit both individuals and their organizations.

Preventing Burnout and Improving Efficiency

One of the primary benefits of allowing time for innovation is preventing burnout. Professionals who are constantly bogged down with routine tasks can quickly become fatigued and lose motivation. Having time to step back and work on something new and exciting will undoubtedly help prevent burnout and keep employees engaged in their work. When professionals are given the opportunity to think outside the box and come up with new solutions, they can find more efficient ways of working. This can ultimately save time and resources for the organization and improve overall productivity…It’s not that we are lazy or unmotivated to work hard, it’s that we want to do the best that we can.

Encouraging Creativity and Forward Thinking

Innovation also encourages creativity and forward thinking. When professionals are given time to innovate, they are encouraged to think creatively and come up with new ideas. This can lead to the development of innovative products or services and can help keep organizations ahead of the competition.

Naturally, encouraging innovation creates a mindset of creativity and forward-thinking throughout the organization. When professionals see that their ideas are valued and that they have the opportunity to make a difference, they will be more motivated to contribute their ideas and work towards new and exciting solutions. When it comes to innovation and finding more efficient ways of working, even small changes can have a significant impact.

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Let’s do a little math and don’t worry its simple: If a daily task that takes 20 people five minutes to complete and with some automation one guy took a few hours to figure out and implement that can be reduced to only four minutes, this would result in a time savings of one minute per person per day. While this may not seem like a lot, when you consider the impact over time, the results can be significant.

If this one-minute time savings is multiplied by the 20 people who perform the task, it results in a total daily time savings of 20 minutes. Over the course of a five-day workweek, this equates to 100 minutes or 1 hour and 40 minutes of time saved. Over the course of a year, assuming a 50-week work year, this time savings amounts to 100 hours.

Again, this may not seem like a lot, but when you consider that this time savings is just from one task performed by 20 people, the impact of finding more efficient ways of working across multiple tasks and teams can be significant. Math again, if 10 different tasks can be optimized in this way across an organization of 100 people, the total time savings per week would be 1,000 minutes or almost 17 hours. Over the course of a year, this amounts to a time savings of 850 hours. Assuming an average salary of $25 per hour, the 850 hours of time saved would equate to a cost savings of $21,250. This is just from finding more efficient ways of working across 10 tasks in an organization of 100 people. Imagine the impact of finding similar efficiencies across multiple teams and departments.

The truth is that the benefits of finding more efficient ways of working go beyond just cost savings. By saving time on mundane or repetitive tasks, professionals can free up time to focus on higher-level work that requires more creativity and critical thinking. This can lead to more innovative ideas, better decision-making, and ultimately a more competitive and successful organization.

Fostering a Culture of Innovation

Allowing time for innovation fosters a culture of innovation within an organization. When professionals are given the opportunity to innovate, they may be more likely to share their ideas with colleagues and collaborate on new projects. This can lead to a more collaborative and creative work environment, where everyone is encouraged to contribute their ideas and work towards a common goal.

Fostering a culture of innovation can help attract top talent to an organization. When professionals see that an organization values innovation and encourages new ideas, they may be more likely to want to work for that organization. This can ultimately help the organization attract the best and brightest talent and stay ahead of the competition.

Examples of Innovation Across Industries

Innovation can take many different forms across various industries. For example, a secretary may be able to innovate by finding more efficient ways to manage scheduling for the boss. A project manager may be able to innovate by finding new ways to track project progress or by implementing new project management software. A developer may be able to innovate by developing new features for a software program or by finding ways to optimize code for improved performance. Healthcare professionals can also be innovative in an office setting by finding ways to streamline administrative tasks, such as appointment scheduling, patient record-keeping, and prescription management. Innovation can also take place on a larger scale, such as the development of new products or services.

Conclusion

In conclusion, while it can be challenging to find the time to be innovative, it’s an essential component of personal and professional growth. Whether you’re a secretary, project manager, custodian, or doctor, taking the time to think creatively and work smarter can help you avoid burnout, stay motivated, and achieve better outcomes.

Ideally, companies will recognize the importance of innovation and provide their employees with the time and resources to pursue new ideas and approaches. However, even if this isn’t the case, it’s up to each of us as individuals to make innovation a priority in our work and personal lives.

