Talking to Sponsors

A common question asked of a consultant is 'what do other organisations do?'. The accurate answer - 'it all depends...' - isn't enough. It's useful to have a framework for helping the client organisation to understand why context is so important. It also helps your engagement with the organisation by helping to surface strategic implementation concerns.
Putting the question in terms of Critical Success Factors catches the attention and starts the conversation about what do we have to do to be successful. Over the next few posts, we're going to have a look at a number of CSFs. In particular at:
- Methodology and Processes
- Project Management Expertise
- Technology Infrastructure
- Cultural Change Management
- Executive Support
It's important to understand that this list is not a menu (pick any two). They are all required to some extent. The extent will vary from organisation to organisation and depends on the level of maturity, the volume of project management activity, the goals of management, the degree of centralisation of the organisation and a host of other factors.