If I can answer that question, I’ve narrowed it down to what is really being asked of me as the Project Manager, given the particular budget and the particular time-frame.

If the answer is making sure that there is Risk Control, then I know that’s where I should devote most of my time.

If the answer is making sure that there is Change Control, then I know that’s the area.

I find that in practice there are one or two things that the sponsors are really interested in and that anything extra (after managing for the basics) is typically seen as a “non-value-add”. That means that if Risk Control is all that the sponsors talk about in the pre-sales meetings and the budget is set for $700,000, then that means I do not devote lots of meetings and planning toward trying to reduce $700,000 down to $600,000. Doing so would not be the best use of my project management time. Instead I focus on what the sponsors have said is their Critical Success Factor. Better to meet the $700,000 budget and spend my resources making sure the risk plan and mitigation plans and early warning triggers and monitoring activities are well under control.

If all that the sponsors talk about is the budget and there’s little talk about risk, then I do the reverse.