To be held on October 18th & 19th at the BOSTON HARBOR HOTEL COMPLEX

The CHAOS University Retreat for 2010 is on how to coach executive sponsors to insure success of a program or project. The Standish Group research on executive sponsorship has been ongoing for 15 years. However, over the last eighteen months there has been a concentrated effort to focus on the best practices of executive sponsors. We have developed 10 areas of competence and 50 best practices.

Participates in the event will develop techniques to identify the most urgent areas of ineffectiveness and how to successfully coach executive sponsors to improve. A Standish moderator will facilitate each workgroup. A workshop will run for 30 minutes and focus on a single area and related best practice. The groups will look at how to coach and encourage executive sponsors to adapt the best practice. In the workgroup we will also consider the hurdles and how to overcome these hurdles..

• Peer Collaboration
• Moderated Workshops
• Best Practices
• Common Understanding
• Improve Expertise

Feedback from our past CHAOS University retreats indicated that workshops and their presentations were the most valuable parts of each event. In addition, many executives have stated that they are squeezed for time; therefore, we have streamlined the event to one and half days and focus on workshops and roundtable discussions.

Here is a general description of these activities:

Workshop Overview: A Standish moderator facilitates each workgroup. A workshop will run for 30 minutes. In these workshops The Standish Group will outline a story around a persona and problems associated with the persona that relates to a given area of concern. The group will then consider ways to improve the executive sponsor habits and methods. Each workshop will have a different story and persona. There are ten workshops.

There will be two short presentations and on the afternoon of the second day we will end with roundtable discussions by way of liquid encouragement.

Jim Johnson - Chairman, The Standish Group International

Opening Remarks
In the opening talk Jim Johnson will set the stage for this Executive Retreat. First, Jim will define the goals of the retreat and the individual workshops. Second, he will provide the rules of engagement and how each workshop will be handled. Third, he will provide a set of common definitions to be used throughout the workshops. Fourth, Jim will discuss some of Standish's primary research and how it applies to the retreat and the workshops.

Jim Johnson is the founder and chairman of The Standish Group. He has been professionally involved in the computer industry for over 40 years and has a long list of published books, papers, articles and speeches. He has a combination of technical, marketing, and research achievements focused on mission-critical applications and technology. He is best known for his research on project performance and early recognizing technology trends. Jim is a pioneer of modern research techniques and continues to advance in the research industry through virtual focus groups and case-based analytical technology.

1. A better grasp of how to understand early warning signs of project challenges from the executive sponsor behavior.
2. A greater visibility into project executive sponsor?s challenges and how to coach him or her to overcome them.
3. A better grasp of how to understand the relationship between the executive sponsor and the rest of the organization.
4. A wealth of knowledge pertaining to the overall executive sponsorship project management environment and how you could make it better within your organization.
5. An improved comprehension of how to evaluate the skills of an executive sponsor and your project managers.
6. A full understanding of the executive sponsor success factors and best practices.
7. A list of probing questions to use for your own executive sponsor evaluation.
8. Techniques for general coaching of high-level executives gathered from peer groups.
9. Network with other IT and business executives to discuss relevant issues of the day and ways to solve some of your most pressing issues.
10. Personify effective leadership. Attached is a draft agenda of the event. Overall you will find this experience highly valuable and see the long-term positive impact.

A partial listing of the companies and organizations represented at CHAOS University^® in the past.

The Standish Group is looking for a few benefactors for the "How to Coach an Executive Sponsor" research. The benefactors (IT executives) at the CHAOS University Retreat Research Project will experience how to coach executive sponsors to insure success of a program or project. The Standish Group research on executive sponsorship has been ongoing for 15 years. However, over the last eighteen months there has been a concentrated effort to focus on the best practices of executive sponsors.

The effort included: interviews with executive sponsors, multiple surveys, workshops and other instruments. The output of these research events has produced a formal assessment tool, research white paper and educational class.  The next major event is a workshop on how to coach executive sponsors at the annual CHAOS University event. As a benefactor to this Standish event they will receive the following five items:

Executive Sponsor Appraisal: is a tool used by The Standish Group to test the best practices of your executive sponsors. Ten of your executive sponsors will get to take the appraisal in private using this online tool. They will get their score on completion of the appraisal and they can request a printed version that will be e-mailed to them. A Standish Advisor will review their scores over the telephone and provide feedback.

How to be a Good Executive Sponsor: is a report developed by The Standish Group that outlines the 50 best practices of executive sponsor. The report looks the 10 success factors and breaks down these success factors into best practices that executives can work to improve. Data is provided on the importance, the state, and difficulty of each of the practices. The benefactor representative will be given the report prior to the event workshop in order to prepare for the content.

WebEx presentation: is special review of the compiled results of your executive sponsors as compared to the index. The presentation will consider which items will be most important for you to focus on during the executive workshop. The presentation will also cover the 50 best practices.

Executive Workshop: is where the benefactor representative will participate in developing techniques to be used to effectively coach executive sponsors. A Standish moderator will facilitate each workgroup. A workshop will run for 30 minutes and focus on a single success fact and related best practice. The groups will look at how to coach and encourage executive sponsors to adapt the best practice. It will consider the hurdles and how to overcome these hurdles. The Executive Workshop will take place on Boston Harbor.

How to Coach Executive Sponsors: is a report on the results of our workshops and other events related to the subject, such as follow-on surveys and interviews. The report will also include much of the information on the compiled results of the assessments and feedback.

Overall you will find this experience highly valuable and see the long-term positive impact. You will be required to make a contribution of $5,000 in order for you to became a benefactor and enjoy these many benefits.

Space is limited, so apply online or call today to reserve your place to the seminal executive workshop at 508-760-3600 ext 28.