The Unresponsive Project Sponsor – Part II

Preparing to meet with the sponsor

Reach Part I of our story.

Abigail wanted to be careful about how she approached the sponsor, Sarah. She needed her assistance on the project but also realized that Sarah was quite busy and did have other initiatives in progress. She wanted to be sure she was prepared for the conversation and took only a limited amount of Sarah’s time.

She reached out to Jonathan and asked his support in arranging a brief 30 minute meeting with Sarah at her convenience. Jonathan helped her out and asked her about meeting with Sarah prior to 9:00 AM. That worked for Abigail. Now…she needed to prepare.

First, there was some essential information Abigail needed to better understand the project:

• Background information about the 3 site locations (traffic, competition and other stores in the area, etc.)
• Retail store square footage and products to be sold (there were 3 different retail store footprints and different products sold depending on location)
• Expected timeline for a grand opening of the retail store

She also wanted to let Sarah know that she relied on her for some key support:

• Assisting in “breaking through” any barriers that may arise
• Helping to secure resources (team members) for the project
• Providing budget monies to ensure a successful initiative

(See the article, Hey Project Sponsor, We Need Your Help Please for more responsibilities of project sponsors.)

Abigail wanted to meet with Sarah once a month to report on project status. She preferred an in-person meeting but was willing to settle for a teleconference if necessary.

She sent an email to Jonathan with the information she needed during their upcoming meeting. Abigail felt it important to provide these questions to Sarah prior so that she could get responses during the meeting.

Abigail felt prepared and confident about the upcoming meeting.

Part III: The meeting with the sponsor