So go ahead, take a break from your daily routine, and allow yourself some time to explore new possibilities and ideas. Who knows, you might just come up with the next big thing that revolutionizes your industry, or simply find a more efficient way to do your work. Either way, taking pride in your ability to think creatively and work smarter will bring a sense of satisfaction and fulfillment that’s hard to beat. Here’s to innovation, in all its forms!

We Don’t Always Start Fresh

Written by Martin Fenelon on February 21, 2023. Posted in Articles.

Project Management texts usually assume we’re starting at the beginning of a project, with control over scope, schedule, and resources. Frequently, project scope, resources, and schedule are already determined through strategic planning, Project Portfolio Management (PPM), or the project charter process. In other cases, we take on projects that are in progress. This can occur as a normal part of the project lifecycle as a hand-off from a project initiation team to a project delivery team or due to other circumstances. The existing Project Manager (PM) may be moving to a different, higher priority project, assuming other responsibilities within the organization, leaving the organization for other career opportunities, or leaving the project due to the problems that have arisen. In all these cases, the new PM is required to assess the current status of the project, update or create a plan leading to a successful conclusion of the project, and execute that plan through project completion.

There are specific things that a PM can do to improve their chances of successfully completing the ongoing project, regardless of its current state or delivery phase. While these will be covered in future articles, and in my book, There’s a New Sheriff in Town: The Project Manager’s Proven Guide to Successfully Taking Over Ongoing Projects and Getting the Work Done, in this article we will examine how likely it is for a PM to step into an ongoing project.

Assuming management of an ongoing project is a lot more common than many people think. All the PMs that I’ve met over the years, through work, at conferences, and online, have taken over projects that were already started. Industry results and surveys also show that the overwhelming majority of PMs have had to assume projects or programs that were already in flight. Close to 200 project managers responded in 2022 to an online global survey on their experience with joining projects that had already been started.

PMs are much more likely to take over existing projects than to start with a “clean slate.”

Roughly 93% of the PMs responding have had to take over a project that was already started at least once in their careers. There are significant differences and additional challenges when taking over projects that have already started. Despite these circumstances being very common, they are not routine and should not be treated as such. We need to recognize the challenges of joining a project that has already started, along with the typical challenges of managing projects.

How frequently does this happen?

Two-thirds (67%) of all the projects managed by these PMs had a different PM when they finished.

Far from being a rare occurrence, we should assume that most projects will have a change in leadership before they finish. How many PMs plan to hand over leadership to another PM? All too often, we assume that we will finish what we start, so if a change in leadership does occur, we are not prepared for it. Whether we are handing off the project to another PM, or if we are the incoming PM, the hand-off will be more challenging and less successful if we are not prepared for it.

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Why is assuming management of an ongoing project different than starting a new project? Table 1-1 provides a brief listing of project characteristics, components, and key management decisions that are still being formulated when a project is initiated but are usually set once a project has started. We’ll discuss some of these issues, and how to handle them as an incoming PM, in future articles.

Table 1-1: New Projects Versus Ongoing Projects

COMPONENT	NEW PROJECT	ONGOING PROJECT
Objectives	Loosely Defined	Established
Scope/Requirements	Being Determined	Preliminary or Approved
Quality	Being Negotiated	Defined
Schedule	Being Negotiated	Set
Budget	Rough Order of Magnitude (ROM)	Set
Delivery Method	Candidates identified	Chosen
Technology	May be defined, flexibility will vary	Selected
Delivery Team	Being Selected	Created and working
Delivery Location	May be open	Set
Delivery Tools	Being determined based on technology and delivery methodology selected	In Use
Project Plans	Being Drafted	Published and Approved

The results of the survey, discussions with PMs across the globe, and personal experience have all shown that we don’t always start on a project with a clean slate where we can work with the sponsor and business owner to establish the triple constraints. In fact, it is almost guaranteed that during our PM careers we will have to take over an ongoing project. The bad news is that this can be very different from initiating a project, with additional challenges that make it hard to succeed. The good news is that we are not alone in facing these challenges, and that there are proven techniques that greatly increase the likelihood of success. In addition to covering these in my book, we will address many of them in future articles.

The Most Important Project of Your Life!

Written by Kenneth Richards on February 14, 2023. Posted in Articles.

