Managing up

As a project manager, your immediate boss is inevitably your project’s sponsor; however, you also may be accountable to any number of high-power / high-interest stakeholders. 

Unfortunately, some project managers only pay attention to managing either those they report to or those who report to them.

Project managers who only manage up may come across as sycophants; subordinates assume they don’t care about them and may withhold their respect or slack off in their work. 

On the other hand, project managers who only manage down can’t advocate for their team or gain buy-in for the project’s endeavors from those further up the chain.

Successful managers pay attention to managing both directions, as well as communicating with their peers.

So how do you engage with and get the most out of your sponsor and senior stakeholders, especially (as is sometimes the case) if they have little understanding of their role?

Communicate

First of all (and at the risk of repeating ourselves), communicate!

As discussed, good communication skills are necessary to succeed in almost every situation. 

Some stakeholders are readers, meaning they prefer to receive information in written form; others are listeners, meaning they prefer to get their information verbally.

If you want your ideas to be heard, understood, and acted on, make it easy for your stakeholders by communicating in the manner with which they are most comfortable. 

But make sure that the communication is two-way – you have to understand each stakeholder’s wants and needs. 

Listen and ask questions if you aren’t sure; then feed the answers back to confirm that you heard them right.

No surprises

Don’t surprise stakeholders – even ‘good‘ surprises can backfire on you!

Many experienced project managers can cite examples of bringing a stakeholder what they thought was good news, only to be horribly disappointed. 

Regularly scheduled reports of progress should be supplemented by informal, exception-driven updates.

Solutions

There are going to be problems with your project – every project has them. 

But when you let your stakeholders know about those problems, give them your proposed solution(s). 

That shows that you have thought the situation through.

Now, some stakeholders seem to want to hear only good news; as they don’t want to hear about problems, they represent a particular challenge. 

It is up to you to help them face problems head-on with courage and innovation. 

For the good of the project and the organization, you must communicate problems and failures with the successes but do so sensitively and appropriately. 

Empathy

Understand, too, your stakeholders’ perspectives and agendas – that way, you can align your priorities with theirs. 

Put yourself in their shoes. 

While many people think that they understand their stakeholders’ goals and pressures, they don’t always understand their strengths, weaknesses, aspirations, and work styles, or the pressures and constraints on them. 

Exploring these will help you identify commonalities you never knew existed and gain a little insight into how to interact effectively with them.

Preferences

Understand your stakeholders’ preferences and try to conform to them.

If they want a daily report on what has been accomplished, give it to them. If they want the big picture and not the details, give it to them that way. If they want something in a specific format, give it to them. 

That doesn’t mean that you can’t try to show them a better way, but remember to use tact and diplomacy. 

If you get offside with a stakeholder, even over something minor, you may never be able to undo the damage.

One of the worst mistakes you can make is to assume you know what your stakeholder expects. 

Many stakeholders don’t spell out their expectations, and the burden of discovery falls to you. 

If they don’t give you the necessary information, initiate one or a series of informal discussions on ‘our’ objectives. 

This can help your stakeholders clarify and communicate their ideas, plans, and needs to you, and it gives you the chance to share your ideas as well.

Together, set realistic expectations that you both agree on. 

They include expectations on schedule, costs, and the final product. The emphasis is on realistic. 

Don’t set expectations too high, or you will ruin your credibility when they are not met; but don’t intentionally set them low, either, as this may erode their confidence in you.

Strengths

You need to determine each stakeholder’s strengths. 

Whether those strengths are communication, seeing the big picture, resource management, new ideas, or something else, go to your stakeholder for their expertise. 

Remember, though, that time is a precious commodity for most – every request made of the stakeholder uses up his or her time and resources, so make sure your requests are necessary. 

Use their strengths, but if you can do it yourself, don’t waste their time.

Weaknesses

Recognize your stakeholders’ weaknesses and compensate for them.

Your stakeholders will not be good at everything – it is up to you to figure out where they are weak and provide your support in those areas. 

You might just want to intentionally try doing something to make life easier for your stakeholders. 

Maybe you can build the slides for their briefings, track the finances, monitor the schedule, or provide the support that they need in some areas. 

And, perhaps your stakeholders will spend that extra time or effort that you saved them to advocate for your project’s needs.

Triggers

Be aware of your stakeholders’ hot buttons and pet peeves. 

Is it being late to meetings or not contributing, sloppy memos or e-mails, swearing, or a loud radio? 

Sounds obvious, but whatever they are, consider them landmines to be avoided.

Ignoring them (or not understanding them) can sour your relationship with the stakeholder. 

And that can mean an unsuccessful project because you didn’t get the support that you needed – or, worst case, it can be career suicide for you.

Feedback

Finally, request feedback – and learn to accept it. 

Request periodic feedback if you aren’t getting it – don’t wait for the end-of-project review to find out a stakeholder’s opinion of you and your work. 

If you get bad feedback, discuss your concerns, but do it on a mature level, not emotionally or confrontationally. 

As in a marriage, the best approach is non-adversarial. 

Listen to what they say and try to act on it.

Source: Wayne Turk

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Terms of reference

Not every sponsor, senior stakeholder, or subject-matter expert knows or understands their role.

This might be particularly likely if they have not previously worked with formally managed projects.

Establishing terms of reference for your governance or reference groups can be a useful way of (politely) framing their relationship to the project.

Good terms of reference will define:

• The purpose of the group
• The membership of the group
• The decision-making responsibilities of the group
• Decision-making rules and processes
• The limits of the group’s decision-making authority
• The frequency and duration of meetings
• A standing (common) meeting agenda
• Reporting and accountability mechanisms

A common complaint of project managers is that governance groups are prone to interfere in the details of the project, instead of supporting through strategic connection and direction (see the discussion of the role of the sponsor and governance groups in Unit 2).

Yet this interference often comes from a genuine desire to help, and (sometimes) lack of trust in the project manager and team.

It is, therefore, the responsibility of the project manager to help define the relationship and establish trust – you can start by using the approaches outlined in this topic!