Sponsor a project or programme

The purpose of this competency is to achieve the goals of sponsorship through the sponsorship process, i.e. to:

  • provide ownership of the business case;
  • act as champion for the objectives of the project or programme;
  • make go/no go decisions at relevant points in the life cycle;
  • address matters outside the scope of the manager’s authority;
  • oversee assurance;
  • give ad-hoc support the management team.

Performance criteria

You must be able to:

  1. communicate the objectives of the project or programme
  2. oversee the creation of the management team
  3. motivate and support the management team
  4. influence stakeholders
  5. resolve issues outside the manager’s control
  6. make informed decisions about whether the work should be continued or closed
  7. ensure the work is being managed effectively
  8. assure the quality of the process

Not everyone who needs to be competent in sponsorship is called a sponsor. For example, a programme manager may act as sponsor to some of a programme’s component projects.

The worst situation for any project, programme or portfolio is that someone has the title ‘Sponsor’ but does not have the skill or time to exhibit this competency.

Since the assurance of P3 management is a responsibility of the sponsor, it may seem odd that this competency includes assurance of sponsorship. It implies the sponsor is assuring themselves.

This criterion applies primarily to the situation where a programme or portfolio sponsor needs to assure the sponsorship of component projects or programmes.

Knowledge and understanding

You need to know and understand:

  1. the goals of the process
  2. the typical activities that make up the process
  3. the context of the work and its impact on the process
  4. how to assure effective governance
  5. how to lead, motivate and influence team members and stakeholders
  6. the principles of project and programme delivery
  7. a life cycle based process for the management of projects and programmes


No history has been recorded.

Sponsor a project or programme

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