Necessity of Involvement of Top Management and Project Sponsors in the Project Management Process

The role of top management and project sponsors is absolutely vital for the success of any project. The project manager must ensure their active involvement in every stage of the project so that they can add real value to the project and seriously contribute for its success. Especially in all sorts of decision making process, their involvement in a proper and timely manner must be ascertained.

Before starting any project, the job of project planning, scheduling and project costing must be done in an efficient manner. The project manager must sit together with the top management and project sponsors in order to get their suggestions and recommendations so that the whole planning process becomes successful. Specifically in budgeting and scheduling, their opinions must be given proper value. Otherwise, in case of necessity, they will not come forward to assist the project manager so that he/she can get out any disastrous situation that will lead the project towards ultimate failure.

Again, the project sponsors should comprehend the full scope of the project, both from technical and business point of view. The sponsors must be knowledgeable about the progress and obstacles of the project timely and regularly so that they can act effectively whenever necessary. They must render their helping hand to the project manager which may boost his/her confidence and this will make him/her capable of contributing significantly for the success of the project.

The top management or project sponsors can assist the project manager in many different ways. For example, they can make sure about the availability of necessary resources in a proper and timely manner. In certain cases when the budget is running down, they can ensure the availability of necessary funds for the smooth progress of the project. Whenever the project manager feels that the complete project will not be finished within the deadline set previously, he/she can start discussing with the top management or project sponsors and try to make them convinced about the necessity of increasing the deadline. Their participation and overall support is really crucial to make the project a successful one.

The business owners or project sponsors must be proactive and always make sure about backing the project manager’s decision even publicly. This will establish the authority of the project manager regarding the issues like making decisions about hiring appropriate staff. This sort of authority is absolutely vital to maintain discipline between the team members. All should keep in mind that it is the project manager who is ultimately responsible for the success or failure of the project, so his/her authority must be properly established in the project.

Risks are common in every project. The success of any project totally depends on how efficiently these risks are handled. Proper risk management always requires top management support. They must acknowledge the reality of these risks properly and must assist the project manager so that he/she can make effective steps to minimize the effects of these risks on the project.

In some cases, it is also seen that the top management or business owners, sometimes even the project sponsors poke their nose in every single matter which ultimately hampers the smooth progress of the project. The project manager must come forward in this regard and sincerely try to convince them so that they can rely totally on him/her for the success of the project. The project manager will have to take their ideas and suggestions, but must limit their involvement in project activities.

In my project management career, I always tried my best to ensure the total participation of the top management and project sponsors in major decision-making processes, which always ensured my confidence regarding running the project activities in a successful manner. Whenever I felt necessary, I always consulted with them and informed them about any serious issue, and their suggestion and ideas always helped me to proceed in a confident manner. I always believed that the proper communication with them and their participation would make me free of tension.

Hence, it can be concluded by stating that the project manager must make all sorts of major decisions regarding a project after informing the top management and project sponsors in an appropriate manner. It is only the active participation of business owners and project sponsors that can guarantee a project’s success. That is why, the project manager must give proper heed in this regard and try his/her level best to involve them in the project.

Stakeholder Management Processes and Pointers

When it comes to projects, there will always be those who’re more invested, excited and prepared than others. Regardless of your situation, some of the greatest assets and liabilities which will be evident throughout your project will be the other stakeholders involved. Management of these personnel will either make or break the project with which you will be involved.

Stakeholder management involves several key components many of which often come naturally in any business or project decision. However, the mapping of processes–like what occurs in nearly any project–will help to clarify the who, what when, where, why and how of the project so as to ensure more rapid success.

Identify and Connect

Finding the stakeholders is very difficult, but you’ll almost never be able to find that for which you are unaware. Mapping out your stakeholders includes time for identifying those who’ll be most desperately needed for your project. Sometimes those involves will seem to have little involvement at the outset, but their decisions will have lasting effects down the road.

Once you have identified key management and input personnel, it is essential that such individuals are not only contacted but brought in for initial discussions and preparation for the project. During this project planning process, you may find some individuals will become frustrated or even annoyed, but understanding who each stakeholder is and what they bring to the table along with where they fit in the value chain will be of utmost importance. In many cases, it helps to identify who the emergency contact is during critical moments through the project timeline. If nothing else, this gives you a pulse on who to call when something goes wrong, for things certainly will.

Mapping

Project mapping can often be treated lightly, but once you have key stakeholders in place, a lack of mapping can take key individuals off track from the original goal. Creating and informing key individuals of your project’s map will be extremely helpful for ensuring the project goes off without a hitch.

Monitoring and Review

When progress is measured, it improves. When progress is measured and reported back, the rate of improvement increases.

Feedback for each stakeholder not only allows for improvement, but also gives a way for you as the manager to see where holes may occur in your current processes. While monitoring and project review can often seem mundane and sometimes progress is slow, not doing so ensures that almost nothing will be done to improve or change over the course of time.

Your projects may prove difficult, but ignoring the stakeholders could be the most detrimental toward the success of your endeavor. Get them involved early and often and keep them in the loop for key milestones. You’ll be glad you did.