Project Failure Source 1 - Project Champion

Note: This posting is a continuation to the topic posted on June 24th and relates to my project management workshop titled "10 Ways to Increase Your Project's Success".  In this post I discuss one of the sources of project failure and how we may mitigate this risk to our projects.

Source 1 - Project Champion

The project champion is the strategic or executive-level project stakeholder supporting the project.  The project champion buys into the project benefits and is willing to help the project team clear hurdles, obtain the required resources, and navigate the political environment at higher levels of management.  The issue with the project champion is not with the individual themselves but rather the absence of a project champion.  A project may be left without a project champion if a champion is not assigned early on in the project lifecycle, if the champion leaves the firm, or if the champion loses interest in the project.

Effect on the Project

Without a project champion, the project is at risk for securing or retaining the needed funding, human resources, and other project resources.  The project may not be able to maintain the resources needed and fall behind or may be cancelled altogether.  The absence of a project champion may also result delays due to challenges in obtaining approvals and achieving cooperation from the organizational units and layers of management within the organization.

Actions Taken by the Project Manager

The project manager can proactively ensure a project champion exists by insisting the organization follow a project management methodology where a project champion is assigned before the project is approved.  The early assignment of a project champion is also beneficial to the project evaluation process to ensure organizational support exists for the project and the support is sufficient to ensure the project gains the resources needed to succeed.  Also, the project manager should sell the project to the current champion to ensure the champion stays engaged and supports the project.  The selling of the project to executives also increases support beyond a single champion and allows other champions to emerge in the event the current champion leaves the organization.

Addressing the risk of losing a project champion increases the project's success by securing executive or strategic support to ensure resources are available as they are needed.

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