A Memo to Project Sponsors…On Behalf of Your Senior Project Manager
“I am out here for you. You don’t know what it’s like to be ME out here for YOU. It is an up-at-dawn, pride-swallowing siege that I will never fully tell you about, ok?” -Jerry Maguire to Rod Tidwell, (Jerry Maguire, 1996)
So, it’s a bit dramatic; however, at some point, every seasoned Project Manager must find themselves muttering similar sentiments.
A memo to Project Sponsors, on behalf of your Sr. Project Manager…
Top performing Project Managers WANT to be responsible for driving your critical projects through to completion on time and within budget. They’re a highly accountable lot. It’s in their DNA. Truth be told, it’s also in their job description.
Experienced Project Managers do their best to ensure a solid foundation for success. They strive to understand business objectives and requirements. They diligently weigh a scope-of-work against timelines, resources and budgets. If everything is in order, they commit to you, “yes, we can make this happen”.
So what five scenarios can leave your Sr. Project Manager mumbling Maguire’s words, “I don’t believe this. How’d I get myself into this”?
- Support from the Project Sponsor wanes or the Project Sponsor departs altogether
- The Project Sponsor ends-up having minimal ability to influence the organization
- Scope-of-work changes but timelines, resources and budgets remains the same
- Promised resources are unavailable when needed or reallocated mid-project
- Budget was never fully approved or is redirected during the course of project delivery
As a Project Sponsor, please simply keep these five scenarios in mind if you want to keep your best Project Managers most effective. On behalf of your Sr. Project Manager, “Help me…help you. Help me, help you”.
