The Elusive Executive Sponsor

business programs alone. IT can rarely push a business program through a corporation successfully, however. The majority of these programs are doomed to failure and should be canceled before they waste precious funding.
• He isn't supporting the program for political reasons. If you believe that the executive is posturing or is afraid of his peers' reactions, call his bluff by threatening to cancel the program. You will quickly discover whether the objections are genuine.
• He faces personal challenges. If an executive is close to retirement or facing personal difficulties such as a divorce or serious illness, he may not want to take on another major, multiyear challenge. In these cases, it's best to wait until the crisis has passed or the executive has been replaced.
• He lacks the requisite experience. The executive may not fully understand the responsibilities of an executive sponsor, or he may feel that his expertise is insufficient. Offer to supply the appropriate project management skills in return for his financial and political support of the program. This can be advantageous to IT because it ensures that the project manager will understand the IT side of the business.
An involved and committed executive sponsor is critical to program success. There's old joke that at a bacon-and-eggs breakfast, the chicken is involved, but the pig is committed. A good executive sponsor must be both. If he is involved but not committed, you will get lip-service support at best. If he is committed but not sufficiently involved, the program will suffer and probably fail.
Don't pursue a path that is doomed from the start. Do everything possible to acquire the necessary executive support for major programs upfront. Without the leverage provided by an effective executive sponsor, you might as well cancel the program and invest your dollars more wisely elsewhere.
Bart Perkins is managing partner at Louisville, Ky.-based Leverage Partners Inc., which helps organizations invest well in IT. He was previously CIO at Tricon Global Restaurants Inc. and Dole Food Co. Contact him at BartPerkins@LeveragePartners.com.

Read more about project management in Computerworld's Project Management Knowledge Center.