Managing At Start-Up

The hands-on activities of both SRO (for programmes) and the Executive (for projects) require more time commitment at Start-Up and Close Down elements than they do during the active life of the programme/project.

It is the responsibility of the SRO/Executive to ensure stakeholder agreement of the aims and objectives and to secure commitment from stakeholders to the delivery of benefits. This requires more seniority than a Programme or Project Manager is likely to have.

The question we are asked most often by Project Managers across the sector is:

'How do you get someone to do something when you have no line management influence over them?'

What such managers usually have to do is raise an issue (either formally or informally) and ask a senior manager for help. Senior managers can help prevent the need for this by a few actions at the outset.

As a programme or project is launched there should be some communication about it. At this point the SRO/Executive needs to be highly visible, explaining how and why the programme or project is important to the organisation and how he or she personally knows and expects that middle managers will give it their full support. He or she can now introduce the programme or project manager to the middle managers, saying something along the lines of;

'This is John/Janet who will be managing the project on my behalf. Therefore if they ask you to do something, it is asked with my authority.'

This transfers some cross-functional authority and will make it much easier for the project to demand and expect co-operation without the need for bothering senior management.