Our Industry Insights

Throughout my career, I have been involved in hundreds of business and IT projects and, each year, there are about 6 to 8 projects which I am intimately involved. I’m often asked by clients and peers alike, “What is the key to a successful business and IT project?” I think that’s a question that a lot of people hear whether they are intimately involved in a project or on the outside looking in.

However, while business and IT projects are complex by nature, I believe that there are many key factors to a successful project, I’m here to talk about one very critical key to success and that is the role of an Executive Sponsor (ES). In the role of an ES, an executive-level manager interacts with the project team leader and acts as liaison with other executive staff members taking high-level responsibility to champion, guide and monitor a project.

While an effective ES won’t guarantee success, it is almost, without question that a project without one, will fail to meet expectations or will fall into the category of a failed project. My experience has been almost exclusively with mid-tier organizations ($200M to $2B in revenue) and fast growing firms. Typical projects are 6 to 12 months in duration with project teams ranging from 8 to 50 resources.

ES “Do’s”:

There are several “do’s” for an ES to be successful when engaging a project.

• One Executive Sponsor (ES)– only one cook in the kitchen, so-to-speak. A co-ES or no ES doesn’t work. The ES should have a clear vision of where they want to take the business and why. The ES must be able to effectively and relentlessly communicate their vision to the team and how the project at hand supports the business goals.ES “Don’ts”
• Timely decision making –the ES takes ownership and makes critical decisions when needed but also knows when to get group consensus. Management by committee and/or an ES who won’t make key decisions due to lack of risk tolerance are recipes for failure.
• Success or failure is due to ‘We’– the team sinks or swims as a team and the ES is part of that team. An effective ES understands that challenges will arise in a project. When a project experiences a trouble spot (and all projects will), the ES needs to focus on problem resolution rather than going on a witch hunt to assign blame. The success and/or shortcomings are shared as a team.

And conversely there are several “don’ts” that should be considered when engaging a project.

An analogy I like to use in an industry, which most of us have some direct experience in, is building and/or renovating a house. Imagine the impact to the timeline and cost for the renovation of a house if the following situation existed:

• co-ES - Wife and Husband are not on the same page – most decisions which need to be made during the renovation are painful and are often revisited. There is no clear point person, thus the communication channel and results are inconsistent.I think you get my point. In my opinion, typically the ES fails to meet expectations because they don’t fully understand the role and/or the role of the ES changes after the project is kicked off.
• Placing blame- Pointing of fingers by the ES or co-ES occurs often throughout the project as the search for blame becomes the focus rather than attention to the resolution. The renovation project becomes very emotional and confrontational as progress slows and the deadline and costs are exceeded.

During a 12 month project, it is guaranteed that several strategic issues will arise which will distract the ES [e.g. large new business pursuit, a business crisis, an acquisition of a company, critical customer service issues, etc.] These are examples why an ES may not be able to keep their commitment. Additionally, before a project begins, the biggest gap in role expectation typically is between the Project Manager (PM) and the ES with regard to the role of the ES. It is not unusual for the ES to believe that their role is limited to weekly status and monthly steering committee meetings. Or in other words, as critical issues arise, the ES views their role as listening and participating during meetings. In between meetings, the ES typically doesn’t anticipate or schedule time that will be needed from them in order to keep the project on track and ultimately deliver a successful project. The ES needs to remain active throughout the project – and be ready to roll up his or her sleeves when needed.

So how can we improve the role of the Executive Sponsors on your next project? Here’s one suggestion which I believe all Project Managers should execute:

Sign a Service Level Agreement (SLA) between the PM and the ES. An official agreement, in writing, between the PM and ES regarding the role of the ES. This includes a clear definition of role, time commitment, expectations, escalation and contingency plan if the ES is unable to fulfill their commitment.

Bottom line – don’t start or continue a project without an effective ES on the team.