Databases Reference
In-Depth Information
Unfortunately, the executive business sponsor role is often viewed only as
the person who can authorize project funding. The sponsor's responsibilities
stretch far beyond funding a project; they continue throughout the entire life of
the project. One of the sponsor's major contributions to the project is political
clout. If the project is important to senior staff, then others will take notice.
This support needs to be highly visible. The sponsor should set the stage
and share his or her expectations and commitment to the project at the project
kick-off meeting. It is important to have critical project communications sent
through the office of this person, and have the help of his or her administrative
assistant to schedule meetings and set up design reviews. It never ceases to
amaze me how a project team can struggle to get on someone's calendar for
weeks, but when the request comes from the executive sponsor's office, a
meeting can be arranged this week!
The project team members all work hard to keep the project moving forward
in a timely manner, and often this happens without direct intervention from
the sponsor. This level of interaction between the individual team members
and the sponsor is often minimal. Most of the interaction is through the
business champion
, whose role is described later in this chapter. The partnership
is developed through efficient communication and regular briefings. When
things are running smoothly, regular briefings are all that is required to keep
the sponsor informed. When problems arise, the team must be able to rely
on the sponsor's help. The most common tasks requiring help from the
executive business sponsor include the following:
Gaining the cooperation of others within the business community
Ensuring that the data warehouse project priority is set high enough that
business team members are not assigned to other projects and have no
time left for this project
Preventing the team from losing project focus
Running interference in the corporate culture to keep the team from
getting bogged down in organizational politics
Garnering appropriate business resources and ensuring that they devote
the needed attention to the project
If the executive business sponsor stays informed, these issues will not
be a surprise. As members of senior staff, executive business sponsors are
well informed of the organization's current priorities, which enables them
to help fight for the data warehouse. If something else has taken a higher
priority, then the sponsor can explain this to the project team and assist in
adjusting expectations across the organization. The sponsor can also assist
in the development of a new schedule for the project if necessary.
Other staff members should be cultivated to share the executive business
sponsor responsibilities. Identify individuals in the organization who are
