5 Tips for Communicating Upward

Elizabeth is a freelance writer and project manager living and working in London. She runs The Otobos Group, a project communications consultancy specializing in project management.

  Communications Management  

Your project sponsor is the most important stakeholder in a project, and it’s important that as a project manager, you can communicate effectively with them. However, that’s easier said than done! The most senior stakeholders in our organizations are often the busiest. They might be sponsoring several projects, as well as leading an operational team.

So how do you get them to open your email, and respond to your instant message? Here are five tips to make it easier to communicate with executives:

1. Match your communication method to their preferences
When you sit with them in a meeting, watch how they take notes (if they do at all). Is it mind map? Do they make lists? Are the notes messy or neat, with color-coding, on paper or in an app?

Do they ask lots of questions about the data, or are they more interested in the bigger picture? Do they focus on the human impact of the project, or the business case figures?

The way they take notes, and what they are most interested in, will give you some idea of the kind of communicate style they prefer. You can also ask their assistant and talk to them directly. Find out how they prefer to receive information. Some stakeholders like loads of detail, others prefer a single slide that sums everything up.

Generally, people have preferences but can flex their style. Just because they ask you to pull up the budget …

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