Adventures of Interacting with my project sponsor...Part I

I work in a manufacturing firm as a 6 Sigma Black Belt. I have a project sponsor who apparently is so busy, God knows if even the firm's CEO is as busy. It so happened that when I joined the firm, we were in the cutover phase of implementing a ERP solution. I was assigned the role of leading the cutover activities. One of these activities was the wall-to-wall inventory counting, which was to be handled by logistics. I was introduced to this man as the cutover lead & was asked to extend full support to ensure smooth cutover. After repeatedly following up with him, finally he sets up a meeting with his "team". We finalise the project plan for wall-to-wall inventory counting & disperse. After that, I send a mail to the team marking the sponsor as well:

I: "Team, it was great knowing you all. Going forward, let us maintain a daily tracker to maintain how we are doing on a daily basis. This will also help me in updating the leadership team on the status everyday. This is how we can maintain the tracker (the format). Pls send your views on the same."

Sponsor: "Vinay, I think you are trespassing into our area. Pls route all your communication with the team after formally discussing with me & seeking my approval."

The first thought that came to mind after reading this reply was - is this fellow a wild animal which protects its territory by spraying pheremones all around? I'm sure u know how Tigers, Lions, & other predators mark their territories. That's exactly how this fellow also protects his territory, like a charged bull.

Once I was assigned a project under him. This time I did not want to face any troubles. So, I did a thorough research on how he is, his attitude, his approach to work, support I can expect, etc. Every single person I spoke to, told me the same thing. That is, I need more than a generous dose of the Almighty Lord's grace to see my project bear results. In fact, there were many instances where the sponsor had not even kicked off the project, but set high level goals & agenda, & that's it. Here are a few examples of how he usually responds:

I send him a mail requesting him to input the project details on the internal website. He writes back saying the site is under maintenance & hence sends a PPT to be used. I open the PPT, & find to my horror that the business case & the opportunity statement in the PPT has got nothing to do with the project goal statement. So, I immediately send him a mail highlighting the discrepency in the PPT. Here's the subsequent communication between me & my project sponsor.

I: "Hello sir, so nice of u to have sent the project charter. From the charter, what I gather is - XXXX is the business case for which YYYY business opportunity exists. But, the goal statement says - A1B5Z8X4K9 is the project goal. I am unable to relate XXXX - YYYY with A1B5Z8X4K9. I wanted to discuss with u on this issue. Let me know when we can meet."

Sponsor (without mentioning anything about the discrepency): "Next week...some time..."

On another occasion, one of my colleagues writes to him:

My colleague: "Sir, as part of the ABC project, we need data pertaining to the metric ZZZ. Can u pls send me the same, or direct me to the person in your department from whom I can obtain the information? (the sponsor is fully aware of the project & the metric for which data is being sought)"

Sponsor: "?"

Yes, a question mark was his response.

Any way, coming back to my story, after repeatedly running after him, trying to catch him in some of the most weird places one can imagine, he sets up a meeting & sends the invite for 10:15 AM, one fine day. At the auspicious hour, after offering my humble prayers to the Almighty Lord, I head in the direction of my sponsor's office 10 minutes in advance, full of hope, appreciating the chirping of the birds, with lovely greenery around, & the hide & seek the sun used to play on that day, along my way (sponsor's office is about 200 - 300 meter from my work area). Standing in front of my sponsor's office, I offer my silent prayers, & gently tap on the door. No response. I tap again...still no response. Throwing all decency into the air, I barge in & find myself greeted by an empty room. Immediately I call him on his mobile. He picks the call after some time & says, he cancelled the meeting & postponed it to same time, the next day. I am obviously furious & return to my work area fuming. I open my mailbox to find that the meeting had been cancelled & the cancellation mail was sent @ 10:15 AM.

So, the next day, I once again go to his office. As usual, with due business etiquettes, I tap on his door. Without waiting for the "come in" reply, I just enter his room. I find him surrounded by his cubs, & realize that he's surprised to find me there. Here's what happened next:

Sponsor: "Yes Vinay!"

