How to Master Project and Program Visibility

If you have been following me for any of amount of time, you know that getting visibility for you and your team is important. However, there is also an opportunity for you to consider creating visibility for projects and programs too.

Let me share an example:

A client of mine shared the details of a discussion that he had with an executive leader about a project that would be kicking off soon. My client intended to walk through the proposed plan of this new project and share some of the details during this 1:1 meeting.

What he soon realized though is that the executive had heard some of the details of the plan already, even though the prosed plan had only been discussed the day before. The discussion about the plan had only included a few people and one of those people had shared some of the details with this executive.

Unfortunately, not all the pertinent information was positioned in a way that was clear and the project scope was only partially shared by this other person. Based on what the executive heard though, he formed opinions quickly on what the solution should be and also felt that the timeline was too long for implementation. Now my client had to do damage control to explain what the real story was in more detail.

I asked my client what he could do to minimize the misinformation so he didn’t have to keep doing damage control? Here was his rough draft of ideas that he identified:

• Ensure that he is sharing the key information with the executive leader quickly to ensure that the right story is being communicated.

• Communicate often with key stakeholders to minimize any incorrect information from spreading. He will present at steering team meetings and other leader’s staff meetings to share updates.

• Put together a one pager with key information that includes:
  • High level view of the project (what problem is it solving) and expected outcome.
  • What is in scope and out of scope of the project.
  • Proposed timeline and approach.
  • High level milestones.
  • Next steps for communication with key stakeholders and other interested groups.

What ideas do you have that would help to give your projects visibility?

If you don’t proactively drive the consistent narrative of a big project or program, then people will create their own stories and you have to keep getting things back into alignment. When you communicate, make sure the information is easy to understand and clear so that it can be shared in talking points and pictures with all the key stakeholders. This allows the visibility of both you and your project to show up in the best way!