Sponsor expectations disrupt project managers

COMMENTARY

By Crispin (“Kik”) Piney

South of France

I enjoyed the article by Yogi Schultz called “Project Manager Delusions Embarrass Project Sponsors”^[1]. I agree with the points he raises and have even taken the liberty of reusing some of his text in this article.

As “it takes two to tango”, and Yogi Schultz’s article only addresses half of the problem, I would like to present my view for the other half.

It is important to recognize that sponsors think in terms of business objectives, whereas project managers focus on delivering the specified capability as effectively as possible.

Project sponsors correctly interpret their responsibility as achieving the best possible outcomes from the initiatives for which they are responsible. Unfortunately, this well-meaning aspiration can cause sponsors to:

- Produce overly optimistic targets for time and costs.
- Underestimate the probability and impact of threats.
- Refuse to accept the detailed plans submitted by the project manager if these disagree with their own assessments.
- Ultimately blame the project manager when the corresponding failure occurs.

Excessively ambitious targets are part of the mindset of project sponsors. They frequently try to impose these targets on the managers of their projects. Project managers, unless they have the self-confidence to stick to their convictions, can easily become the passive victims of this behaviour when the projects ultimately fail. Excessively optimistic behaviours are driven by beliefs and aspirations that are disconnected from objective evidence and are resistant to reasoning. When left unaddressed, such behaviours will materially damage project outcomes, team morale, and organizational credibility. This situation is particularly prevalent in strongly hierarchical organizations.

As Yogi Schultz correctly concluded: “Recognizing and correcting these patterns is essential for improving delivery reliability, preserving professional credibility, and ensuring that projects serve strategic intent rather than collective self-deception.”

Here’s how project managers can reduce the likelihood of failure.

More…

To read entire article, click here

How to cite this work: Piney, C. (2026). Sponsor expectations disrupt project managers, commentary, PM World Journal, Vol. XV, Issue III, March. Available online at https://pmworldjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/pmwj162-Mar2026-Piney-sponsors-expectations-disrupt.pdf

About the Author

Crispin (“Kik”) Piney

France

After many years of managing international IT projects within large corporations, Kik Piney, B.Sc., PgMP is now a freelance project management consultant based in the South of France. At present, his main areas of focus are risk management, integrated Portfolio, Program and Project management, scope management and organizational maturity, as well as time and cost control. He has developed advanced training courses on these topics, which he delivers in English and in French to international audiences from various industries. In the consultancy area, he has developed and delivered a practical project management maturity analysis and action-planning consultancy package.

Kik has carried out work for PMI on the first Edition of the Organizational Project Management Maturity Model (OPM3™) as well as participating actively in fourth edition of the Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge and was also vice-chairman of the Translation Verification Committee for the Third Edition. He was a significant contributor to the second edition of both PMI’s Standard for Program Management as well as the Standard for Portfolio Management. In 2008, he was the first person in France to receive PMI’s PgMP® credential; he was also the first recipient in France of the PfMP® credential. He is co-author of PMI’s Practice Standard for Risk Management. He collaborates with David Hillson (the “Risk Doctor”) by translating his monthly risk briefings into French. He has presented at a number of recent PMI conferences and published formal papers.

Kik Piney is the author of the book Earned Benefit Program Management, Aligning, Realizing and Sustaining Strategy, published by CRC Press in 2018

Kik Piney can be contacted at kik@project-benefits.com.

To view other works by Kik Piney, visit his author showcase in the PM World Library at http://pmworldlibrary.net/authors/crispin-kik-piney/

[1] Schulz, Y. (2026). Project manager delusions embarrass project sponsors, PM World Journal, Vol. XV, Issue II, February. Available online at https://pmworldjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/pmwj161-Feb2026-Schulz-Project-manager-delusions-embarass-project-sponsors.pdf