Power of the Stakeholder Sign Off

How to strategically use the powerful Stakeholder Sign Off within the intricate forensic processes of project controls to increase quality, identify emergency shared budget, and get complex systems delivered on time.

The idea of getting projects deployed on time is FAR EASIER than the reality. A trained and experienced project manager has a litany of tools and techniques in their toolbox. One of the most powerful is a Stakeholder Sign Off. Stakeholders are management staff from key areas of the organization held accountable to guide the project to a successful quality conclusion. They compose the project Steering Committee and often are key leaders of the resources assigned to the project. They have ‘Skin in the game’ and therefore have to provide Stakeholder Sign Off at key parts of the project, typically at Major Phase Exits. When competing team ideas threaten to derail the project or delivery schedule, Stakeholders can be formidable allies to the project manager in the battle for on time delivery. The Stakeholder Sign Off is the ‘Do it because we say so’ and can be a very powerful tool.

Stakeholders also own the Project Budget and have to ‘Put their money where their mouth is’. See below the Stakeholder Sign Off Process and how to leverage the right Stakeholder Sign Offs to increase quality, get emergency access to shared budgets, and be the difference between on time delivery or a major delay.

Stakeholder Sign Off Process — across each Major Project Phase/Phase Exits and key documents, processes

• Initiation Phase- Stakeholders are assembled into a Project Steering Committee and approve the Project Charter, Communication Plan, etc
• Planning and Design Phases- Stakeholders approve the Scope, Budget and Resources, Major designs, Timeline, etc
• Execution/Build/Control Phases- Stakeholders approve the Prototypes, Build Strategies, Operational Support Plans, changes to major areas of the Project such as Scope/Timeline/Budget, etc.
• SIGNIFICANT VALUE IN THE EXECUTION AND CONTROL PHASES FOR STAKEHOLDER SIGN OFF TO KEEP PROJECTS ON TRACK
• Closure/Operational Support Phase- Stakeholders provide sign off on project closure and release of resources or additional Post Go Live Releases
• USE STAKEHOLDER SIGN OFF STRATEGICALLY TO CARRY OUT DECOMMISSION PLANS AS NEEDED. KEEPING OLD NO LONGER USED PRODUCTION SYSTEMS AROUND TOO LONG LEAVES ROOM FOR ERRORS IN WHICH OLD SYSTEMS ARE TURNED BACK ON CAUSING CAPACITY ISSUES OR OUTAGES

How to leverage the right Stakeholder Sign Offs to increase quality, get emergency access to shared budgets, and be the difference between on time delivery or a major delay

When a stakeholder project leader or group of stakeholders instruct teams to get something done, it gets done. Within the complex intricate task alignment to resources and closely coordinated system of project delivery, there are still times in which a ‘Show of Strong Decisive Authority’ is needed to Recover Momentum onto a certain trajectory. As project manager accountable for being the head quarterback, I’m trained and experienced enough to know when to get the coach to call a timeout and bring the team in for a coach pep talk. You have to know when to step back and allow the respect and positional authority of Stakeholders to move things forward. Many stakeholders have cultivated such loyalty amongst staff and helped advance so many careers that just a pat on the shoulder will send resources to the front lines to battle for them.

How Stakeholder Sign Off within the Intricate Project processes can increase Quality

