Management Presentations
Scenario
You have the challenging task of presenting status of your project to Senior Management. Typically this happens when the project is a bad state and senior management wants to understand the problem and offer help. The meeting starts and the project manager gets bombarded with questions and he/she is taken off guard. The meeting ends painfully with a lot of actions and a poor perception on the project manager.
As a Fresh Project Manager
Typical mistakes
Treating this like any other weekly/monthly program review meeting and use the same format and preparation
Lack of understanding and appreciation that the senior management do not understand low level details about your project as your project is one of many they have to worry about.
Building on the above, lack of understanding of the perspectives of various stakeholders in the meeting: there will be people who will try to fire from the shoulders of the project manager and more seriously there will be people who will gladly throw the project manager under the bus. If the project manager is not prepared for this situation, he/she will end up flat on the ground.
With a Salt -N- Pepper Look & Many More Battle Wounds
Treat this as a once in a year opportunity. Following objectives should be met:
The first slide should pretty much tell the entire story of the project. The key challenges, risks, options, decisions should be mentioned either directly in the slide OR through the speaking points.
The senior managers should develop a perception that the project manager is in control of the ship, even though it is in rough waters.
Do not go into depth of an issue and assume that the senior managers understand that level of details. Always remember that they do not have patience. They had been pampered by getting summary and gist of the problems and they expect the same from you.
Do not ever say "Please hold on to your question. The answer is coming 4 slides later". Instead, answer the question immediately. If you want to support with more details, jump to the corresponding slide. But never ask them to wait.
Take the blame of the current situation on yourself. As much as possible, avoid pointing fingers. Mention how you would have handled a situation differently.
Explain your recovery plan in such a way to build confidence on you.
Clearly state your ask. What do you need from the senior managers to help you in successfully completing the project.