The one most important relationship to any project manager is the relationship with the project sponsor. The sponsor provides the direction, budget, and executive support. A poor or combative relationship with this person can be a disaster for any project.

• Why are these relationships so often difficult?

• What can a project manager do to improve that relationship?

There is no single, easy answer to these questions. This one-hour web seminar will provide solutions based on real-life stories. Project sponsors and project managers can and should work well together. They want to meet the same goals, and this session will help you find out how to improve your relationship with your project sponsor.

This session will be a one-hour web seminar. Attendees will be able to ask questions and interact with the presenter. Bring your toughest questions and your most difficult change control problems. We will work on them together in this interactive session.

Learning Objectives

• Be able to list at least three strategies to deal with a difficult person

• Understand your own default or automatic response when dealing with difficult people

• List common sources of conflict between a project sponsor and a project manager

• Understand why respectful conflict between sponsors and project managers is healthy for the project, the sponsor, and the project manager

• Teacher: Alex Brown, PMP IPMA-C