Managing up - Keeping your projects from falling down. Think managing up is just brown-nosing in disguise? Think again. Managing up in projects done well will bring clarity, commitment, ownership, and support your project needs to meet time lines, get resources, and nail project objectives. In this webinar we will explore how to work with higher ranking stakeholders in way that gets results and creates wins all around.

1. Managing up –
Keeping projects from falling down
Your presenter is:
Alison Sigmon, M.Ed., LPC, PMP
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2. What’s on tap for our time together today…
 Check roles and responsibilities
 Managing up is not kissing up
 Assess, Prep, & Deliver to senior management
 What you do defines you
 Hot tips, best practice
 Conclusion
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3. Project roles &
responsibilities
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4. Project team members…
Project Manager
Functional Managers Team Members
Business Partners Sponsor
Senior Management
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5. Project family members…
Project Manager
Project Manager
Plan, coordinate, & integrate work efforts of the project
Provide leadership and motivation
Communicate with stakeholders
Manage expectations & conflict
Functional Managers Team Members
Present issues & make recommendations
Be proactive & organized
Actively problem solve
Facilitate and control the work
Maintain
Stakeholders focus & commitment
Sponsor
Understand the
(Business Partners) project management process
Predict, embrace, & influence the organization
Manage & use resources efficiently and effectively
Obtain authority to make decisions and take risks in the
Senior Management
best interest of the project
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6. Project family members…
Senior Management
Projects
Project Manager
Gives project managers authority to get the work done
Approves the final project plan
Addresses conflicts beyond the project manager’s control
Gives time for planning
Sets Managers
Functionaltriple constraint priorities Members
Team
Issues and signs the project charter
Process
Supports the project management process
Works with stakeholders to finalize requirements
Stakeholdersstatement
and scope Sponsor
(Business Partners)
Clearly communicates project expectations
Supports risk identification and contingency planning
Project Environment
Protects the project from external influences
Senior Management
Organizes work into projects
Determines priorities among projects
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7. Obstacles to together
At any given time, one-third of
90% of PM's time is the workforce is redoing the
spent communicating. other two-thirds’ work.
 Working at cross purposes; Unclear expectations
 Competing agendas and priorities
 Turf politics
 Lack of alignment or common direction – firefighting results
 Agreement on the plan but actions not consistent with decisions
 Candid communication and collaboration inhibited
 Questionable strategies accepted out of fear of retaliation
 Processes not used
 Mixed environmental messages about work priorities
 Lack of executive management support & stakeholder availability
80% of executives say they don’t set
aside enough time for analyzing the 65% of top executive teams
root cause of problems. say trust is an issue.

8. Work together differently
Managing projects to
Coach successful completion means
Team working across lines of
business with people who
might have quite different
interests.
Peers
The trick is to get them
Collaborate Senior moving in a common
Management direction.
But the approach changes
based on who they are.
Manage Up
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9. Managing up is not kissing up
According to Thomas Zuber and Erika
James, managing up is the
process of consciously working with
senior management to obtain the best
possible results for you, for them, for the
business, and for the project.
not
“It‟s political maneuvering or
kissing up. It is a deliberate effort to
bring understanding and cooperation to
a relationship between individuals who
often have different perspectives.”
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10. Managing up is stretching
“When someone tells you that you need to „manage up,‟ what he or she is really saying is that you need to
stretch yourself. You need to go above and beyond the tasks assigned to you so that you can enhance
your manager's work, says Rosanne Badowski, co-author of Managing Up: How to Forge an Effective
Relationship With Those Above You.
 Find out what level of
communication senior
management needs.
 Understand what issues
and concerns are
important to them.
 Figure out how you can
help them succeed.
So what’s a project manager to do?
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11. Own it
What’s the best option?
Take the bull by
the horns and…
Take Charge!
http://mychinaconnection.com/english-idiom/take-the-bull-by-
the-horns-a-way-to-solve-a-problem/
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12. Advising upwards…
Advising upwards might be closer to what project managers do with senior
management. It‟s a PM‟s job to get clear fast on where SM should focus on.
 Build credibility and trust
 Show up with solutions
Minds can‟t be changed overnight
 Senior management needs to advise up
too
Risk is not bad news
 Understand their expectations and drivers
 Know that Style matters
 Become an influencer
 Don‟t assume you‟ve got a handle on their
views
 Take care of the relationship
 Don‟t assume they know the what, why,
and how on your project
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13. You might want to consider a few things before diving in.
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14. Assess, Prep, & Deliver
Continue to care & feed those relationships
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15. Care & feeding start to finish…
• Build the relationship early & often
• Be thorough & follow through
Credibility • Be realistic about what you can & can‟t do
• Know when to get their input
• Get clear on requirements
• Agree on timelines
Alignment • Understand communication expectations
• Define your authority
• Know their motivations
• Identify what is a “win” for them
Priorities • Assess feasibility relative to project resources
• Know what they care about today
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16. Assess when managing up
 Style matters
 Leverage strengths
 Know pet peeves
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17. Style matters
Communication Experience
Understand the senior manager‟s preferred communication style and flex to it.
Consumption
Readers. Information on paper first so they can understand.
Listeners. Hear the information first then written version.
Doers. Dive into brainstorming together.
Format
Analytical. Need data to support presented ideas
Conceptual. Just need high level points.
Skeptical. Evidence of success in other situations.
Frequency & Method
Analytical. Need time with data. Spreadsheets.
