When the Boss doesn't Accept the Project Manager Opinion

In this podcast, Ricardo talks about the relationship between the project manager and his boss in the organization. He explains that different opinions are part of the work and when the project manager suggests a direction to a superior, he must have grounding through data and facts, so hardly he will be challenged.

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Episode transcript

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Hello everybody welcome to the five minutes PM. Podcast Today I like to discuss and try to do it, understand, understand and talk about when the chaff doesn't accept the project manager Opinion and stuff. We talk about this. I need first to explain him to understand that all projects, all project managers, they are inside a corporation inside a corporate culture and the organizational aspect.

So for sure all projects are under power relationships, err, key and discipline common chain so that we need to understand that our project it's not easy related from the business. And we thought we think about business. We think about power. We think about politics with think about conflict of interests.

We think about some kind of fight for better positions. This is part of the business. This is part that I dunno, any single company, what does doesn't exist? Any single? So as a project manager, what should I do when my boss, for example, tell me do this, do that. And don't respect what is inside my plan. First thing that you need to ask to yourself why he's not accepting my opinions.

Y he's not the second thing because he or she doesn't trust in what I'm saying or, or what I'm writing or the cost they have or something like a hidden agenda or something different for that product is that I run. No. So first you need to understand the question regarding power. It's always a white question. Why or why?

He asked me to change that, that line from October 30 to September 30? Why or why this once the rich or the rationale behind this, and second, you need to Al so to answer the same way for you, why you agree with that? Why not? Why I don't agree that this is the right opinion and the right way to move this.

You will sell this to wise and you can do this alone. Why he's asking me in a way I killed the set. You would understand more. What is behind that? Number's behind that one month change and the answer you should give must be bad on facts and data. It's not a matter of Opinion. Oh, I don't agree because they are. I think that no, you don't think nuke data or information.

Let's put the school so on the wall and let's see how it works. If we can take cult one month of my Project. So we need to do that because if you have database it information, Dan, you can argue, you can comment and you can tell them, OK, to redo. We use these. We need to take out this and this and this, or, or packages from my WBS. We need to increase one to three new resources to do that on this TimeTrade.

So does this, the rash. So now behind that, we need to understand that if we don't understand that will not have argument to discuss. Let me give you, in my example, I'm always a contractor as a consultant, so I don't have any power or any legitimated power. Why do people listen to me, it's very important. Will understand that power comes from different sources, your boss, for sure.

He or she has the legitimated power, the power that comes from his or her position, but you also can have power. How you can have power, the power of the expertise, the power of knowledge. No, exactly. And you have extremely powerful arguments that the base of information, and then you become much more strong in this discussion.

What do you need? And you need to look for otherwise, you will not have any argument and you will need to respect and the same thing, the legitimate power and the desire of your Boss with that. And any complaint, because you don't have anything to propose a new way of doing that. You don't have that. So it's really, really important that we think about that, that we think about that.

I hope you when Joe this podcast and see you in next week with another five minutes, be on podcasts,

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