Strategically Expanding Your Authority

So, when was the last time you, as a project manager, believed you had too much authority? I suspect that hasn’t happened often, if at all. Believe it or not, as a project manager, expanding your authority is possible with the right approach. Here’s how to leverage project charters or change mandates to increase your responsibilities and authority:

Step one: Take inventory.

• Identify opportunities: Use the project charter or change mandate to outline roles, responsibilities, and authorities required for implementation. This document provides a chance to expand your role if it benefits the project.
• Look for ways to leverage your skills: Propose taking on additional responsibilities that align with your expertise. For example, if you have experience in contract management, you could offer to lead this aspect of the project.
• Collaborate with stakeholders: Discuss your proposal with affected parties before presenting it to senior leadership. This ensures buy-in and addresses potential concerns upfront.
• Focus on Efficiency: Consider ways to justify your expanded role by demonstrating how it will improve project efficiency or effectiveness.

Step two: Consider what authority is reasonable.

• Utilize your existing skills: Propose responsibilities that leverage your proven abilities, not speculative competencies.
• Limit the scope of your expanded authority: Keep your expanded role focused and project-specific to avoid overreach.
• Consult affected managers one-on-one: Engage with managers whose areas may be impacted by your proposed authority change. You don’t want to give the impression that you are usurping their authority to assign specific individuals to the project.
• Determine how you will demonstrate value: Ensure that your expanded role will genuinely benefit the organization and project outcomes and how you will measure that benefit.

Step three: Diligently implement your approved authority change.

• Draft the project charter: Include extra detail about your expanded responsibilities. When circulating the document for review, highlight the authority change.
• Personally discuss your proposal with affected stakeholders: Address any outstanding concerns and develop collaborative processes to manage those concerns.
• Present the benefits: Ensure your expanded role is understood by the project management board, emphasizing how you will measure the benefits of the authority change. (Describing the benefits may include shorter timeframes for task execution, greater accuracy or detail in deliverables, or favorable considerations received due to relationships you may have.)

By following this approach, you can strategically expand your authority as a project manager, leading to more efficient project execution and better organizational outcomes.