What would you do if your boss would have another opinion on the project you manage as a PM? In this situation my boss wants to re-check on a key project assumption, however, this assumption was already agreed in project team a few weeks ago and published to all stake holders including steering committee. The requirement to recheck on the assumption is not covered yet by any written form of questions/arguments but rather a feeling of discomfort. In the worst case the project may get prolonged. Saving Changes...
This is a good example of managing stakeholder expectations. I'm assuming your boss would be considered a key stakeholder so if the effort involved with checking the assumption made by the team is low but it keeps your boss happy, it might be worth doing.
On the other hand, if it will impact your project objectives OR might encourage your boss to constantly second-guess the team, take the time to explain why the assumption made was the right one in case your boss didn't get it the first time around.
Kiron Saving Changes...
Luis BrancoCEO| Business Insight, Consultores de Gestão, LdªCarcavelos, Lisboa, Portugal
Dear Luckasz
Interesting your question for reflection
Thanks for sharing
Why does your boss have another opinion on the project you manage as a PM?
It is important to analyze the root cause of this situation.
It may be a communication issue (communication process failure) or it may have other causes
Depending on the outcome of this analysis, take the measures deemed most appropriate
Your boss is certainly an important stakeholder to win for the project. Saving Changes...
Thomas WalentaGlobal Project Economy ExpertHackenheim, Germany
If the assumption was agreed before, the request of your boss would qualify as a change request.
Document the change and its consequences, develop options and bring it to forward to the change board (if there is none, the steering committee).
Make sure your assessment is not dominated by a pushback feeling because your boss is micromanaging and attacking your autonomy, showing lack of respect and eroding your responsibility. Try to find out why your boss has such a strong opinion about this, is there a hidden agenda? Saving Changes...
Sergio Luis ConteHelping to create solutions for everyone| Worldwide based OrganizationsBuenos Aires, Argentina
Which is your manager role in the project? That´s all you need to know. It does not matter is your manager you are she/he manager in the project. Sorry for her/him. Saving Changes...
Thank you for all your thoughts. As I am working for 9 years for 1 company only it is important to me to stay objective and have other perspectives.
The effort to make an extra check I would consider as medium, however, as we are progressing from conceptual phase into planning & implementation the time is the critical factor.
I think he might have another opinion as he joined the company a few months ago. So he may still be learning which opinions are more or less reliable.
What is moving me personally is that now the topic is raised again even it was published ~ 3 weeks ago. It is now raised again saying it is critical assumption - so we need to prove on this but on the other hand those who raise alarms do not provide merits related input but are rather referring to some bad experiences from the past.
But I try to put all emotions aside and do what is needed for the project. And you help me with this.
You are right - if we now ask vendor to recheck on the issue then it might take a form of Change Request. As I maintained a good relation I hope we can still do it within standard plan.
My manager is one of the members of steering committee. Saving Changes...
Deepesh RammoorthyICT Project Manager ( PMP®AgilePM®Certified ScrumMaster® (CSM®))| Australian Red Cross Blood ServiceTarneit, Vic, Australia
Hi Lukasz
It seems to me like an excellent learning opportunity for you. Learning more about your boss's character or possibly his past experience. Learning more about people who are insecure among your stakeholders .
Ask your boss as to why he is challenging this assumption in a non-threatening way .
Something like "In your past projects, have you come across such a situation ? if yes, what was the situation, the assumption and the course of action taken? "
If he says" he has not come across such a situation before ", ask him "So what are your thoughts behind this ? What are the better ways to do this " ? Are you available for a few minutes so we can talk through this and come up with alternatives on how best to clarify this assumption?'
if he is open enough he may come back with "Because I was asked by my boss to re-check...." or because of "XYZ reason".
Get him to talk and give you the reason in a friendly way. It may be that he has a very valid reason for questioning the assumption.
For a moment keep aside the person from the issue at hand. There may not be anything personal against you or there may not be any questioning of your integrity at all in this situation. It may just be your boss trying to get to know you better or expressing his insecurity.
On the other hand, he may be a complete control freak or just trying to stamp his authority . But you will not be able to determine unless you have an honest and open chat with him. Saving Changes...
Milena IlievaProgram Manager Global accounts| VMWareVienna, Austria
Hi Lukasz,
I am not sure I understand what is it that your new boss is asking, is it an assumption, issue, or..? Once you talk about "assumption", but you also mentioned that you will ask the vendor about "issue".
As you said it yourself, your boss is in the steering committee, whether he is new or not, he is a very important stakeholder, a decision maker and an escalation level. So from my point of view, there is no question that you need to follow up on his question or concern.
However, you can explain to him exactly what you posted here, that you are coming with such plan, assumptions, issues, risks, etc based on what? - you state openly and objectively what are your reasons behind - past projects, known vendor with whom you have good relationship and thus reduced risk, etc. You can explain that in order to follow up on his request, this might affect the timeline. State openly what are the consequences. You can propose to work on the clarifications in parallel to the project, or alternative plan.
For you is important to build good working relationship with your new boss, and yes, sometimes even educate him, give him more information on the project, past projects or experiences.
There might be also merit in his questions, may be he is right to ask you for clarifications. It is good for the project to find answers to all open questions, and better at the beginning. You may find a way to compensate the delay by asking for additional resources, or similar.
At the end of the day, you both want project to be successful. Saving Changes...
Just to let you know - as my boss required we convenied an extra investigation.
It turned out that the original decision was correct and there are no contraindications to go that way.
So to make the process profession I have followed my boss but as well I gave him my feedback. Saving Changes...
Anton OosthuizenSenior Business Analyst / Project Manager| Self EmployedPretoria, Gauteng, South Africa
Maybe I do not understand your definition of assumption correctly but much like a risk, we should be able to challenge existing assumptions during the project life cycle. Not all assumptions remain true until the end. So for me to reconfirm an assumption is not a bad thing, losing a day is better and total project failure because we assumed that assumptions made months ago are still true. Saving Changes...
