7 tactics utility IT organizations can use to assure engagement with project sponsors. by Anticlue

One of the common misconceptions for implementing solutions in Healthcare IT is that there is a lack of project sponsorship. I do not think that is the case. In my decade of experience implementing healthcare solutions, I have heard of a complete lack of sponsorship. I would refer to the complete lack of sponsorship as the scenario, where the staff, management, and director arrive at work surprised to see a new healthcare application for their use. This never happens. It is impossible to implement a new healthcare application in a department without some involvement from the department. In my experience, what I hear often from utility healthcare it organizations, is that they are aware far after sponsorship has occurred.

Sponsorship begins very early in the commitment to change process. In my opinion, it occurs after contact but with awareness. At that point, awareness inspires the director or manager of a department to go forward advocating for a new solution to resolve a business problem. This is the point of sponsorship creation. The sponsor is beginning to politic for the solution. The sponsor will discuss this solution with their leadership, explain the business benefits which can be provided. The sponsor will continue to inspire and promote until the solution is contracted. The project sponsor has been identified far before the project manager has ever been assigned.

Here is where the problem lies, often now the Healthcare IT department is notified during contracting, otherwise it is after contracting. I have heard stories, of the notification being an operator calling a director saying there are people outside to install a server in the datacenter. When the IT department is notified, everyone is ready to move forward with the solution, and IT is surprised. IT is already at full capacity for projects and operational support work. If there is not a portfolio management or governance process in place which is common when IT is a utility, IT will try to negotiate when to start the solution. Here is the point where a dialogue is critical, however often results in doing the solution now with a chaotic project management environment. Sponsorship now takes a different role, and if collaboration hasn't occurred to this point, it will be hard to establish the collaboration in the future. IT is running to catch up, and everyone is waiting on IT. The project sponsor is frustrated, as there is not an understanding why IT can't just do its magic right now. Not a good situation and totally preventable.

One item can quickly resolve the cause from an IT perspective. If you find yourself in this place, try these tactics. I'd welcome hearing your results or other tactics your organization deploys

• Establish a business relationship manager to meet with the department's directors and VPs to discuss future plans and needs. As the collaboration begins, IT can be engaged earlier in the acquisition process.


• Devise an IT planning process tightly integrated with the Hospital's Capital Planning Process


• Provide system wide education on the IT planning, project sponsorship roles, and project management benefits.


• Establish a process improvement group to standardize or establish an RFI, RFP process for the institution


• Educate legal and purchasing for contracts and shrink wrap purchases which need IT approval


• Establish a project dashboard and email it bi-weekly to the hospital leadership, have the email body relate the collaborative efforts and re-iterate the benefits of early engagement


• Establish a system wide project priorization process with approval and buy-in from the C-suite.

Further Reading:

• Project Management and Healthcare


• Top 10 Characteristics of a Chaotic Project Management Environment


• Five Signs that you need business relationship managers for Healthcare

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