Two and a half years ago I started working on probably the most important project of my life, and one that benefits me directly as both the project manager and customer. It would utilize over a million dollars in cost, eight months of focus and attention before moving to operations, and a little over a hundred days of intense focus and coordination. Almost two years ago it moved primarily into monitoring and control phase before moving into a closing phase almost 4 months later. It now sits successfully in operations waiting to see if another project will be needed in the future. If we were indeed successful, then no changes or updates should be needed for this project for a long, long time.

This important project is cancer treatment, and the tenants of project management can be used to help treat patients. In October 2020 I was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) and began the journey through initiation, planning, execution, monitoring and control, and closure. During this time, I was amazed at how similar the process was to managing projects. Thinking of it this way helped me organize my thoughts and make decisions as I stepped through the process. For others that undergo diagnosis and treatment, many of the same requirements and processes I had can be adapted for your treatment. Nursing may even want to formalize some of the steps to accomplish successful outcomes in other types of cancer treatment, but also things like trauma care among others.

Initiating

Initiation was probably the most difficult. This was not a planned project, and in fact one that came completely out of the blue. From the time I found out, a plan did begin to develop, however. While there wasn’t a formal project charter per se, there was an agreement on the goals, the high-level requirements to get there, investigation into assumptions, and determination of funding. Almost all the things that make up a project charter are good to put down on paper as an agreement with the patient. It gives them a plan and direction and helps to organize the high-level requirements of caring for cancer. Many of the high-level items here become more granular in detail as exams are done and more information on a diagnosis is gained. It becomes the foundation for the rest of the project.

Another big part of the Initiating Process Group is identifying stakeholders. Some are obvious, the patient as the customer or project owner. They may even be the project manager depending on how much they want to facilitate or be involved in the project. The project manager may also be another family member such as a spouse or parent, or they may be satisfied in letting the Oncologist as their Primary Care Provider facilitate the care and simply keep them informed as a stakeholder. The decision of role should fall to the patient or guardian as much as possible.

Other stakeholders such as nursing staff, family, and friends, and even nurse navigators and case managers. As groups, stakeholders for me included my employer, Insurance companies, Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (www.lls.org), Be the Match (bethematch.org), and Veteran’s Administration among others. Some needed to be simply updated on status, some provided additional information and research I needed to make decisions, and others had options for funding assistance, materials, and even providing of stem cells for the transplant that was planned.

Planning

As you can imagine, the planning part was the most intensive. Things were new, and just like the Project Management Process Group, it has the largest and most significant number of processes. Every single process in this group played a role in planning for treatment, although in the setting of cancer care, the documentation is a little less formal, and many of the details are rolled into patient care plans and progress notes.

A plan is developed, and scope and time management requirements are determined. There is the initial treatment or consolidation chemotherapy with specific medications and times. The work to be done and schedule was laid out on a calendar to follow so I would know where I was at and what was expected at specific steps along the way. Activities were explained and laid out with a specific sequence and duration.

Cost management was laid out by identifying insurance, coverage and requirements. Much of this was reviewed in the context of this diagnosis since many of the resources would be quite costly. Specialty treatments and medications as well as extended hospitalization could easily grow into the tens of thousands of dollars and it was important to know what cost responsibilities would be to plan for financial assistance, or impact on scope of treatment. Nurse case managers as well as contacts at various non-profits could provide additional information on assistance that could be provided in various scenarios.

Project Quality Management, HR Management, Stakeholder Management, and Procurement Management were important areas as well. Daily tests were performed to identify problems or status in order to plan adjust the plan as required. While a patient does not hire the staff and decide on assignments, it was good to know the responsibilities of those staff as stakeholders so that I could pass my own updates as well as request information from the right people along the way. There were many drugs and treatments, some planned as part of the schedule, and some I could request as things progressed and needs were determined.

One of the most important areas is that of Risk Management. There are many areas of risks that had to be identified up front as part of the treatment. Chemotherapy destroyed cells that help the body fight infection and limiting exposure to risks, identifying problems such as a fever or infection, and treating those problems early helped keep things from progressing to dangerous levels. Risks were identified, plans were made to identify anything that occurred, and steps were planned for what to do if risks turned into issues.

