Course Code: stprodownciebesp
Duration: 4 hours
Prerequisites:

Leaders/Managers

Overview:

Covers

  • Strategic alignment 
  • Sponsorship roles 
  • Ownership mindset
  • Decision-making 
  • Cross-functional collaboration
Course Outline:

Welcome and Introduction

  • Icebreaker: “Sponsorship in action” - leaders reflect on their most successful initiative
  • Overview of session goals and structure
  • Framing the Product Owner/Sponsor role in infrastructure and energy transformation

Theoretical Segment 1 - Strategic Sponsorship and Ownership

  • Clarifying the roles of Product Owner vs Sponsor (in Agile and hybrid contexts)
  • Governance, influence and decision rights
  • Common pitfalls in sponsor/owner roles - especially in capital-intensive projects

Practical Workshop 1 - The Ownership Lab

  • Group activity based on a Vopak-inspired case: launching a new green terminal project
  • Teams play different actors (Sponsor, Product Owner, Operational Lead)
  • Decision-making under ambiguity, aligning outcomes with corporate strategy

Theoretical Segment 2 - Driving Value and Managing Tensions

  • Sponsorship as value leadership: balancing commercial, safety and sustainability goals
  • Managing stakeholder tensions (HQ vs terminal, short vs long term, central vs local)

Practical Workshop 2 - Product Owner in Action

  • Scenario simulation: Handling scope change requests, internal conflicts and timeline pressure
  • Application of prioritisation techniques and stakeholder influence models

Conclusion and Action Planning

  • Group reflection: What have we learned? What will we change?
  • Tool: “Ownership Canvas” - participants map their next steps in real project environments
  • Final Q&A and wrap-up