Managing Up when faced with challenging projects

The most challenging projects we are often assigned are projects that come from the executive leadership.   In situations like this, we are often told that we must manage up to deal with these difficult scenarios.   Managing up always sounds much easier than it really is and I think the principles of managing up are pretty straightforward, but they can be difficult to perfect.   The article “Program Management: Learning to Manage Up, Outward, Sideways and Down” (link below), describes some of those principles on how to manage up and beyond.

The article lists the three key elements of effectively managing up: use your meeting time wisely, always come with an action plan when you have bad news, and always be honest.  In general, these are pretty simple principles.  But following through on those principles can be more difficult than expected.  Personally, I do my best to manage up to my boss and my executive leadership team but sometimes I feel these principles are not enough.

I have found that understanding the agenda of a project can go a long way and sometimes you have to know that you’re not going to win, even if your argument is completely logical.  I often wonder if their unrealistic expectations are a way of pushing the team further or simply a misunderstanding of what is possible.  I find this is where knowing each individual can be effective.  If you know what drives the individuals you are more likely to get insights into why the certain project or scenario is being push forward.  But, this is also where trust can come into play.  If your boss or executive team trust you, they are more likely to be honest and provide full disclosure, so you don’t have to rely on your gut to tell you what is going on.

But if full disclosure is not possible, this is where managing sideways can be helpful.  As the article describes, managing sideways is getting “each manager’s full ‘buy-in’” in order to see a project through.  Sometimes when you can’t manage up, managing sideways is enough to help see the project through and ensure that it is not completely derailed.

In many situations I am in a situation where my executive leadership team is also my client, which means I must up and outward with the same team of people.  Sometimes this is easier, often it can be more difficult.  When the client sets the priorities for the team, priorities can become skewed as to what is best for the company and bottom line.  There’s no balance to ensure each project is really in the best interest of the company.  Managing down is always critical to the success of each project and is generally easier than managing up.

Have you found yourself actively managing up?  How many levels up do you manage?  What are the most effective tools or techniques have you found to successfully manage up?

http://evolvingstrategies.com/program-management-learning-to-manage-up-outward-sideways-and-down/

10 thoughts on “Managing Up when faced with challenging projects

  1. Your post and the referenced article bring forward an important point about communication and ability to influence in all directions. When managing a project, failure to effectivly communicate effetivly can result in project failure. Even if you manage up and down effectivly, a peer can easily sabotage a project if they feel they have been left out of the communciation loop. The ponits made in your post and article reminded me of of several personal examples of how failing to communicate and influence caused problems for my projects in the past. I’ve learned from the failed experiences and approached my projects differently as a result.

  2. Managing up can be very difficult, especially when dealing with pet projects of senior leaders. I have experienced situations where the organization is not supportive of a senior leader’s pet project, but everyone is afraid to be honest about their concerns for fear of being labeled as “not on board”. Good leaders should surround themselves with objective team members so they can avoid the problems associated with group think, but not every leader is confident enough to do so. Despite the risk, being honest (but tactful) is the best approach when managing up. When you offer a concern, you should also offer a solution that addresses the overall goal of the project. By doing so, you are indicating you support the organization’s goals but have an idea of how they can be obtained more effectively. That helps prevent you from being labeled as “not on board”.

  3. Great article! I haven’t approached projects this way but the perspective is really helpful. The more I think about it I’ve been managing both upwards (internal executives), outwards (clients), sideways (other managers), and downward (team members).

    In general I’ve found that paying attention to people’s behaviors and adapting to them can be really effective. It can take some time build up as a habit, especially if you have to temporarily adjust your natural tendency, such as being extremely direct with a procrastinating client. Today at work our departments completed the DiSC survey (https://www.discprofile.com/what-is-disc/overview/) to understand different personality types. It’s not cut and dry, but does provide strategies for approaching many levels in the company and typical behaviors exhibited in teams. If your workplace offers something like this I’d suggest trying it out as well.

  4. I think it is interesting. In my previous org structure, I had to manage up quite a bit. I reported to a VP of a brand and had to nudge him in the direction that I wanted to go. I found that providing him with options and consequences was pretty effective in getting him to see the issues more clearly.

  5. Seems so simple, but in reality it isn’t. I think being honest is one thing, but you also have to be tactful. If I was honest and unfiltered with my bosses all the time, I probably would be in a different spot right now.

    I think in general managing up is looked upon as a good thing by management, as long as you back up your arguments with either data or facts.

  6. Managing up is always a challenge. In my company the project managers are often managing some of the top technicians and engineers in the industry. Those engineers and technicians are typically making 4x-5x the salary of the project manager and often feel that due to that, they should not be told what to do.

    Where the challenge comes in is when a client makes an odd request that the project manager communicates to the technicians and engineers. They will refuse to complete the task at times saying they know what needs to be done and what the client is proposing isn’t a good idea. This puts the PM in an awkward situation where the PM has to cater to the client but he cannot get the technicians and engineers to agree.

    In this type of case, which doesn’t happen often, a call is typically placed to the GM or the Operations Manager to help sort this out. Technicians and engineers most of the time will comply with the request if it comes from someone above them.

  7. I completely agree with the importance of trust when managing up. Trust is a big issue when dealing with anyone who is your senior and if you can get them to trust you managing up can become a lot easier. I have found that once they trust you they will become more honest and transparent.

  8. I love how this article acknowledged the concept of “managing sideways”. While many project managers are fully aware of managing upwards and downwards, when one of those is not an option it can be just as helpful for a PM to indulge in sideways management. This still allows a project to have accountability as well as a higher success rate to know so many people are invested in its success. I find at my job, at times, project managers do not manage downwards enough, leaving employees to feel mismanaged and isolated. By having multiple personnel accountable for a project (without having too many opinions intermingle), sideways management opens up the door(s) for conversations to be held between project associates, as well as upper level superiors.

  9. I found this article very interesting. I agree that it is not always easy being able to manage up. In my opinion I feel like I would always have some types of insecurities whenever I would try to talk to people above me. I also think that the more comfortable I get with the people who are above more the more comfortable I will become.

  10. I know you have been told this over and over, but it is essential to always be honest when in doubt. I would strategically be honest as to not belittle your higher ups, but honesty will never get you in too much trouble. There is two reasons why. First, usually management has a pretty good idea what the problems are that need to be fixed, so when you present them, they will not be too surprised. Second, high level people tend to be good at reading people. They might not agree with you, but if they trust you are honestly trying to help the company, they will at least want you to be kept around. Hope this helps!

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