State Your Case and Make Them Hear It

One of the common questions that project managers have is, “How do I get other people in the organization to see how important project management is?” This question is really related to how one sells project management to others in the organization. In general, the only way that others will accept project management is if they see the value it provides. These four strategies are directed at demonstrating the value of project management to others: 

1. Use the Credibility of Others
   I don’t know why, but people will believe something they read in a newspaper, magazine or web site over what a colleague tells them. This doesn’t make sense, but if this is the case, then let’s use it to our advantage. Find articles in popular publications that support the use of project management, and use them to sell the ideas internally. One great source is Fast Company magazine. Its web site has all past articles archived. One way to use articles is to send an article to others in the organization by e-mail about every five or six weeks. In the e-mail, say that you thought it was an interesting article and list a few key points that you liked, then provide the web link to the full article. Even if they don’t read the full article, they will get the key points from your summary. It may take a while, but the ideas will start to make an impact and someone will come to…