Explain Stakeholder Sponsorship in Project Management?

The relationship between the project manager and sponsor is a partnership. The sponsor is responsible for creating an environment in which the project can operate successfully. The project manager is responsible for implementing that successful operation. The partnership is facilitated by an agreement between the project manager and sponsor on project expected results—they must agree explicitly on this point.

The sponsor must invest enough time to understand the project details—he or she not only initiates a project with an “idea,” but also spends the required time during the Initiation phase to ensure that idea is turned into a viable project. Initiating a project requires investing corporate capital, and there are responsibilities a sponsor takes on to ensure that investment yields a solid return. It is the project manager's responsibility to ensure the sponsor understands an enough level of detail about both the managerial and developmental aspects of the project in order to be effective in providing guidance, resources, and advocacy. This is the project manager's investment in the partnership.