Assurance.... next on the agenda?

Has sponsorship or assurance grown in importance in your organisation? I ask because we're seeing a significant demand for sponsorship training from senior managers as their perception of the importance of project management grows. Up until a few months ago, training for members of the project board was organized by those managing the projects who felt that they were not getting the support they needed. Concerns by project managers included senior managers failing to keep up to date with the progress of the projects they are responsible for or not prepared to take the tough decisions during the life of the project as issues and risks demand attention.

Now we are seeing demand from managers who recognise that they must give their projects serious attention. The financial environment means that all organisations are keen to control expenditure. Projects are a source of discretionary spend and it seems senior managers have decided to find out how to get control and start governing this work.

In predicting trends in PPM the next logical step would be an increased interest in project assurance. After all, effective sponsorship means knowing if the project team are doing the right things in the right way, but few organisations have the funding for internal assurance services so, as the pressure increases to ensure project delivery is timely and appropriate, focusing on assurance would seem likely.

BTW, thanks to all who attended the briefing on Friday 12th - it was a great session! If you missed it, check out our new schedule and join us.