Build a business case. Too often, software is viewed as a must-have by PMOs but a nice-to-have by those in charge of approving the budget. It’s up to you to treat it as a resource and craft a solid business case for it. Provide thorough descriptions of the software and any hardware requirements it may have—the software’s value may be obvious to you, but a non-PM might need supporting documentation to make an informed decision.

Highlight error reduction. If the software will help eliminate errors or reduce the time to reconcile earlier errors, be sure to make a point of it. Errors can be costly in a number of ways—compromised worker safety, unnecessary expenditures, extended timelines, wasted or duplicated efforts, even missed business opportunities and reduced competitive advantages—and you should consider all them of when drafting your business case.

Show the return on your investment. Remember that ROI doesn’t have to be in dollars (though that’s the most common and easily understood method). Cost savings, headcount reduction/stabilization, reduced time to market—whatever the particular benefits your proposed software package will provide, put them into terms your senior staff can easily understand and relate to.

Coordinate with IT. In many organizations, the IT group must evaluate and approve software before it goes to the executives for a final OK. It’s best to involve IT early in the process, so they can address potential support, security, or infrastructure issues before they become impediments to approval.

PMAlliance uses a team of highly experienced and certified professionals to provide project management consulting, project management training and project office development services.

1 – Publish the project’s objectives and timeline once everything is approved. End users may still invent new or revised objectives occasionally, but you’ll have a formal document to reference when they do.

2 – Identify a point person in each user group. Narrowing down the communication pathway to just one person per end user group often helps limit requests or complaints. Why? Because users who are chronically displeased are less inclined to voice concerns to the point person when they know that individual is only a messenger.

3 – Create a mechanism for questions and concerns. Pre-printed or online forms may be a good solution—they allow users to move concerns up the food chain without giving them a free-form platform for griping.

4 – Appoint a high-ranking complaint-taker. People are often reticent to complain to someone they feel is too high up in the organization to tolerate garden-variety grumbling. Legitimate concerns will still bubble to the surface.

5 – Notify vendors of potential usurpers. Especially in companies with informal cultures, end users may seize the opportunity to make requests directly to contractors. It’s critical that vendors and other business partners take direction from—and provide project information to—only authorized individuals.

6 – Contact the boss if users’ actions endanger your project’s success. If you’ve tried every other tactic and still have one or more end users whose interference is making the project impossible to manage, it really is OK to raise concerns with their boss or your senior staff. Use this as a last resort, but don’t let your success become a hostage to someone else.

PMAlliance uses a team of highly experienced and certified professionals to provide project management consulting, project management training and project office development services.

Why you need them: Your Accounting team is responsible for managing operating and capital expenses, and often handles things like cross-charging and linking expenses to their related contracts. They’re the foundation that ensures vendors are paid and money is available when it should be. PMOs might also rely on Accounting for help in submitting budgets and working with providers to reconcile billing or other errors.

DO use Accounting’s codes when processing invoices and purchase orders. It’s better to follow the right convention early than have to spend time finding and fixing errors later.

DO work with Accounting when developing budgets. They’re often responsible for setting up new capital accounts and expense line items, and will be able to offer input on formatting your budget submission correctly.

DO contact Accounting as soon as a discrepancy appears. They can help you investigate errors and issue revised budget or account statements if necessary.

DON’T expect Accounting to do your administrative work. Provide accurate account codes when processing invoices and ensure any documentation is signed by an authorized person.

DON’T leave paperwork until the last minute. Accounting often has time cutoffs for issuing checks or setting up new vendor accounts, and may also have strict reporting deadlines for financial compliance. Find out what your team can do to provide the information they need on time.

PMAlliance uses a team of highly experienced and certified professionals to provide project management consulting, project management training and project office development services.

The target is always moving. Mid-project check-ins invariably reveal that the initial plan your team is using has morphed in this end user’s mind into something different. Either business needs have changed since kick-off (but no one told you), the end user forgot to tell you about a crucial need (just like they “forgot” to tell you last time, too), or your project team didn’t understand the original need. The excuse doesn’t matter, though—this type of end user is why the term “scope creep” was invented.

They’re there to “help.” Some end users are actually closet project management experts, or at least they think they are. They may try to act as a mouthpiece for the rest of the users, gathering information and blocking your efforts to canvass the group individually, or they might go so far as to waylay contractors in the hall to inquire about progress or make suggestions for changes. If you suspect an unauthorized “helper” is in your midst, be sure to put your team and vendors on alert—change orders or directives that don’t come through approved channels shouldn’t be blindly implemented.

Nothing is right. You know them. They’re the ones who lament that no project has ever been (or will ever be) successful. Objectives are never fully met, timelines are haphazard, and planning is a joke. Their negativity is annoying at best—at worst, their attitude can poison other end users and may even keep them from sharing key information, such as in-depth needs and concerns, because they don’t think full disclosure will do any good.

PMAlliance uses a team of highly experienced and certified professionals to provide project management consulting, project management training and project office development services.