What is a project sponsor? Role and responsibilities in project management

If your project lacks executive support, approval of project resources stalls, deadlines are missed, and your project's success is at risk. In this article, I’ll explain what you need to know about project sponsorship, who a project sponsor is, and why this role is crucial in project management.

Let’s explore the intricate roles and responsibilities of a project sponsor in project management and the significant impact they can have on aligning and reaching objectives.

What Is a Project Sponsor?

A project sponsor is a senior stakeholder who champions your project, ensures the feasibility of the business case for a project, secures financial and other resources, and ensures it aligns with business goals.

While they’re not necessarily funding projects personally, they’re a key stakeholder who acts as the bridge between project team members and executive leadership, and their responsibilities extend beyond oversight. 

Project Sponsor vs Executive Sponsor vs Project Manager

Project sponsors are often confused with project managers or executive sponsors. The role of a project sponsor differs from that of a project manager or an executive sponsor, although there will be some overlap in relation to stakeholders’ best interests.  

Project Sponsor

Executive Sponsor

Project Manager

Roles & responsabilities

Champions a project, provides input and approves the project charter, secures resources, and provides the project manager with guidance throughout the project lifecycle.

May oversee multiple projects or programs and provide overarching support to ensure projects align with strategic objectives.

Handles the day-to-day management of a project, including the initiation phase, planning phase, execution, monitoring and controlling, and closure. 

Relationship with project stakeholders

Often, as a member of senior management and a key internal stakeholder, they provide the resources and guidance to project managers to ensure a project meets the stakeholders’ best interests.

Provides senior-level support and works with project managers to remove potential roadblocks that might risk project outcomes and stakeholders' goals.

Builds trusting relationships with stakeholders, keeps them aware of project progress, and ensures a successful project.

Why You Need a Project Sponsor

Project sponsors provide authority, direction, and organizational backing in these three ways to help projects avoid delays and misalignment.

1. Navigating organizational complexity

Sponsors can help project managers navigate organizational complexity better, especially with larger projects that often span multiple departments, resources, and approvals from many stakeholders. They remove bureaucracy and cut through red tape to facilitate smoother project execution.

2. Gaining access to budgets, approvals, and support

Sponsors help project managers access sufficient budgets, approvals, and cross-departmental support to stay within the project scope. They use their influence to secure the necessary funding and resources, and can garner more support for stronger collaboration to reduce resistance from business units.

3. Making high-level decisions

The sponsor can make timely, high level decisions to help prevent delays and keep the project moving forward. Without a project sponsor, project managers are often left to navigate these challenges alone, leading to missed deadlines, budget overruns, and potentially project failure.

Who Can Be a Project Sponsor?

Typically, a project sponsor is a senior executive or department head with decision-making authority and influence. They should be able to secure resources, make high level decisions, and provide strategic guidance to your project team. It’s also essential that they have a vested interest in your project's outcomes and are committed to providing the necessary support to ensure its success.

The role of the project sponsor has evolved over time, particularly in Agile and hybrid organizations. Today, in agile and hybrid organizations, project sponsors are more actively involved, working closely with project teams to provide continuous support and guidance with an increased emphasis on collaboration and flexibility to help teams adapt to changing requirements and deliver value.

Examples of Project Sponsors

These real-world scenarios can help you gain a better understanding of what a sponsor looks like in practice.  

Example 1: VP of engineering in a fast-evolving technology company

The goal: The Vice President of Engineering took on the project sponsorship role to roll out a new development platform to streamline the development process, increase productivity, and improve innovation. The VP’s role wasn’t just ceremonial. He actively participated and provided project oversight, helping to navigate complex technical challenges to keep the project on track. 

The VP's involvement helped the project manager achieve the following:

• Secured the necessary resources and buy-in from various departments.

• Enabled the project manager to make informed decisions quickly and address issues before escalation or total disruption to the project’s momentum.

• Promoted a culture of collaboration and innovation, and a sense of ownership and commitment among the teams. 

• Helped maintain high morale and motivation. 

Results: The rollout of the new development platform met its objectives and set a new benchmark for future projects.

Example 2: Director of programs in the nonprofit sector

The goal: In a nonprofit organization dedicated to community development, a program director took on the project sponsor role for a new community initiative to improve local education involving multiple stakeholders, including local schools, community leaders, and volunteers.

The director's sponsorship involvement helped the project manager achieve the following:

• Secured funding and resources and actively engaged with the community to build trust and support for the initiative. 

• Brought together diverse groups and created a collaborative environment. 

• Helped the project manager address various challenges and align the project with the community's needs and expectations. 

• Helped maintain an open dialogue with all stakeholders to address concerns and make necessary adjustments to the project plan. 

Results: This proactive approach kept the project on and improved its overall impact to achieve its immediate goals, as well as strengthened the nonprofit's reputation and credibility.