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Executing

Once the plan was put into place, treatment could begin following the steps laid out. Everybody had their roles in managing that work, and everybody had responsibility to double check quality and treatment. I could perform quality assurance checks by verifying information and asking questions about things that seemed different from the expected routine. Nurses double checked meds and transfusions in some cases to be sure that the steps and procedures were being followed. While some of the questions seemed repetitive, they were a key part of performing quality assurance.

Managing Stakeholders and Stakeholder Engagement helped to not only keep everyone on the same plan and aware of any updates, it helped keep family connected to the process and how things were progressing. Using tools such as Social Media made dissemination of information to family and friends much easier.

The several months and rounds of chemotherapy, transfusions and checks culminated in a Stem Cell Transplant in March of 2021 which was the primary goal in the execution phase.

Monitor and Control

Frozen Stem Cells getting ready for transfusion. Held by gloved hands next to the nitrogen container.

As noted in the Execution and Planning groups above, monitor and control was a major part of the process from start to finish. It occurred during each round of chemo, and during the process of the Stem Cell Transplant itself.

After completing the transplant, some quality assurance took place as an inpatient, and then for several months as an outpatient over the next 100 days. Quality checks became less frequent as lab tests stabilized and as treatments based on those checks also became less frequent. A bone marrow biopsy became one of the final quality assurance tests performed at the transplant facility. Once it was determined that the expected results were obtained, cancer was determined to be in remission. I was able to return home back across the country, to settle back into a more normal routine. Stakeholders were updated, and risks continued to decrease over time. Bills were checked and paid.

Closing

My cancer project was placed into what I would consider “operations” in that routine follow-ups decreased from once or twice a month to every two months or more. Ability to return to work became part of normal operations to the point that I’m back at full-time work. Right now with some modifications, life is returning to normal. Quality checks continue as part of the follow-up and as long as they continue to remain normal, no further significant updates or beginning a new project should be required.

If there are abnormal exams or tests from here on out, they will require beginning a new project like this one with possible changes to scope or processes depending on requirements and advances.

Final Thoughts

Cancer is a difficult process for anyone to go through. With all the things involved in my treatment and care from symptoms because of not only the disease, but the treatments involved, I often thought about how much more difficult it is for kids, as well as those without the experience or resources that I had available to me. Having a well laid out and documented plan helped me organize and elicit the information I needed to be informed as a stakeholder and project manager. My medical background helped me understand the hows and whys of the treatment, and my experience in medical billing has helped me navigate the world of health insurance for a diagnosis as challenging as this.

Incorporating some of the processes in project management can help not only staff, but patients better organize their treatment and expectations. Even if not certified in project management, the knowledge gained by medical staff members can only help patients work through the complex healthcare system for things like cancer, trauma care, and chronic illness.

A Project Sponsor Wrecked My Project

Written by Anju Aggarwal on February 1, 2023. Posted in Articles.

Sponsors play an important role throughout the life of a project. They help support, shape, and integrate the project to realize the benefits for the business. But the Sponsors can also hinder the success of a project. They can harm a project by becoming too elusive or too intrusive. In this article, I will share the havoc caused by an intrusive sponsor.

An Intrusive sponsor tries to take too much control over the project. It is important to remember that the Sponsor is not the Project Manager and, as such, should not be trying to micromanage the project.

Let us first start with the definition of a project sponsor.

A Project Sponsor is a person or group who owns the project and provides resources and support for the project, program, or portfolio to enable its success. Every project has at least one project sponsor. Project sponsors are senior managers or executives who liaise between the project and organizational goals.

One of the critical success factors for any project is the presence and participation of an effective project sponsor. The Project Management Institute reports that the top driver of those projects meeting their original business goals is an actively engaged executive sponsor (PMI, 2018). However, the same project management research also found that one in three failed projects are linked to poorly engaged executive sponsorship.

Sponsor’s Primary responsibilities:

– Sponsors help clarify project goals from the organization’s perspective and guide project managers to make consistent tradeoffs across the project’s schedule, scope, and resources.

– Sponsors serve as a point of escalation when decisions or actions are needed to keep the project on track for matters outside the authority of the project manager.

BUT…

Not every Sponsor wants to be confined to their primary responsibilities.

Not every Sponsor wants to guide PMs, preferring to micromanage them.

