Ensure project ownership

Projects are not objectives in themselves; they are carried out because someone wants them to be carried out and wants the results. The project sponsor represents this someone – the owner.

Ownership usually needs to be represented throughout the lifecycle of a project and not only in the beginning. Some think that sponsorship is just work authorization, signing contracts, funding the project and deciding to go or not go on to the next phase. These are key formal key tasks, but there is more. Our definition of sponsorship is a commitment by management to define, defend and support major activities from the start to the end. ref1

It can require a substantial effort to be the owner and sponsor of a project. It may also require a special set of skills and position in the organization to take on this role. For a project manager, it is important to know who those that forms project ownership are and how to cooperate with them.

 

Ref 1: Tres Roeder, 2013, Managing Project Stakeholders, Wiley