Sponsors Education – An elephant in the boardroom or a fantastic opportunity for forward thinking boards to develop their executives in a core competency of great sponsorship. Are the following familiar themes, from the uneducated sponsor:
- Tend to manage not lead the project, directive style is used the most
- Move the goal posts and then wonder why the team fail to score the goals
- Use the Helicopter to drop in and out of the project and usually becomes a disrupter
- Don’t know the different styles of leadership required between BAU and being a Sponsor in a major change programme.
Project Management professionals are well educated in what good Sponsorship looks like, but still fail to give the Sponsor community the education / tools to do the job. Project teams complain constantly that they (Sponsors and Owners) don’t have the right skills, that they aren’t aware of the methods and styles required to lead projects correctly, but have we ever collectively educated Sponsors to give them the right education on being a competent sponsor?….I for one think we’ve missed a trick and need to help senior teams understand their roles and responsibilities better……excellent sponsors make projects and change a pleasure, not a chore… We can offer support if you’re in the middle of change and the Sponsor needs support…..
