1.2 The project sponsor

We have explained the APM articulation of how good governance is demonstrated, however, it is less straight forward to explain how this is achieved, although clear roles and responsibilities have been highlighted. In Crawford et al. (2008) a survey across five continents with several projects or programmes based in each is described. This research is interesting because it builds on the recognition that the sponsor can be crucial to the success of a project, and it investigated the role of the sponsor and the connection between the sponsor and governance of projects. Crawford et al. make a distinction between two perspectives that may exist at the interface of the act of governing the project:

The sponsor both ensures that governance requirements are met and provides support to the project. Crawford et al. (2008) suggest the model shown in Figure 3 as a way of clarifying the role and responsibility of the project sponsor. They suggest that this clarification is needed because the sponsor’s role has informal aspects as well as formal responsibilities. The corporate and project governance define the formal aspects, and the model is intended to support the understanding of the balance of support and governance needed in the effective performance of the sponsor’s role. To identify which quadrant is applicable for a particular project the perspectives of the organisation and the project need to be considered.

Figure 3 shows a conceptual framework for examining the two perspectives in the context of the project sponsorship. The role of project sponsor is ongoing, and continued engagement with the project is likely to be essential. However, what that engagement needs to be will vary between projects, and is also likely to vary over the life cycle of a single project. The primary responsibility of the sponsor, to ensure that the project objectives are set within the business case, should not be lost in the other considerations addressed by this conceptual framework.

(Adapted from Crawford et al., 2008)

Figure 3 Model for examining the role of project sponsor in governance and in project support

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The diagram shows a framework for examining the need for governance and the need for support in the context of project sponsorship. The diagram shows four squares formed by a vertical line and a horizontal line, crossing at a mid-point. The ‘need for support’ is shown along the bottom of the diagram, with the two left-hand squares labelled ‘low’ need for support, and the two right-hand squares labelled ‘high’ need for support. The ‘need for governance’ is shown along the left-hand side of the diagram, with the two top squares labelled ‘high’ need for governance, and the two bottom squares labelled ‘low’ need for governance.

The four squares are labelled:

Top left: high governance, low support

Top right: high governance, high support

Bottom left: low governance, low support

Bottom right: low governance, high support

Model for examining the role of project sponsor in governance and in project support

It is also possible for the project sponsor to change over the lifetime of a project. For longer projects this becomes more likely, and may arise from change of staff within the organisation, or even where the strategic priority attached to a project changes so that the sponsor also changes.