Project Management

Please login or join to subscribe to this thread

Strategies to motivate executive stakeholders in Higher Education

linkedin twitter facebook   Education   Organizational Culture   Stakeholder Management  
avatar
Jordan Scorsone Senior Manager, Operations| Texas State Technical College Houston, Tx, United States
Hi, I'm struggling to create enthusiasm and drive engagement in the mostly decentralized business offices across the University. The business end-users almost entirely seem supportive and appreciative of attempts to understand their work and challenges/barriers. The challenge has been obtaining buy-in from the Division Administrators and University leaders.

I feel like the communication (monthly video calls, emails, etc.) has been robust and transparent; laying out the asks (labor effort/workshops, testing/UAT requests, data gathering) in a way to create a feedback loop and allow them to provide input and drive the improvement opportunities but engagement has mostly failed to materialize and now I feel like I'm bugging people on the 3rd and 4th outreach.

I've previously only worked in organizations with moderate to strong chains of command, and even across functional groups, there is always someone else to appeal to; including the C-Suite. The decentralized nature (not just for the Division business offices, but across the Colleges on the Academic side as well) has certainly been a challenge and would welcome feedback or thoughts where anyone has run into similar issues.

Thanks for your time and effort!
Sort By:
avatar
Kiron Bondale Retired | Mentor| Retired Welland, Ontario, Canada
Jordan -

Have you met with a couple of them 1:1 to discover what is going on - is it that they are overwhelmed work wise and are giving your project a low priority or does it look more like a misalignment in terms of their interests and those of the project.

If you have tried your best with them directly and there is little progress, escalation to your sponsor might be needed.

Kiron
avatar
Jordan Scorsone Senior Manager, Operations| Texas State Technical College Houston, Tx, United States
Thanks Kiron ang greatly appreciated. Yes, it's challenging to obtain that 1:1 interaction but do believe you're correct and it's the only way forward.

The department/project portfolio sponsors unfortunately also have limited power outside of their areas, due to the decentralized nature.
...
1 reply by Kiron Bondale
Nov 16, 2023 11:25 AM
Kiron Bondale
...
I would track and report the challenges as issues (If they are actively impacting project success) or risks. I find creating that sort of visibility can also act as an incentive for stakeholders to fall in line once other methods have failed.

Weak sponsorship is a key contributor to project troubles which is why picking the "right" sponsor is so critical.

Kiron
avatar
Kiron Bondale Retired | Mentor| Retired Welland, Ontario, Canada
Nov 16, 2023 11:16 AM
Replying to Jordan Scorsone
...
Thanks Kiron ang greatly appreciated. Yes, it's challenging to obtain that 1:1 interaction but do believe you're correct and it's the only way forward.

The department/project portfolio sponsors unfortunately also have limited power outside of their areas, due to the decentralized nature.
I would track and report the challenges as issues (If they are actively impacting project success) or risks. I find creating that sort of visibility can also act as an incentive for stakeholders to fall in line once other methods have failed.

Weak sponsorship is a key contributor to project troubles which is why picking the "right" sponsor is so critical.

Kiron
avatar
Thomas Walenta Global Project Economy Expert Hackenheim, Germany
My observation is that Higher Education (in Germany) certainly is widely unaligned and driven by individual targets and regulations. Saw a lot of politics, infights, and jealousy, more than I saw in companies.

I guess there are differences from country to country.

Agree with Kiron's points to engage with key stakeholders 1:1 and see how to influence them to support your project. Maybe individual motivation is easier than the detour about collaboration.
avatar
Maria Hrabikova
Community Champion
Ricany U Prahy, Prague, Czechia
Jordan,
Speaking of the people side of change (change management) set in the academic environment, Prosci's case study on how "The University of Virginia Improves Project ROI With Advanced Change Capabilities" caught my attention recently.

In summary, The University of Virginia was experiencing a growing sense of change fatigue throughout the organization. Moreover, their high-priority projects were not yielding the expected results.

To improve operations and project outcomes, the university identified several areas that needed attention:
- Bring change management capabilities into the organization.
- Focus more on the human aspect of change.
- Manage the cumulative and collective impact of change.
- Integrate project management with change management.
- Enhance its project portfolio management initiative.


You'll find the link to download the case study within the article:
https://www.prosci.com/resources/success-s...nnel=lcp-107223

Please login or join to reply

Content ID:
ADVERTISEMENTS

"What really excites me in a project is when it goes in a way you haven't been before"

- Idris Elba

ADVERTISEMENT

Sponsors







Vendor Events

See all Vendor Events

Newsletters

Jun 3: The Career Problem Facing New PMs
May 20: Your PM Career as a Project Life Cycle
May 13: The Big Lie After Layoffs

See all newsletters