(smooth music)
- Nothing slows down a project
quite like the approval process.
Your team can be trucking along full speed ahead.
Next thing you know,
your project hits a wall in stakeholder review.
One stakeholder keeps sending new rounds of revisions
while another hasn't responded to any of your emails,
and your timeline feels the crunch.
It happens to the best of us,
but you don't have to sit back and watch your project crash.
Benjamin Franklin said,
"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."
So why not apply that idea here?
Here's how to keep stakeholders on track
and your project plan intact
and what to do if things go wrong anyway.
You can't get ahead of a problem
if you don't know what you're dealing with.
So let's identify some common reasons
the approval process can go wrong.
Do any of these bottlenecks sound familiar?
Stakeholders provide conflicting feedback.
There are too many reviewers
with an unclear chain of approval.
Reviewers lose sight of the original project goals.
You end up in a never-ending cycle of revisions
because scope and timing for review are left unclear
or a stakeholder misses an approval deadline.
You've probably encountered
every single one of these holdups in your projects,
maybe even all at once.
The good news is you can absolutely take steps
to keep your projects in check.
Here's how it's done.
It's a lot harder to succeed
if you don't know what success looks like
in the first place.
So before you even start to write your plan,
discuss review and approval with stakeholders
and let their input shape how the process will work.
Here's some tips that can help you engage stakeholders
in a productive conversation about the feedback process
before a deliverable lands in their lap for review.
Leaving scope wide open for the feedback process
inevitably leads to more work,
killing your project budget and timeline.
So be specific about how many days and rounds of revisions
a review cycle includes.
That way, Everyone's on the same page about
and comfortable with the scope you set together.
Want you avoid too many cooks in the kitchen
with no one clearly calling the shots?
Set clear roles and responsibilities for each deliverable
before the project starts,
and be prepared to reiterate this
to keep people on task as work progresses.
Use TeamGantt's RACI feature
to document roles and responsibilities
so it's easy for your team and stakeholders
to see what falls on who.
Stakeholders are busy folks,
and you don't want to send a deliverable for approval
only to find out your stakeholder just left
for a two-week vacation.
Talking about availability
with stakeholders on the front end
enables you to build your project schedule
around their out-of-office time.
It's also a good idea to ask stakeholders
to designate a backup reviewer
so you won't be left in the lurch if and when plans change.
A good process doesn't happen on its own.
So work with your stakeholders
to figure out how feedback will be collected and accepted.
Things can get out of hand fast,
especially if you're working with a large stakeholder group.
So do your best to channel feedback through a single stream
to minimize confusion and help prevent unnecessary bog downs
brought on by free for all debates.
At TeamGantt, we like using a shared document
that's written in one voice with a direct style
so it's easier to resolve conflicts
and get to work more quickly.
Here are a few ideas to help you keep feedback in check.
Ask stakeholders to designate one person
to wrangle all their feedback and send it back in a format
that's actionable and easy to understand.
This makes sure feedback comes back to you
in one consistent voice.
It also pushes stakeholders
to work out differences amongst each other
so follow up conversations and arguments
don't drag your timeline down.
This tactic works really well for high stakes projects
that require input from many busy stakeholders.
It helps come to content decisions more quickly as a team=
so you have a clear path forward for addressing feedback
and securing final approval.
This makes it easier to keep tabs on version control.
It doesn't matter what tool you use,
as long as stakeholders have easy access
and clear guidelines for how, when, and why to use it.
Just keep in mind that your process may look different
for each project,
depending on what tools your stakeholders use,
whether stakeholders are internal versus external,
and what stage your project is at.
Now it's time to formalize your process
by putting tasks, dates, and assignments around it.
Make sure tasks and milestones
are spelled out really clearly
so it's easy to follow along
when you present your plan to stakeholders.
Remember, creating a project plan is only the beginning.
You also need to talk about it.
So highlight key approval milestones
and work with stakeholders to answer these questions.
Who should be involved at each stage of the review?
