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How to Get Senior Level Support For Your Projects
Almost every person in charge of a team has had a similar experience. With only a few minutes to present to senior management, you must communicate a proposed project on behalf of your team. You labor until you perfect the delivery, only to see that the executives were unmoved by your proposal. Why?
I have found some excellent techniques to help gain senior level support through my work with change leaders over the past ten years. I have also seen more than one attempt flop. I decided to talk directly with several senior level leaders both in corporate and public organizations in order to discover best practices in presentations to senior management.
The executives agreed that when mid-level leaders attempt to make a case for funding or other support, they often provide far too much information. Many pitches fail because executives don't have the time or interest to delve into every aspect of an initiative. Most executives don't want or need to know each and every task your team is working on. They don't want to have to weigh in on every decision.
The following are three best practices for making a case to the senior leadership team.
1. Summarize your main points in a Power Point presentation.
Because its purpose is to visually present your talk in short bullet point format, a PowerPoint deck presentation is an excellent tool for your proposal. Use stories and anecdotes to bring your main points alive, but keep the information on the Power Point presentation to the key points you want senior management to take away from the presentation. Each slide should take no more than three minutes of your overall presentation. Yes, have the information to back up your main points, but use it only if you are asked a specific question about that issue.
2. Categorize the key activities and objectives into subgroups.
Recently, I saw one mid-level manager include all the details of every task his team had planned over the next year in his presentation to senior management. While it was his hope that the details would strengthen his proposal, it resulted in irritating senior management instead. One executive even told the team leader that the committee had no interest in hearing what the team had planned for the year. They just wanted the significant points.
I find it helpful to group goals or activities into categories. For example, you might say that in 2009, your team will focus on cutting costs, streamlining processes, and developing bench strength. You could then list examples of goals in each of the three categories. This helps the executive team quickly focus on the strategic impact of your team's work and enables them to weigh in on whether they believe these are the right areas of emphasis.
3. Briefly describe what you need from senior management to press forward.
A great number of presentations to senior management take on an informational tone. The team leader will update the executives on status of the project and then ask for questions. Their expectation is that senior management will take the initiative and suggest a plan for funding and support of the project, which unfortunately is rarely the case.
A more effective presentation would be to conclude with a slide specifically describing what it is that you need to make your project a success. Maybe it is a specific amount of money earmarked in the budget, or a critical decision by senior management, or even more company resources dedicated to your project. While there is the risk that you will be denied, it is much better to understand where you stand up front, rather than to hope for something that would never have been approved.
In the 90s, a group of external consultants went to work with General Electric to derive a change acceleration process. As part of that process, the team found a four step process that worked very well in short, effective presentations:
* Our project or initiative is about . . . * It is critical to the company because . . . * What this means for you is . . . . * Heres how you can help . . .
Use this approach both in one-on-one conversations with stakeholders and in your formal pitches and presentations. You will find that your ability to argue for your case will improve as you learn to focus on these key elements.
By keeping your pitches to senior management short and crisp you will be able to focus on strategy, not tasks. When you are clear about what you need senior management will understand up front what it is your team proposes, what you need from them, and how it will help the organization.
About the Author Wendy Mack is a experienced advisor, leader, and author with a focus in leading and communicating change. You can reach Wendy at, or Download her free e-book, Transforming Anxiety into Energy at www.WendyMack.com.
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