Securing a sponsor at the
executive management level is critical to the success of information
Governance (IG) programs. An executive must be on board and supporting
the effort in order to garner the resources needed to develop and
execute the strategic IG plan, and that executive must be held
accountable for the development and execution of the plan. These axioms
apply to developing and carrying out an IG strategic plan.
Also,
resources are needed—time, human capital, and budget money. The first is
a critical element: It is not possible to require managers to take time
out of their other duties to participate in a project if there is no
executive edict and consistent follow up, support, and communication.
Executive sponsorship is a key best practice. And, of course, without an
allocated budget, no program can proceed.
The higher your executive sponsor is in the organization, the better.[ii]
The implementation of an IG program may be driven by the chief
compliance officer, chief information officer (CIO), senior risk
officer, or, ideally, as the Sedona Conference and IG Initiative have
recommended, a Chief IG Officer (CIGO). The CIGO must have the mandate
and authority to drive the program forward.
But if the sponsor is
the chief executive officer (CEO), so much the better. With CEO
sponsorship come many of the key elements needed to complete a
successful project, including allocated management time, budget money,
and management focus.
It is important to bear in mind that an IG effort is truly a change management effort, in that it aims to change the structure, guidelines, and rules within which employees operate. The change must occur at the very core of the organization’s culture. It
must be embedded permanently, and for it to be, the message must be
constantly and consistently reinforced. Achieving this kind of change
requires commitment from the very highest levels of the organization.
"Executive sponsorship is critical to project success. There is no substitute. Without it, a project is at risk of failure."
If
the CEO or CIGO is not the sponsor, then another high-level executive
must lead the effort and be accountable for meeting milestones as the
program progresses. Programs with no executive sponsor or multiple
executive sponsors with competing agendas can lose momentum and focus,
especially as competing projects and programs are evaluated and
implemented. Program failure is a great risk without an executive
sponsor. Such a program likely will fade or fizzle out or be relegated
to the back burner. Without strong high-level leadership, when things go
awry, finger pointing and political games may take over, impeding
progress and cooperation.
The executive sponsor must be actively
involved, tracking program objectives and milestones on a regular,
scheduled basis and ensuring they are aligned with business objectives.
He or she must be aware of any obstacles or disputes that arise, take an
active role in resolving them, and push the program forward.
Crucial Executive Sponsor Role
The
role of an executive sponsor is high level, requiring periodic and
regular attention to the status of the program, particularly with budget
issues, staff resources, and milestone progress. The role of a program
or project manager (PM) is more detailed and day to day, tracking
specific tasks that must be executed to make progress toward milestones.
Both roles are essential. The savvy PM brings in the executive sponsor
to push things along when more authority is needed but reserves such
program capital for those issues that absolutely cannot be resolved
without executive intervention. It is best for the PM to keep the
executive sponsor fully informed but to ask for assistance only when
absolutely needed.
At the same time, the PM must manage the
relationship with the executive sponsor, perhaps with some gentle
reminders, coaxing, or prodding, to ensure that the role and tasks of
executive sponsorship are being fulfilled. “[T]he successful Project
Manager knows that if those duties are not being fulfilled, it’s time to
call a timeout and have a serious conversation with the Executive
Sponsor about the viability of the project.”[iii]
The executive sponsor serves six key purposes on a project:
- Budget. The executive sponsor ensures an adequate financial
commitment is made to see the project through and lobbies for
additional expenditures when change orders are made or cost overruns
occur.
- Planning and control. The executive sponsor sets direction and tracks accomplishment of specific, measurable business objectives.
- Decision making. The executive sponsor makes or approves crucial decisions and resolves issues that are escalated for resolution.
- Expectation Management. The executive sponsor must manage expectation, since success is quite often a stakeholder perception.
- Anticipation. Every project that is competing for resources
can run into unforeseen blockages and objections. Executive sponsors
run interference and provide political might for the PM to lead the
project to completion, through a series of milestones.
- Approvals. The executive sponsor signs off when milestones and objectives have been met.
An eager and effective executive sponsor makes all the
difference to a program—if the role is properly managed by the PM. It is
a tricky relationship, since the PM is always below the executive
sponsor in the organization’s hierarchy, yet the PM must coax the
superior into tackling certain high-level tasks. Sometimes a third-party
consultant who is an expert in the specific project can instigate and
support requests made of the sponsor and provide a solid business
rationale.[
While the executive sponsor role is high level, the PM’s role and tasks are more detailed and involve day-to-day management.
Evolving Role of the Executive Sponsor
The
role of the executive sponsor necessarily evolves and changes over the
life of the initial IG program launch, during the implementation phases,
and on through the continued IG program.
To get the program off
the ground, the executive sponsor must make a solid business case and
get adequate budgetary funding. Some costs savings as a result of the IG
program can add to the cost/benefit analysis. But an effort such as
this takes more than money; it takes time—not just time to
develop new policies and implement new technologies, but the time of the
designated PM, program leaders, and needed program team members.
In
order to get this time set aside, the IG program must be made a top
priority of the organization. It must be recognized, formalized, and
aligned with organizational objectives. All this up-front work is the
responsibility of the executive sponsor.
Once the IG program team
is formed, team members must clearly understand why the new program is
important and how it will help the organization meet its business
objectives. This message must be regularly reinforced by the executive
sponsor; he or she must not only paint the vision of the future state of
the organization but articulate the steps in the path to get there.
When
the formal program effort commences, the executive sponsor must remain
visible and accessible. They cannot disappear into everyday duties and
expect the program team to carry the effort through. The executive
sponsor must be there to help the team confront and overcome business
obstacles as they arise and must praise the successes along the way.
This requires active involvement and a willingness to spend the time to
keep the program on track and focused.
The executive sponsor must
be the lighthouse that shows the way even through cloudy skies and rough
waters. This person is the captain who must steer the ship, even if the
first mate (PM) is seasick and the deckhands (program team) are
drenched and tired.
After the program is implemented, the
executive sponsor is responsible for maintaining its effectiveness and
relevance. This is done through periodic compliance audits, testing and
sampling, and scheduled meetings with the ongoing PM.
I'd love to continue the dialogue and debate. Feel free to reach out and connect here, by email, or on Twitter.
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Robert Smallwood
is an consultant, trainer, author, and frequent speaker on IG topics.
He is Managing Director of the Institute for IG at IMERGE Consulting, at
www.IGTraining.com.
He teaches comprehensive courses on IG and E-records management for
corporate and public sector clients. Smallwood is the author of 3
leading books on Information Governance: Information Governance: Concepts, Strategies. and Best Practices (Wiley, 2014); Managing Electronic Records: Methods, Best Practices, and Technologies (Wiley, 2013); and Safeguarding Critical E-Documents (Wiley, 2012).
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[ii]
Roger Kastner, “Why Projects Succeed—Executive Sponsorship,” February
15, 2011,
http://blog.slalom.com/2011/02/15/why-projects-succeed-%E2%80%93-executive-sponsorship/
[iii] Ibid.