Setting up the financing and contracts for a project
13-January-2025
How to manage production in a project
13-January-2025
18 – DECISION
How to get the green light for a project is the major hurdle (or series of hurdles) that the project leadership and its supporters have to cross. At critical points in the project, key stakeholders have to be persuaded to make decisions like whether resources can be assigned to planning it thoroughly, whether the team can embark on producing the output, and whether that output is acceptable.
The art of getting those decisions borrows from the techniques of selling – recognising that achieving a decision is often far from a cold, logical process.
A major flood destroyed an centuries-old bridge at Pooley Bridge in the UK in 2015. Getting the go-ahead for a new bridge (seen in the video titles) was a protracted business; it took nearly six years for the new structure to be in place.
Project management is selling
18.1 – Getting the decision
Understand the selling techniques needed to persuade decision-makers to support and approve your project. Recognise that much of project management (especially in definition and planning) is about selling.
You will learn:
- What is the decision phase of the project.
- How the decision to start the project works.
- What are the two big decisions to start a project.
- Who are the decision makers in a project.
- What makes decision makers support projects.
- Why would decision makers support project proposals.
- How to get approval to proceed with a project.
Projects are a complex sale
18.2 – The selling approach
A complex sale involves several decision-makers. The route to success is emotional as well as rational. Understand what it is you are selling, and what makes decision-makers want to give you the green light for a project.
You will learn:
- How the project go-ahead decision really works.
- Why project management is about selling.
- How to handle a complex sale in a project.
- What is being sold in a project.
- Who are the selling team in a project.
- How to sell to decision makers in a project.
- How to use human nature in selling a project.
- How to run a project approval campaign.
- How to get key players to support a project.
Ways to build support
18.3 – Homing in on the decision
Learn about different techniques that will help build support for your proposal. Some – like the elevator pitch – are classic sales tools. Others make what you are doing more tangible. Find out about the role of prototypes and simulations.
Architects may extensive use of models and renderings to test ideas and build support for their designs. Many such tools were used before the British Library had the green light for the project.
You will learn:
- What is a selling pitch for a project.
- What is an elevator pitch for a project.
- How to make people enthusiastic about a project.
- How to make the decision for a project tangible.
- What is the reality check to make for a project.
- How to sell the project decision.
- What full project approval means.
- What is a good project launch checklist.
Many large projects involve tendering
18.4 – Tendering
Tendering is the way many projects are bought, especially large ones. Learn how tendering works, how to set up a tendering process, and how to win a tender.
You will learn:
- What is a project tender.
- How to choose who will do the project.
- What are the different types of project tender.
- What is the basic project tendering approach.
- How to get to know the prospect for a project tender.
- How to write a request for proposal.
- How to produce a bid for a project.
- What should a project tender bid contain.
- What the project bid executive summary should contain.
- What are the steps in a project bid process.
- How to set the price for a project.
- How to use value pricing for a project.
- What is the balance between pricing too high and too low for a project.