Benefits of Having a Project Sponsor

Having a project sponsor provides many valuable benefits, including these.

• Ensuring your project aligns with the strategic objectives and provides the necessary support to achieve these goals. According to Harvard Business, HR and IT managers say that 67% of projects fail due to a lack of organizational strategic objective alignment. 

• Secures stakeholder buy-in and helps your project deliver value for stakeholders. 

• Helps escalate issues faster and improve decision-making.  

• Provides approval and sign off on the necessary resources to make your project successful. Organizations with active project sponsors are 40% more likely to have their projects completed on time and within budget.

• Their authority allows them to make high level decisions quickly, preventing delays and keeping your project on track.

Disadvantages or Challenges of Having a Project Sponsor

While the involvement of a project sponsor can provide significant benefits, there are some potential disadvantages and challenges. 

• Uninvolved sponsors can cause delays: If a sponsor is hands off, this can confuse you, your team, and stakeholders, leading to delays and a lack of support. Clarify the role they plan to play at the start of your project to ensure they can and will provide adequate support to you and your project, and maintain regular communication and check-ins to confirm their ongoing involvement and support.

• Conflicting priorities between sponsor and team: Let’s say the sponsor prioritizes cost savings while your project team focuses on delivering high-quality outcomes; this is almost guaranteed to lead to misalignment, misunderstandings, and potential conflicts. Establish clear communication and alignment through regular meetings, status reports, and open discussions about priorities and objectives.

• Overinvolvement could lead to micromanagement from the sponsor. This can lead to micromanagement. While the sponsor's involvement is essential, excessive interference can get in the way of your team's ability to execute their tasks and milestones effectively. To mitigate this, establish clear roles and responsibilities and set boundaries for the sponsor's involvement. Regular two-way feedback can also help ensure the sponsor provides support without overstepping their role.

How To Get Started With Project Sponsorship

The process of securing project sponsorship begins with these steps.

Identify a potential sponsor

Find a senior executive or department head who has the authority and influence necessary to champion your project. They should be invested in the project's success and have a clear understanding of the organizational goals the project aims to achieve. 

Secure their commitment

Demonstrate the project's value and alignment with strategic objectives to gain their buy in and secure their commitment. Use formal presentations, detailed project proposals, or one-on-one meetings highlighting the benefits and potential return on investment.

Set expectations and define their role

Outline their responsibilities, such as providing resources, offering strategic guidance, and making high-level decisions. Establish these parameters early on to prevent confusion or misalignment as the project progresses. 

Communicate regularly

Schedule consistent check-ins, whether weekly or bi-weekly, to ensure that the sponsor is kept in the loop about project developments and can provide timely feedback when needed to keep your project moving in the right direction and on time..

Support your project with the right tools, templates, or checklists 

With the right tools and resources, you can streamline communication, track progress, and ensure your project team and sponsor are aligned. I’d suggest these:

• Project management software to handle stakeholder management, communications management, collaboration, and resource management to keep things running smoothly and increase productivity and visibility.

• Templates for status reports, meeting agendas, and decision logs. These can help you maintain a structured and efficient communication flow. 

• Checklists to ensure all critical aspects of project sponsorship are covered, from initial commitment to project closure. By following these actionable steps, project managers can effectively secure and work with a project sponsor, laying a solid foundation for project success.

Project Sponsor Best Practices

There are several best practices that you can follow to work successfully with a project sponsor. 

• Choose someone in your organization with real influence: Select a sponsor with the necessary influence to provide your project with the support it needs to reach a successful conclusion, such as securing resources, making high-level decisions, and providing strategic guidance. 

• Schedule regular check-ins: Schedule frequent check-ins, whether formal meetings or informal updates, depending on the sponsor's preference, to keep your project sponsor engaged and involved.

• Clarify roles and expectations: Define the project sponsor, executive sponsor, and stakeholder roles and responsibilities right out of the gate to prevent overlap, conflict, or misunderstandings. 

• Coach them on Agile/PM processes if needed: If the sponsor isn’t familiar with these methodologies, offer coaching or training on Agile or project management processes to make sure they understand their role and can effectively provide the necessary support.

More Resources / Further Learning

Here are some additional resources and further learning about project sponsorship that you might find helpful.

1. The Project Management Institute (PMI)® - PMI offers resources, including articles, webinars, and certification programs, to help project managers and sponsors improve their skills and knowledge.

2. Agile Alliance - This organization provides resources and guidance on Agile methodologies, including best practices for working with sponsors in Agile environments.

3. The Digital Project Manager’s Online Community - This online community has project management articles, templates, and forums where you can get expert guidance and insights on working with project sponsors.

4. Harvard Business Review - HBR publishes articles and case studies on leadership and project management, including the role of project sponsors.

5. Scrum Alliance - This organization offers resources and certification programs focused on Scrum, an Agile framework, and provides guidance on the role of sponsors in Scrum projects.

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