Meeting Topic

Topic from May 2008:
Date:	Tuesday - May 20, 2008
Topic:	Project Management Isn't Enough: Essentials of Effective Sponsorship
Speaker:	Payson Hall

Abstract

Project Management Isn't Enough: Essentials of Effective Sponsorship

Project management folklore (and PM product vendors) assure us that abundant spending on project management training and tools guarantees project success. Real world results often disagree.

While most organizations recognize a return on past investments in project management, many remain frustrated by projects that exceed schedule or resource goals, don't deliver promised functionality or acceptable quality products, or fail outright.

Was the whole "PM thing" more hype than substance? Has the ROI peaked? Will the next tool, method, process, or class solve the problem?

During this talk, Payson will argue that:
   - Some projects cannot succeed as defined no matter how well they are managed, and
   - Effective project management is necessary, but insufficient for supporting informed executive decision-making

Payson asserts that there are limits to what project management practices can do for an organization without effective sponsorship. Sponsors establish project goals and organizational priorities, setting a context for project management. Sponsorship is essential for project success... yet poorly understood in some quarters and often difficult to secure.

This talk is for project managers sponsoring executives provides practical insights to improving organizational success through better sponsorship by:
   - Defining the Sponsor's role and why it is essential
   - Explaining how to request and encourage good sponsorship
   - Exploring how effective sponsorship encourages more realistic expectations and better business decisions

About the Speaker

Payson Hall is a consulting project manager and founding member of Catalysis Group, Inc. Trained as a software engineer, Payson has performed and consulted on a variety of hardware and software systems integration projects in both the public and private sectors throughout North America and Europe during his 25-year professional career. His consulting clients have included the State of California, Hewlett Packard, Motorola, IBM, Agilent, Citibank, the State of New York, the Defense Communications Agency, and a number of smaller public and private sector organizations.

He is a valued member of many project consulting and project review teams because of his combination of IT project management experience, problem solving skill and communication ability. He has taught project management seminars attended by over 5000 people during the past 15 years. He is a popular conference speaker on topics of systems integration, project management, and risk management and has published over 60 project management articles in publications as diverse as PM Network, Computerworld, The Cutter IT Journal, and the Journal of the Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts of India.