I: "Sir, you've rescheduled yesterday's meeting to 10:15 AM today (actually, he had already rescheduled it to 2 - 3 different times & finally settled for the 10:15 to 10:30 AM slot, yes, exactly 15 min slot to discuss & finalize project charter)."

Sponsor: "Oh! yes (sounding surprised & probably thinking - 'why did I schedule at this time). You be in the conference room. I'll be there in 2 min."

I had no idea of letting him slip (there are umpteen instances where the meeting attendees are waiting for him in the room & he's given them a slip & attending a different meeting). In fact, there have been instances when people have gone to the conference room for the meeting, only to find someone else occupying the room. Upon being told they have a meeting in the same room, the occupant asked who's scheduled the meeting. Upon being told who it is, the occupant promptly responds: 'Forget it son. He won't come to attend the meeting. If u have better work than wait for him in this room, u better do that.' So, leaving nothing to chance, I start walking from one end of the corridor where his office is located to the other end (like an armed guard guarding a high security person, without any arms of course in my hands). After about 5 min, he finally comes out of his room followed by his cubs. The only picture I can imagine seeing him is that of our politicians followed constantly by their chamchas.

Any way, after all of us are seated in the conference room, I silently thank my stars for being in the right positions in the constellation, failing which, this meeting couldn't have happened. So, the meeting begins at about 10:22 AM:

Sponsor: "So, Vinay, the business case is XXXX & we see the opportunity to be YYYY."

I: "Sir, what about the project goal statement A1B5Z8X4K9?"

Sponsor: "Oh! that? Don't bother. I made a few modifications to some other project charter & sent to you. That's not the goal statement. We'll revise that."

(U can imagine what went thru' mind when I heard that. Nevertheless, I wanted to make the most of the chance I got to meet my sponsor. So, I continued)

I: "So, what's the project goal, then?"

Sponsor (addressing his team members): "We are currently doing these things, in this manner. But, it can be done in a different manner, which can be leveraged to get such & such benefits. We can also use the ERP system (we had gone-live just a few days ago) to achieve better benefits. Also, this will make our operations much more synchronized & for which these 2 gentlemen (his team members sitting there) will help you (that's me). I'm always available & reach out to me for any help u (me, again) may need. I now have another meeting between 10:30 & 11:00 AM & I need to rush. So, all the very best."

With these words, he got up to leave the room. Seeing their boss get up, his team members also got up to follow him. I thought, these guys will help me make some sense of what's happening, where, how, who's doing what, etc., so that I can build story around it & start the project. Seeing these 2 fellows also get up, I felt like stranded in a no-man's land. Still, gathering some breath, I said:

I: "But, sir, I had few questions for which I wanted some clarification."

(By then, the sponsor had already opened the door & turning his back toward me, with one leg outside the room & the other leg supporting the door, he was already about to barge out of the room to rush to another meeting.)

Sponsor (turning back his face toward me, with his back still toward me): "Go ahead & ask quickly."

I: "So, from what I understand, this is the business case & the opportunity. Can u pls explain a little on that? What metrics we currently use, at what frequency we keep tab on the metrics, etc?"

Sponsor: "So, this is what it is (he explains in about 30 Sec flat), & this is how we measure. U can schedule one more meeting tomorrow for further details."

(I must have asked some 10 - 15 questions in about 2 - 3 min & for most of them, it was 1 line answer or just a few words.)

I: "What time shall I schedule the meeting tomorrow?"

Sponsor: "Hmmm...there's some problem with my calendar. It shows my entire day as free, which of course is not true. So, let me do one thing. I'll schedule the meeting myself & send the invite."

Thus concluded my meeting with my project sponsor. And after that, I'm still running behind him to get the charter changed because the original project has now been rendered irrelevant to carry out because of some functionality issues in our ERP system...