Addressing Senior Management Fears
by Vicki Wrona, PMP:
As project managers, we are often put into the position of middle managers. First, we have to manage those working on the project effectively, and often we spend much of our time in the day-to-day details of managing a project. It is our job to protect the team so they are free to complete the work of that project well. We also need to manage up, which includes the customer, our sponsor, resource managers, and other members of senior management. Having the support of management is crucial to delivering project success. The question is, do we remember to take a step back from the detailed day-to-day to manage up well? What does it really mean to manage up?
When you think about talking to management or to the customer, do you understand what they are looking for? Really….do you? Do you know what information they need and how you can provide that in a succinct and meaningful way that relates to them? Have you thought about what concerns them and how you will address those concerns? When you provide information to them, do you “speak their language”? In other words, don’t provide the technical details unless that is what they asked for. Learn to talk in terms of the end result or benefit, the financials, the bottom line, the ultimate benefits, the total costs, or whatever else it is they need to know.
Another area I have found where PMs often lack is in addressing their sponsor’s, boss’s, or customer’s fears. The sponsor needs to know that the PM will keep them informed enough so the sponsor is never caught by surprise. Your boss wants to look good to their peers and to their boss. Knowing that you understand that and that you “have their back” will go a long way to improving your relationship with and the support from your boss. Trust will be greatly improved once they see that you are on top of the various aspects of your project and will do what is necessary to make sure they are never embarrassed in front of their peers or presented with surprise information. They must be confident that you are managing the work as well as, or better than, they would. Don’t answer this from your perspective (“but of course I am managing this better than they could” you say) but from theirs. Do they really think you are as conscientious about this work and about having them look good as they would be? Don’t be too quick to answer. You may think so, but would they agree? Would they also agree that the actions they see you take daily on the project would produce positive results? Are you spending time on the right things with this project?
It is a universal feeling to want to look good to your peers and to your boss. No manager wants a failed project from their staff. I know this may be hard to believe when management is pushing you to cut your estimates (again!) or bring the project in even earlier than the impossible deadline they presented last month, but it is their job to push. In addition, they are probably receiving pressure as well. If you truly cannot deliver to their new requested date, back up your argument with facts and be ready to offer options. Be ready to discuss the work involved, the estimates you used and why they are valid, and make your boss aware of aspects of the project not readily apparent to them. It is all too easy for someone who is removed from the daily work to think that a project will take less effort than it really will. It is only when the details are considered that the real effort becomes known. Through those details, a new realistic – but still aggressive – date with appropriate scope and cost can be negotiated.
Negotiating is a whole other topic, maybe one we’ll explore in the future. Meanwhile, check in with yourself periodically to make sure that you are allocating time to properly manage both up and down to deliver project success. Remember — keep a balance between the operational details of the work at hand and the management perspective needed to keep the big picture in view.
