Lost Your Project Champion
Lost Your Project Sponsor or Champion, Now What?
Given the immediately unempathetic attitude of the new project manager who has been assigned to the project after the untimely passing of the previous project manager, it's imperative to not be pushed back into a figurative corner about the projects' status and perception on his part of wasted resources. Instead, it is imperative to first re-phrase the project from their perspective and as quickly as possible, get them to identify with and internalize the goals of the project. This is best managed through a series of sessions with the new project manager where their insights and guidance are asked for and acted upon in addition to working to get the projects' goals adopted by the new manager. What is also needed is a thorough review of what has gone well on the project, including those functional teams that are ahead of schedule, those that are struggling and why, and how the lapse in schedule due to the passing of the previous manager has influenced the overall schedule. In terms of the broader expectations of the organization, and those internal constituents or "customers" of the project may also grant additional time for the new project manager to get up to speed, getting the project under control in the process. This is often the case with larger projects where a project lead passes away. There is a period of time given to allow for people on the project teams to get back to their previous working pace, and to grieve over the loss of the leader. In rare circumstances, this is not provided, yet in the majority of projects there are a week or two given to grieve the loss of the manager and get a new one in place. Throughout this transition period it is critical for the project team to get the new manager focused on attaining a high level of goal ownership on the project as quickly as possible so the new manager will see progress as personal as well as a group accomplishment. Ownership on the part of the new manager is crucial.