Not every Sponsor respects the PMs boundaries and authority.

In some cases, a sponsor’s overzealousness to make a project successful can sabotage the project. A sponsor can create or destroy value for a business. They can act as a hinderance to project success.

Here is my true story between myself (the Project Manager) and the Sponsor. Let’s call him Mr. A.

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A brief background about this project

It was a project in a startup company. I was well supported by the Sponsor, who also happened to be the owner of that company.

Here are the few scenarios which lead to the project’s doom:

Micromanaging

As the project had aggressive timelines, Mr. A suggested hiring freelancers to expedite the work. He recommended a few profiles that he had shortlisted from LinkedIn. I selected one freelancer from that list and started working with him.

What an excellent camaraderie between a Sponsor and a PM. Right?

Wrong!

The supportive Sponsor wanted to give more support. He started micromanaging me. He was asking questions like:

How frequently do you connect with that freelancer? How are you tracking his work?

As the freelancer was doing data entry work, I delegated the supervision of his work to another team member. This way, I could concentrate on more pressing issues in the project.

But Mr. A did not like it. He wanted me to supervise that freelancer directly.

Overriding PM’s decisions

We were working hard to achieve the unrealistic timelines. As the due date got closer, I decided to share the actual situation with the customer and ask for more time. I hope that sharing the information about the real efforts to complete the ongoing tasks would help the customers see the massiveness of the work. I would own the misjudgments of estimates done earlier in the project (although those commitments were made by Mr. A.)

But it does not matter as we are one team, Right?

Wrong!

Alas, I did not get to share this information with the customer. Instead, Mr. A had a private conversation with the customer and asked for a one-week extension timeline. In place of the extension, he also committed to doing some extra work.

I was caught unaware when I received this information from the customer on a slack group channel.

Expect the impossible

We could not deliver the work we had already committed for this week, on top of the extra work due in another week. I became furious! How could Mr. A have this conversation without first discussing the impact of the scope changes with me? Mr. A crossed a boundry and overstepped my authority on this project.

Many other things unfolded after that and I eventually left the project. Mr. A eagerly stepped into the shoes of interim Project Manager.

I became an observer on this project and provided my help as and when required.

How the wrecked project looked

Firstly, the project could not be delivered even after the time extension that Mr. A got from the customer.

Secondly, he made the entire company work on that project.

And thirdly, the customer was unhappy about this delay and voiced his concern over the slack channel by sending angry messages to the entire team.

We all know that for a project to be successful, the Project Manager and the Sponsor need to work hand in hand. And we also know that this collaboration is often missing in projects.

In many cases, the PM has to spend more time handling Sponsor queries rather than project queries.

How should a PM handle an intrusive Sponsor?

Before talking more about this subject, understand that it is a sensitive topic to handle. As in most cases, the Sponsor also happens to be the PM’s immediate boss.

Hence PMs need to handle it so they do not damage the working relationship with their manager.

Train and Educate – Sponsors (specifically, those who are also startup owners) must be educated on what it takes to effectively work with a project team. Sponsors should be explicitly and deliberately taught to deal with projects, project issues, and project people. In addition, they need to learn about change management – the effective tradeoff between cost, duration, and performance.

Clarify Expectations – Understanding what the Sponsor expects from a PM. They may have a different understanding of what project managers do and how PMs can help them. For example, some people might think PMs just do all the paperwork and nothing else. Ensure the Sponsor completely understands a PMs roles and responsibilities.

Set up the Communication plan – Establish the frequency, granularity, and channels for communication between the PM and the Sponsor to share the project progress or impediments. Communication channels include status meetings, automated reports, dashboards, and impromptu conversations. When sponsors start weighing in on all the minor details, the PM can remind them about the agreements made in the communication plan.

Project sponsors are essential to the success of any project. They provide the financial support and resources necessary for a project to exist. They can have a hugely positive impact on the success of a project. While they can be helpful, they can also hinder if not properly managed.

The three ways in which we can handle the intrusive Sponsor is:

– Educate them about Sponsor and PM roles and responsibilities

– Set the clear expectations

– Be honest with them to ensure a successful project outcome

We can also sum up the above three points in a single sentence – A Sponsor needs to know their boundaries and accept the boundaries of a Project Manager!