The role of project sponsors in defining and realising project benefits

Project sponsors are charged with championing projects in organisations to create value in line with organisational strategy. Analysis of project benefits management enables the business to understand opportunities for improvement and provide a theoretical understanding of the issues faced when large public sector organisations implement the sponsor role. The study examines how the sponsor defines project benefits, aligns them with organisational strategy and ensures they are delivered. The paper presents the results of a Case study involving a major public sector organisation in the United Kingdom with qualitative data collection through interviews with 14 sponsors across the business. The results show that the sponsor’s role is to define, manage and deliver project benefits in line with an organisations strategy. It also confirms that sponsors must be empowered and held to account in order to create meaningful value for an organisation. No business can survive without creating value for customers, and therefore project sponsorship is an essential function of organisations. Even though the research is based on one case study organisation, the result is applicable to other large client organisations, government departments and local authorities in an attempt to improve their sponsorship functions.