{"id":5016,"date":"2010-09-09T08:00:44","date_gmt":"2010-09-09T15:00:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/?p=5016"},"modified":"2010-09-08T16:55:37","modified_gmt":"2010-09-08T23:55:37","slug":"gaining-management-support","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/?p=5016","title":{"rendered":"Gaining Management Support"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Upper management support is crucial for project success.\u00a0 Their support in sponsoring projects, however, often falls short of what is necessary to ensure project success.\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 Is it ignorance, lack of knowledge about what\u2019s required, distaste for the role, too busy, unwilling, \u2026?\u00a0 Well, maybe so, but a key ingredient is the ability of project managers to manage upwards and effectively negotiate with their sponsors.\u00a0 \u00a0It is important to appreciate how negotiating skills dramatically enhance the ability to obtain effective sponsorship and to sustain sponsorship support all the way through to project success.<\/p>\n

Begin with a mindset that everything about a project is negotiable and that a project leader needs to be a skilled negotiator.\u00a0 Define project success and establish desired outcomes. Review basic negotiation principles.\u00a0 Understand and use negotiating techniques as a means to move people from stalemate to solution.<\/p>\n

A goal for every manager is to advance the state of excellence around project sponsorship, starting with the imperative for project managers to take the initiative, first to learn the \u201crules\u201d of negotiating and then to apply them through continuous dialogue with sponsors (and all other stakeholders), ultimately leading to improved results from projects.\u00a0 This happens because effective negotiations bring clarity about what and how projects will be implemented.<\/p>\n

At the beginning of any endeavor is the ideal time to negotiate.\u00a0 Before accepting a project assignment, ask many questions, such as:<\/p>\n