Political Savvy

Develop Political Savvy

A good project manager gets it done by using their team. But there may be times that you will hit an impasse and when that happens you might want to address senior management to help you through the rut. Getting senior management on board with you it is important to think about several key factors. First, this is one of the most challenging aspects of being a knowledge project manager.

Getting the project moving forward has to have something that the senior leadership will recognized. You have to show them that they are going to help the company or project stay ahead of the pack. Approach them with the same communication you give your team, lay out the vision and manifest for them and let them know what is happening and why. Then when you have got that down allow the senior management to listen and ponder. They have the same skills as you do they just need some time to adjust.

Commitment from senior level officials requires changing their minds about something. Establish a clear vision and paint a picture of where you will take the project and the anticipated outcome of it. Make certain that ti’s tangible and not a far reaching dream-they won’t go for that. Also, make sure to see what is chaining, let them know The barriers you are encountering and see what actions need to be addressed on your end to change the barrier. If you have done this, the next step is to simply get the senior management on board.

When developing this political savvy with upper level management keep in mind that you are never alone. The team is behind you, and senior level really wants to know what their support will accomplish. Act on feedback from your team and keep them abreast of the challenges, because they are your backbone for support. Without them the entire project crumbles it’s time to step up the project and get it ready to change.

Just like all politics , it is who you know that gets you moving. So do your research and make sure that the person you are addressing is going too be the one who is in charge of some important aspect of the project. It’s important to recognize these aspects, and get them done. Being honest and worthy of trust is what people value the most and as you can see it is what you should not expect from them.