How to Deal with Managers during Project Management Managers play a significant role within every organization, and you will find that upper management has a huge impact on your project. While you’ll be responsible for the success or failure of the project you’re managing, you can expect a wide range of higher ups to be involved in the process from the beginning. Knowing how to handle upper management and other stakeholders is crucial to the outcome of your project. Communicate, Communicate, Communicate One of the most important things to understand about dealing with upper management and other senior stakeholders is that the more direct and constant your communication with them, the less hassle you’ll have. That doesn’t mean you need to give individual daily briefings, though. Rather, you need to find a way to make that communication part of the flow within your project. There are numerous project management software options out there that offer the means to integrate communication with all stakeholders directly into the project itself. This saves you time and effort and ensures that everyone involved remains on the same page. Support from Your Executive Chances are good that while you’re responsible for the project, there’s an executive directly above you that has other responsibilities where the project is concerned. Usually, these execs are responsible for getting the green light on the project, as well as for gaining support from other stakeholders in myriad ways throughout the duration of the project. For instance, scope, materials, budget or time changes will need to go through this executive. Make sure you stay in communication with this person, and that they are committed to upholding their responsibilities. Too many projects fail because there’s a lack of support and dedication in this position. Know When Requests Are Impossible While your team will likely achieve the impossible from time to time through concerted effort, you must be able to tell when requests from management and other stakeholders are impossible to achieve. Regularly requiring your team to achieve the impossible will do several things, including reducing moral, increasing dissatisfaction and increasing the chance of overall project failure. Keep the impossible to a minimum and be prepared to tell management when their requests are simply infeasible. Keep Management Engaged One of the key reasons that projects fail is because stakeholders and upper management are simply disinterested in the results of the project. When there is a lack of engagement and interest, you’ll find that your project suffers from any number of problems, including a lack of resources, a lack of funding and much more. By keeping management and stakeholders interested and engaged in the project, you help avoid these snafus and bolster your chances of success overall. As you can see, there are several things that you need to know regarding dealing with upper management and other stakeholders in your project. Communicate regularly and effectively, keep them engaged, and ensure that you’re getting the support you deserve from those higher up within the organization. source:internet