• In order to protect Quality Assurance, define and assign scope per resource in manageable portions that can actually be done.
• Create a Work Breakdown Structure and Activity on Node Chart.
• Then within the Project Plan, assign resources and estimated timelines for each task across linked dependencies (Carefully review task completion estimates per resource with them and their team managers, these need to reflect a high probability of being completed on time OR this is the time to ask for more resources before committing to the delivery dates).
• Then Baseline the Project Plan (Configuration saves a full copy of this version of the Project Plan that can then be used to compare Planned Duration vs Actual Duration task by task).
• In order to avoid overloading the build resources and risking the quality, ask for Stakeholder Sign Off of the Baselined Project Plan.
• During the testing phase,
• Get Stakeholder Signoff on the Test Plan.
• Also get their Sign Off on the Test Results. This is vital for Stakeholders to verify that the Quality Level of testing results and overall user experience reflect the goals of the Company Brand and plan for Customer Experience.
• Where there is a difference of opinion within the project team on the best testing approach or whether the system was built well enough for customer use, share these important decision requests with the Stakeholders. The tradeoff between Speedy Time to Market and Quality Level must be scrutinized by major stakeholders who are accountable for Sales, Brand Management, Customer Retention, Profits and Shareholder Portfolios, etc. If they say Deploy, Deploy. If they say Wait and build more, then wait. There could also be other products being deployed or business impacts causing the need to change Deployment dates, etc.
• During the Training Phase,
• Get Stakeholder Sign off on the Training Plan (Highly Trained staff is one of the best quality assurance techniques so Stakeholders will want to weigh in on the Training Plan and likely who is selected to perform the training and the cost).
• Get Stakeholder Sign Off on the Training Dates (Training key personnel and/or large groups of staff impacts productivity and needs advance approval).
• During the Go Live phase to widely communicate, help facilitate system adoption, and make sure the Customer Support Centers and all relevant Staff are ready to provide Quality Issue Resolution.
• The Go Live process tests and forces use of the new system or brings it to market for customers to use. Communications distributed from each key Stakeholder’s area is important. Stakeholders know best how to strategically use communication vehicles to ‘Get the message out’ and sufficiently prepare staff and customers to use the new system.
• Stakeholders need to provide final signoff that the deployed system has tested successfully and is operationally ready (This includes both automated and manual Disaster Recovery procedures in the event of an outage. Once users begin using the new system and data begins to flow in, it will be nearly impossible to Back Out and go back to using the old system. So all Emergency Procedures and Documentation MUST reflect the new system and functionality.)
• Stakeholders need to provide approval and dates of when the old system gets turned off, disconnected, and what happens to the equipment, software, and any licenses or leases via the decommission process. In addition to protecting the quality of the new system by making sure the old system doesn’t accidentally get turned back on or allowed to interrupt the operational stability of the new system, the decommission process can also be a powerful tool for Stakeholders. It can be used to negotiate ‘Old vs. New’ swaps or discounts on new hardware, software, licenses, and leases.

Emergency Access to shared budgets to avert a project budget crisis or schedule delay, identified in advance using forensic project management controls

One of the best parts of having an assembled Steering Committee of Stakeholders that you meet with regularly to provide status updates is that you have the opportunity to speedily address encroaching budget issues. These are the senior business leaders that are entrusted with all major budgets and direct line access to escalation paths to ask for even more funding to keep critical time sensitive initiatives On Track.

• Track and monitor the project’s Forecast vs. Actuals spreadsheet.
• Closely monitor and control the Critical Path Earned Value and Spending Bell Curve.
• As slippage occurs and budget overruns surface, put together corrective action working with the teams.
• If you cannot gain consensus on how to recover budget overruns, put together a presentation for the Steering Committee, be prepared with various options and also details supporting requests for more funding.
• Across each Stakeholder, they may be each able to contribute a small portion of their budget ‘Reserves or Contingencies’ towards an Emergency Shared Budget restorative package for the project’s budget needs. Thus, averting a major budget crisis or schedule delay.

Protecting On Time Delivery, clearing obstacles and delays

• Design of the solution is very intricate, especially when it involves a high amount of integration across numerous systems and databases. Add to that security and regulatory compliance requirements and a solution that is now unwieldy and error prone could jeopardize speed to market and customer experience. Use Stakeholder Sign Off at each layer of the design and inform them when too many layers have increased the risk mitigation capability. Catch this IN EARLY DESIGNS, DON’T WAIT UNTIL THERE ARE SO MANY COMPLEX LAYERS THAT THE ONLY SOLUTION IS TO EITHER THROW OUT THE DESIGN AND START OVER OR HIRE MULTITUDES OF ADDITIONAL SUPPORT STAFF. THIS IS ONE OF THE MOST POWERFUL TIMES TO USE STAKEHOLDER SIGNOFF TO CURB LAW OF DIMINISHING RETURNS WHERE DESIGN BECOMES FLAWS.
• Review the RAID Log (Risks, Action Items, Issues, Decisions and Dependencies) with Stakeholders when major items need their attention. Request Corrective Action on items that have either exceeded the capability of the project team or when there is lack of consensus on a clear direction forward.
• Review the Implementation Strategy and Timeline with Stakeholders, some of the most advanced strategists and tacticians are at senior levels of corporations. Your Steering Committee is likely composed of many brilliant minds, leverage that to make sure your solution has the RIGHT implementation strategy and timeline. The WRONG Implementation strategy or timeline could cause a failed launch of a very good product, scar the brand and customer experience, and cost thousands of dollars in brand image recovery.

There are countless scenarios in which the Stakeholder Sign Off process gets you access to the leadership most adept at protecting the organization goals and becoming allies of project managers to deliver on business value, time and time again. Use it, that is what a project Steering Committee of Stakeholders is set up and empowered to do.