Driver. Key points. Fast.
Expressive. Live more often than not. Visual.
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18. Leverage strengths, compensate weaknesses
Learn senior management stakeholder strengths and selectively use them.
Strong in communication – recruit them to be a champion.
Big picture oriented – leverage them as a liaison
Wiz at resourcing – ask for help with staffing needs
Compensate for their weaknesses
Knowing where they‟re weak means you can find ways to better support. Doing things to
take the load of can go along way to them supporting the project when you need it most.
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19. Pet peeves
Watch for hot buttons
What sets them off or irritates them?
- Being late
- Poor spelling and grammar
- Swearing
- Not contributing
Listen to them. Watch them. They will
tell you or someone else will convey
pet peeves verbally or through their
behavior.
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20. Prepping for managing up
 Time, Timing, & Trends
 Communicate,
communicate,
communicate!
 Present
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21. Time, Timing, Trends
Right information at the right time
They need information but it must be specific to their needs, help them do their
job, and help them make their decisions.
 Brevity scores. Make the point in 30 seconds
 Smell it before stepping in it. Know the difference
between an issue and a risk
 Deal with it. Don‟t go to them for every little thing
 Avoid the carpet. Don‟t wait until it‟s too late to share
problems
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22. Communication
Right information the right way
Managers are busy people. Communicate and never assume your boss
understands the why, what, and who of the project.
 Consistency counts. Instills trust and confidence in you.
 Flex for them. Communicate in the format they like to see in it.
 Loop them in. Whenthey are left out of the loop for too long, they
start to get antsy.
 Kill assumptions. If you leave them wondering, they usually think
the worst.
 Have it their way. Figure out what info they need. Figure it out fast
and get it to them.
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23. Present
Right information to the right person
Senior management needs information to be fast and succinct. Consider
what‟s important to them, but also know what‟s important to the project.
Balance their needs with the needs of the project.
 Be crisp, clear and articulate. Know your stuff inside and out & be ultra
prepared when presenting.
 Have purpose. Consider why you‟re meeting with this person. Change an
attitude? Get a decision?
 Be targeted. Reach out to the right person.
 Right content. Consider their preferences. Diagram? A spreadsheet? Bullet
points?
 Political pulse. Stay in touch with their attitude about the project.
 Be helpful. Yours is not the only project on their plate.
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24. Delivering to senior management
 What to do when meeting
 Tips to facilitate the discussion
 Disagreement
 Your behavior defines you
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25. While in the moment with SM
Remember the range of acceptability.
Know your project needs.
Undersell and over deliver. Don't make
promises you can't keep.
Know your numbers. Be realistic with the
timeline and budget to accommodate for
unforeseen challenges and cost increase.
Make the time productive. Focus on
solutions not problems.
Be objective. It‟s not about you or them. It‟s
about the project.
Draw pictures. People are typically visual.
Be timely, factual, & clear. They will respect
http://papershine.com/archives/2006/
you for it even if they don‟t like what they hear.
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26. Discussion tips
Be professional. Separate the people from
the problem
 Start with end first. Get to the point then
fill in the gaps.
Tell the truth. Give them all the facts. Don‟t
tell them what you think they want to hear.
Seek feedback. Listen, understand.
Take control.Propose a solution & outline
a plan of action.
Keep the big picture in mind. The project
supports the business & customers.
Follow up. Do what you say you‟re going
to do.
http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2008/01/four-tricks-com/
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27. It’s okay to disagree but…
 Speak up when you know it‟s not in
the best interest of the project, the
business, or senior management.
 Use the project charter,
methodology, business objectives,
etc to challenge decisions.
 Be thoughtful about how you
disagree and debate.
 Can‟t keep saying yes. Scope creep
will happen. Your project will likely fail
in that case.
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28. Always remember project priorities come first
They want what they want
when they want it but…
 No one stakeholder type is more
important than the others.
 Customers are not more important
than technical staff. Vendors are not
more important than employees.
 Assess high priority stakeholders
and deliverables against the project
needs.
 Part of managing up is helping
senior management understand that.
Highlight and give options within the
triple constraint.
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29. What you do defines you
Don't go over their head or
behind their back. It‟ll make
things more difficult for your
project.
Build trust with senior
management before going to
their peers without them
knowing.
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30. What you do defines you continued
Avoid throwing a stakeholder under the bus even if it
is deserved. It usually has to be cleaned up by SM and
they hate it.
Don‟t burn bridges with stakeholders particularly SM.
You may end up working for the person you've injured.
Make your project stakeholders look good.
Don‟t write long emails. They don‟t have time and it
might garner input where you don‟t want it.
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31. Hot tips, best practice for managing up
 Pick tools that help the project & the
stakeholders stay informed
 Gut check your role in the project
 Always listen, gain understanding
 Use levity, humor when appropriate
 Ask for help when you need it
 Consult with others even other execs
for advice
 Make it easy for them
 Keep the big picture in mind
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32. In conclusion
 Be clear on roles, responsibilities, and project needs.
 Be flexible but don‟t always bend if it‟s not in the best
interest of the project.
 Assess, prep, and deliver the right information to the
right person in the right way at the right time.
 Consider the receiver‟s style and communication needs.
 Do your homework & do what you say you‟re going to
do. If you can‟t, let them know ASAP.
Questions???
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33. Thank you!
Alison Sigmon, M.Ed, LPC, PMP
asigmon@systemation.com
Twitter @alisonsigmon
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