Introduction
Project champions are an essential part of every project, however they may not serve on the project team. Senior support is also essential for every project as senior managers allocate funding and resources inside the organization. A project champion will aim to gain senior support to try and ensure the project is successful. If there isn’t enough support from higher roles in the organization the project may not succeed. Some of the roles that a project champion may have to undertake are to: break down barriers, provide moral support, ensure stakeholder satisfaction, provide leadership and provide communication between stakeholders and the project team.
Various roles of an IT dev project champion
“Champions are the people who use their credibility, clout and charisma to ensure that the project is successful.” (Tayntor, 2006) * Leadership
Although project champions aren’t project leaders, they must provide some form of leadership towards the project. Because champions deal with senior members of the organization and the project team, they must be able to communicate between the two parties and this requires leadership. * Provide communication between stakeholders and the project team
In big organizations, stakeholders often have very little interaction with the project team (Rochon, n.d.). This provides the project champion with another role, the project champion needs to be a messenger between the two parties. If the stakeholders have any concerns or general questions about the project the project champion will provide information from the project leader and if the project team has any questions they want to ask senior management for example, the champion will do so on their behalf. * Provide moral support
The project champion must listen to all feedback given by project managers and either praise it or help provide solutions to any