Comments on The Strategic Sourceror: Building your Strategic Sourcing Project Team – Pa...

Thanks for the response.I don't know how easy it i...

2009-01-22T17:30:00.000-05:00

Thanks for the response.

I don't know how easy it is to find such a person with neutral bias (and acting as a mediator between departments).

The sponsor is a stakeholder (I've published an article once called a special stakeholder, the project sponsor), and thus is biased, whether to the company, to the employees, to his personal interests. My point is that what you're describing is an ideal Project Sponsor, someone that actually cares, and someone who is there when there are problems, and who's there to solve those problems.

You might be lucky in smaller companies to have someone who's ideal, but in bigger companies, politics is always a factor, and even the best project sponsor must observe them.

I have been meaning to circle around and expand on...

2009-01-20T17:14:00.000-05:00

I have been meaning to circle around and expand on this series of articles, I will try to do so in the near future as well as identify some further criteria for proper sponsor selection.

As for your suggestion about a conflict in the article, I do not see your point. When referring to "navigating through politics" I am suggesting that a good strategic sourcing project sponsor should be able to overcome any political or cross-departmental issues that may (and will) come-up during the course of the sourcing initiative. This can only be accomplished by someone that has the ability to express the overall company goals of a project and overcome individual objections that arise from business units and departments. This is accomplished by a true understanding of the “end game” as well as a solid understanding of any individual objections or road-blocks that come up during the course of the project.
Sure, a sponsor may need to make some concessions that may slightly modify the original path or project plan, but the end goal of the sourcing initiative should remain relatively consistent. This will often mean that the sponsor has to have “no fear” in dealing with objections (or stepping on toes) as long as their decisions are fact based, and non-emotionally driven and support the overall goals of the initiative.

About the selection process of the sponsor, how do...

2009-01-20T16:58:00.000-05:00

About the selection process of the sponsor, how do you make it without involving a lot of politics in the process, as the sponsor is critical to the success of the project.

There's a conflict also within the article itself, the article states that the Project Sponsor must be able to navigate through politics, while at the same time, step on the toes of those around him/her (if needed). How do you explain?