Sponsorship and Leadership
Question 1: Do you have sufficient business sponsorship & leadership?
Good Practice Senior business sponsors should be identified at the highest possible level in the organisation, and named in the Project Definition document.
A Steering Committee must be set up and become operational from the beginning of the project. The Steering Committee is responsible for taking all key decisions about the project and should be composed of senior managers from the business.
The Chairman of the Steering Committee has ultimate responsibility for the project. The Project Manager leads the project on a day-to-day basis and is fully accountable for delivering the project described in the Project Definition document.
In his article "Six Ways to Give Proper Project Leadership" 
Dr. Keith Mathis offers this advice:
- Create an atmosphere of trust.
- Build the right team.
- Spell everything out for your team upfront.
- Monitor and give feedback.
- Keep communication open.
- Keep the end goal clearly in mind.
Common Mistakes
- Much time and money is wasted on projects that do not have sufficient sponsorship, commitment or leadership to succeed.
- Hoping that people who do not commit early on will find time later.
- Project sponsor not involved from the start to eventual hand-over of the project.
Notes: Before you start your project, find a committed project sponsor who has sufficient clout in your organisation. Your project sponsor will prove invaluable in helping you overcome organisational roadblocks as they arise.