Project sponsorship : an essential guide for those sponsoring projects within their organizations / David West.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

The value of project sponsorship to the organization -- Factors in the selection of the project sponsor -- Governance, reporting and management structures for the sponsorship of projects -- Health, safety and the environment -- Where projects come from : corporate strategy -- The project business case : will the project be worth it? -- Defining the project -- The players : selecting and leading the team -- Project finance -- Project commissioning and close out -- The project team -- Project planning -- Progress reporting -- Value engineering -- Risk management -- Quality management -- Commercial management -- Change control -- Stakeholder management.

The role of project sponsor is critical in large projects during the development of the business case, for governance and assurance and as the person who decides that the project should continue or close at any stage. Yet in many organizations the skills of the sponsor are often assumed; he or she will be a senior manager who may well have no practical project experience at all. David West explains the roles and skills that lie at the heart of effective sponsorship. The sponsor acts as a lynch-pin between the Board and the Project Manager, communicating and translating requirements downwards and resource needs, progress and constraints back upwards. An over-zealous sponsor may be tempted to assume some of the project manager's responsibilities, whilst an ineffective sponsor may be invisible, leaving the project manager uninformed by, and unrepresented to, the Board. Project Sponsorship includes exercises, examples and case histories from the real world of projects. It is an essential guide for anyone assuming the important role of managing the business case of the project and will help you ensure that the organization is 'doing the right things' as well as 'doing things right'.