A Committed Champion Is Absolutely Vital Foundation for Project Success

      The other day, I was reminded again how important it is to have a committed champion to your project.  Not just involved but committed.  Many years ago, a quality/six sigma mentor compared the difference between involvement and commitment with a bacon & egg breakfast analogy.  He noted for that breakfast, the chicken was involved but the pig was committed.

      I’m sure everyone knows the key responsibilities a six sigma, or other type of improvement project, champion needs to have.  All are important but two keys from my past experience are to provide political cover and remove organizational roadblocks.  Organizational experience and savvy play a huge role here.  One or more members of the organization who are happy with the status quo may, correctly or incorrectly, perceive they are going to lose power and influence with the change and will dump as many barrels of molasses in front of the team as they can.

      While you cannot always ‘choose’ your champion, you need to provide him or her with proper care and feeding.  Frequently your champion will be very busy but find the time and medium to communicate, then communicate, and finally communicate some more.  Remember the basics of preferred communication styles.  And above all else, whenever something escalates during the project, get a heads-up to him or her immediately.  There’s an old adage to ‘never surprise the boss’.  It applies to project champions too.

      So take care of your champion.  You have enough challenges with the internal aspects of your project.  The champion will assist with the external aspects which can undermine the project.  Do whatever it takes to keep your champion committed.  It is essential.