Organizations thrive; in fact survive, by transforming viable ideas into fully operational services and products in a timely and cost effective manner – it is imperative that they learn to run projects successfully. However,
“…25% of IT projects fail and 45% are challenged – delivered late, considerably over budget, and don’t deliver the promised value…” Center for Project Management Project Management™ research, January 15, 2007.
The primary reason for the high rate of project failure is the chronic lack of effective business sponsorship. Far too many business executives are guided by a strongly held, but misplaced, belief that project management is a tactical process that can be relegated to IT professionals and their software. This would be true if teams were staffed with robots, if there were no hidden agendas, if scope did not creep, and if priorities stayed stable. Reality, however, is not that kind.
Learning Objectives:
- The importance of effective business sponsorship for project success
- The role and responsibilities of a sponsor
- Action plan towards becoming an effective sponsor
Skill Level: For Everyone
|
Gopal Kapur
Founder and President
Center for Project Management
Gopal K. Kapur, founder and president of the Center for Project Management consults, writes and educates in both the public and private sector as a noted authority on business and project management. Since 1975, Mr. Kapur has been developing innovative strategies for providing management solutions to organizations of all sizes and disciplines, which not only help meet the challenges of today’s evolving business landscape, but address the changes imperative to organizational longevity.
Through consultation at every level of an organization, Mr. Kapur empowers individuals to achieve optimum performance. Mr. Kapur’s unique rapport with all echelons of corporate players, from the CEO to the end user, has armed him with the insight necessary to provide practical solutions to a wide variety of management problems. Many Fortune 500 companies have adopted Kapur’s highly successful Project Process Architecture (PPA). PPA provides a practical strategy for managing portfolios, programs, and projects to success.
He has lectured at the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, Commonwealth Club, the National Press Club, University of California (Berkeley, Riverside, and Davis), and the Brookings Institution. His keynote addresses and speeches have won him prestigious awards, both in the United States and abroad. He was honored as “Best Speaker” at Harvard University (Kennedy School of Government), Project Management Institute’s international conferences (San Diego, Vancouver, and Toronto), and Technology Leadership Conferences.
His highly acclaimed third book, “Project Management for Information, Technology, Business, and Certification,” was published by Prentice Hall. He also authored two computer-programming textbooks (IBM 360 Assembler Language Programming, John Wiley & Sons, Programming in Standard COBOL, SRA, Inc.). Mr. Kapur’s articles have appeared in management and technology publications worldwide. His white papers and research are utilized by leading consulting bodies: Gartner Group, Forrester Group, CIO magazine, CIO Insight, and Computerworld. He has recorded several segments of Gartner Group’s Talking Technology including the highly popular Seven Deadly Sins of Project Management, and the CXO radio. Mr. Kapur authored the monthly column, ProjectExpert, for CIO Decisions.
Mr. Kapur graduated summa cum laude (Gold Medal) with a diploma in Civil Engineering from the Thapar Institute of Engineering & Technology, India. He was awarded the Distinguished Achievement Award for his contributions to education by the President of India. Mr. Kapur is a member of the Harvard Policy Group, Project Management Institute, Rotary Club, and served as a trustee for the Charles Babbage Foundation.
His hobbies are card magic and cooking, which he uses to raise funds for various charities. His monthly food column appears in the Roseville Press-Tribune, Granite Bay Press-tribune, and Placer Herald. |
