A senior project manager is assigned to lead a team of project managers to run a large initiative. One of the key stakeholders often bypasses the senior project manager and girves instructions to the other project managers directly.
What should the senior project manager do?
In this situation, the senior project manager should evaluate the stakeholder analysis to better understand the stakeholder’s influence, motives, and potential impact on the project. This approach helps to identify why the stakeholder is bypassing the senior project manager and ensures a more strategic and informed response. Understanding the stakeholder's influence can be crucial in addressing the issue effectively and can help in devising a plan to manage the stakeholder’s behavior in a way that respects the project management hierarchy and communication channels.
B - stakeholders always gets assessed first
In this situation, where a key stakeholder is bypassing the senior project manager and giving instructions directly to other project managers, it's essential to address the issue through escalation. Escalating the matter to the project sponsors and the manager of the stakeholder will help bring attention to the situation and seek a resolution at a higher level. This ensures that proper communication channels and project management hierarchy are respected, and it may lead to a more effective resolution of the issue.
B. Evaluate the stakeholder analysis to identify the stakeholder’s influence. By evaluating the stakeholder analysis, the senior project manager can better understand the stakeholder’s influence, motives, and potential impact on the project. This insight can help in addressing the behavior appropriately
Going with B just because escalation without any discussion or analysis is not a good idea.
Escalation should be a later step after understanding the stakeholder's influence and attempting to manage the situation directly.
En escaladant le problème auprès des sponsors du projet et du gestionnaire de la partie prenante, le chef de projet senior peut clarifier les rôles et responsabilités, et s'assurer que les communications passent par les canaux appropriés. Cela aidera à rétablir l'autorité du chef de projet principal et à améliorer la coordination et la gestion de projet.
We know already that it is a key stakeholder, so it seems we know that his influence is high. Therefore it is not B. I have also with D a problem, because I want to solve the conflict in other ways. I choose C, I want to speak with the sponsor and the key stakeholder, and I want their commitment that they agree to the realization plan. If they agree, then I hope the key stakeholder will not longer bypasses the senior project manager, because he has agreed to the plan.
The senior PM needs to know where this stakeholder's place is in the world he can make the appropriate approach to the situation.
Ans A I would vote for A. Everything should be documented to use for future analysis or escalations etc. Unless it is a distraction to the project managers or they are losing their time for other planned activities, I dont see a concern.
This approach will allow the senior project manager to gain insights into the stakeholder's influence and motivations, helping in developing a more tailored strategy to address the situation effectively.
B: Analyze first