Project Management: A Systems Approach to Planning, Scheduling, and Controlling Twelfth Edition

Transcription

1 Project Management: A Systems Approach to Planning, Scheduling, and Controlling Twelfth Edition

2 Chapter Ten Working with Executives

3 Type of Sponsor Involvement Micromanagement Effectiveness Invisibility Factors to consider in assigning sponsors: Personal experience with project management Company experience with project management Client s experience with project management Project s risk, importance, profitability and constraints

4 Knowing When to Seek Out the Project Sponsor

5 The Executive Sponsor s Role Major participation in sales effort and contract negotiations Establishes and maintains top-level client relationships Assists project manager in getting the project underway (planning, procedures, staffing, etc.) Maintains current knowledge of major project activities (receives copies of major correspondence and reports, attends major client and project review meetings, visits project regularly, etc.)

6 Executive Sponsor (Continued) Handles major contractual matters Interprets company policy for the project manager Assists project manager in identifying and solving major problems Keeps general management and company management advised of major problems

7 Sponsor Activities Assist the project manager in establishing the correct objectives for the project Provide guidance for the project manager in organizing and staffing the project team Explain to the project manager the environmental/ political factors that could influence the project s execution Establish the priority for the project (either individually or through other executives) and informing the project manager of the established priority and the reason for the priority

8 Sponsor Activities (Continued) Provide guidance for the establishment of policies and procedures by which to govern the project Function as the executive-client contact point

9 Sponsorship Problems Problem-solving delays Unresolved policy issues Lack of prioritization Who resolves problems if the sponsor and the project manager disagree?

10 Issues with Global Stakeholders Not all of the stakeholders are easily identifiable There are significantly more stakeholders than on non-global projects Global stakeholders are more likely to change over the duration of the project There may be hidden stakeholders higher up in the organizational hierarchy than the project s visible global stakeholders Not all of the issues facing the stakeholders are easy identified Solutions to problems on the project may need to be resolved higher up than the global stakeholders Not all issues with global stakeholders can be resolved the same way we resolve issues with non-global stakeholders Global stakeholders may have more hidden agendas than with non-global stakeholders Conflicts with global stakeholders may need to be approached with a different set of conflict resolution modes than we use on traditional projects.

11 The Collective Belief Inability or refusal to recognize failure Refusing to see the early warning signs of possible disaster Seeing only what you want to see Fearful of exposing mistakes Viewing bad news as a personal failure Viewing failure as a sign of weakness Viewing failure as damage to one s career Viewing failure as damage to one s reputation

12 Working With the Onsite Reps

13 Project Management Competitiveness Is the Foundation for Is the Pathway to Sustained Competitive Advantage Strategic Competency Is the Source of Project Management Competencies Leads to Project Management Skills Project Management Training Immaturity Maturity Excellence

14 Stakeholder Mgmt. Micro Level Identify the stakeholders Stakeholder debriefing Abide by agreements Stakeholder management Stakeholder information flow Stakeholder analysis Perform stakeholder engagement

15 Generic Stakeholder Management Identify the stakeholders Life Cycle Phases Perform stakeholder analysis Perform stakeholder engagements Create stakeholder information flow network Enforce, if possible, and abide by agreements among stakeholders Conduct stakeholder debriefing sessions at or after contract closure