ABSTRACT
Initiating and planning are the starting points of a relationship with an executive project sponsor. When the project manager works to acquire resources for the project team, the focus should be given to evaluate the main known factors driving project success. The limited currency a project manager has to influence, cajole, and intimidate resource managers to assign resources should be spent first on the greatest risk and second on the key tasks that drive project success. An ad hoc resource, that happens to be working in the riskiest portion of the project endeavor, will not feel the same love and attention. The sponsor of a project is often an executive requestor seeking a change from the current state. A project champion is the respected, evangelical force selling the organization’s stakeholders on the need to change the current state and is highly engaged in the project’s activities to provide guidance and set the tone for the endeavor.
