The Role Of The Project Sponsor Training Courses

Project Sponsorship is vital to the successful implementation of any project or programme and the nature of the role must be fully understood before it can be effectively practised.  It has been widely recognised (by the National Audit Office, the Office for Government Commerce and others) that a lack of both a clear link between the organisation’s projects and programmes and key strategic priorities and clear senior management ownership and leadership are common causes of many failures.  Within most organisations, governance and sponsorship arrangements are unclear and, even if they are prescribed through a definitive framework, they are usually implemented in differing practical ways.

This one day Project Management Sponsor course uses self evaluation, syndicate work, plenary discussion and personal reflection to identify how participants can maximise their effectiveness as a project sponsor.

Course Dates

* denotes Special Web Price

The Role of the Project Sponsor Course Outline

Printable version of the The Role of the Sponsor Course Outline

Learning Objectives

By the end of the course, delegates will:

• Critically evaluate their understanding and approach to project sponsorship against the recommendations of the National Audit Office of
• Government Commerce, identifying strengths and weaknesses and understand the nature of an ‘Intelligent Client’
• Discuss the different levels of Sponsorship with an organisation
• Develop and discuss the role of the project sponsor in project governance and escalation
• Develop criteria to assess the need for the termination of projects and programmes

Examination Structure

Not applicable

Materials 

Delegates will receive:  

• Pre-course study pack 
• Course manual 

Who Should Attend/Pre-requisites

The event is designed for specifically those in a senior position in their organisation, where they are responsible for sponsoring projects or in a role where they come into contact with those in a sponsorship environment. Attendance by groups each representing a different facet of the senior management group of the organisation may benefit in attending as a group to obtain maximum benefit, collectively understanding the different roles and responsibilities in a sponsorship environment.

Topics Covered - 1 Day

This highly interactive and participative course covers the following areas:

• Module 1: Role of an Effective Sponsor
  • Critically evaluate the approach to project sponsorship against the recommendations of the National Audit Office and the Office of Government
  • Commerce, identifying delegates own strengths and weaknesses.
  • Assess the nature of project sponsorship
  • Evaluate the recommendations of the National Audit Office and Office of Government Commerce relating to sponsorship best practice
  • Examine the specific responsibilities of the sponsor and the other roles on a project or programme
  • Identify the benefits of acting as an ‘intelligent client’ and the importance of this role to project success
  • Identify any areas needing significant improvement in their own involvement as a project sponsor
• Module 2: Behaviours and Competencies of an Effective Sponsor
  • Discuss the different levels of sponsorship within major organisations; identify the impact of their own preferred sponsorship style on project performance and any changes in sponsorship behaviour they should consider to improve their effectiveness as a sponsor
  • Discuss the different potential levels of projects and programmes and the varying forms of sponsorship required for each
  • Evaluate their own personal sponsorship attributes and the impact on the performance of the project or programme
  • Identify modifications in sponsorship behaviour that they could make to improve the performance of the project or programme
• Module 3: Benefits Management
  • Evaluate the effectiveness of benefits definition, tracking and realisation within their programmes, to ensure their projects and programmes produce tangible results which are of benefit to their operations and customers
  • Review the role of benefits definition and management, comparing the approach to the recommendations of the Office of Government Commerce
  • Evaluate best practice approaches to benefits management
  • Develop actions to improve the definition, tracking and realisation of benefits from their projects and programmes
• Module 4: Risk
  • Define and implement actions to optimise the evaluation of project risk in the early phases of project development
  • Explore the root cause of risk in major projects based on historic performance
  • Evaluate and manage the uncertainty associated with the shaping of the project before the project team is mobilised