Does the timing for review and approval work?
And how will we narrow down feedback and come to a decision?
Yes, you may have discussed all of these things
at the outset of the project, but things change
and stakeholders aren't as dialed into the project details
like you are.
Consider this a golden opportunity
to check in on previous decisions
and confirm they still make sense.
After all, it's easier to adjust the plan
before work gets underway.
Once work begins, you'll need to keep a close eye
on how things are actually progressing
and keep stakeholders in the loop along the way.
You're not doing your job as a project manager
if you're not continually iterating
and reiterating what's to come.
And if stakeholders understand what's expected of them
and when, they can't point the finger at you
if they miss an approval deadline.
At TeamGantt, we're big fans of dropping hints and cues
as gentle reminders along the way.
It's less about being a pest
and all about setting your project
and stakeholders up for success.
Your project plan and subsequent status reports
are simple tools you can use
to establish process and responsibilities
every step of the way.
Your project plan is a living, breathing document
that will likely shift and evolve once work begins.
So use it as a reference point
to communicate progress to stakeholders
as you work to milestones.
For example, let's say your team is almost ready
to present work for review.
Reach out to the stakeholder a couple of days in advance
to review the timeline
and confirm they can still deliver feedback on time.
And because a plan is visual,
it's an easy way to show stakeholders
how their approval impacts the entire project schedule.
A weekly status report is the perfect opportunity
to give stakeholders a heads up
about what's coming down the project pipeline.
When you talk through your status report,
be sure to call out upcoming milestones
and ask stakeholders
if they foresee any issues with their deadlines.
If you're concerned they won't make it happen,
be upfront about the risks of missing a deadline.
Eliminate surprises by using this opportunity
to give stakeholders a brief process refresher
and review roles and responsibilities.
This is bound to happen at some point or another,
and it's difficult to resolve
because you can't really control stakeholders,
especially if they happen to be the paying clients.
So what do you do when a stakeholder misses a deadline
that will completely alter your timeline?
Here are three steps you can take
to get your project back on track.
The truth is, humans are part of the project process
and you can't control their actions 100%.
If you've engaged stakeholders in the planning process
and communicated expectations early and often,
it's not your fault
if they don't uphold their end of the bargain.
The best thing you can do at this point
is accept the situation and move into problem-solving mode.
Even if the delay isn't your fault,
it's your job as the project manager to address it.
Showing how a delay affects your team's timing and work
helps stakeholders realize the impacts of their inaction.
And unfortunately,
sometimes it takes a slip up for people to get it.
This is where a TeamGantt's Baseline feature comes in handy.
For instance,
if you set a baseline and then update your plan
based on the new extended deadline,
you can show stakeholders how their missed deadline
shifts your entire plan.
This is where the rubber meets the road.
Take a look at the timeline and offer solutions
to minimize the project damage.
You might have to remove time from future review cycles,
cut back on the project scope
or add more resources to the budget
to meet the final deadline.
Discuss alternate options with your stakeholders
and be honest about what's possible
to make sure they understand the impact of the delay
and are onboard with the plan moving forward.
It won't be easy to sort out
because the options are never ideal.
Whatever you do,
stand firm in the time you plan to execute the work
and reiterate the importance of that time
to the quality of the project.
Just know you can always work through any issue.
And while your stakeholders might not end up 100% happy,
you're doing everything in your power
to make up for the lost time and keep the project on track.
Want even more tips and tools
for managing stakeholder relationships?
Check out class nine:
How to Manage Stakeholders in a Project,
in our free online video course,
The Art and Science of Leading Projects.
Learn how to manage expectations and address red flags
before they become an issue.
Plus download helpful resources,
like a stakeholder decision matrix
and new stakeholder onboarding template.
It's all on demand and totally free.
That's it for today.
I hope this has helped you hone your approval process
and keep your projects from getting bogged down.
If it has, I'd love it if you could return the favor
and hit the like button.
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Thanks for watching, I'll see you next time.
(smooth music fading)