3 Ways You Can Push Back as a Program Manager

Our last post, What it Means to Push Back as a Program Manager, discussed why it’s important to say NO at times. One area where this skill is very important is within your own organization. The following are some scenarios and possible remedies to these situations if you encounter them as a program manager:

Someone Hijacks Your Resource

Let’s say you work in a very specialized field and there are only so many skilled resources to go around. You’ve been given one of those resources to finish a project and help your program run smoothly. Someone pulls rank without telling you, and when you check in on your resource to see how things are progressing, she says, “Sorry, I haven’t been working on your project for two days now. The VP of Sales needed this other project complete.”

What??  The VP of Sales came and took her away from your project without even asking or telling you? She probably should have told you, but that’s a different issue.

If you are a program manager that pushes back, you will have a conversation with the VP of Sales. You will articulately state your position and the fact that you are responsible for getting this particular deliverable complete. This guy is smart. He understands your job. He understands your position and hopefully he will graciously give your resource back.

If not, then escalate. Because at the end of the day, your boss will question you. You will be asked whether or not you knew about it, and why you allowed it to happen.

Someone Tells You Something Will Take Longer Than It Should

I’ve worked with resources in the past that had a standard answer for every request that was made of them. When asked how long something would take to complete, their immediate response was, “40 hours.” Everything was 40 hours! I knew good and well that it would only take a fraction of that time once they put their mind to it, but they wanted you to believe otherwise.

As a program manager, what can you do to push back in this situation? Call their bluff. “C’mon. Both you and I know that it only takes eight hours to get this done. I’ll tell you what, let’s tack on another eight hours just to be sure and we’ll go ahead and knock this out.” Don’t settle for the first answer you get, especially if you don’t like it or it doesn’t suit your needs.

Someone Tries to Get You To Commit To Something You Can’t Deliver

Here’s one of my favorites. Someone comes to you and says, “You own this, right?” What does that even mean? It means that they want to hand off their problem to you and not worry about it anymore. It means that your silence is consent. It means “you’re it.” It means that if you don’t say something, then their problem has instantly turned into your problem.

There’s nothing wrong with saying that you need to get a better understanding of exactly what is it that you are signing up to “own.” You need to get more information about what the problem is, who is involved, the current state, how close to completion the project is, etc. There are professional delegators within any organization whose sole purpose in life is to deflect anything and everything that comes their way that even remotely looks like work. Don’t get hit by any of their shrapnel.

If you do decide that you can help out and “own this,” then make sure it is on your terms. It may be that you need additional resources to assist you, or the date may need to be extended longer than what was originally planned. A lot of give and take occurs within business relationships. You don’t mind helping out and giving as a program manager, but at the same time you can’t let others take advantage of you. You’re not accountable to them. You are accountable to your boss and up the corporate ladder from there.

Fortunately, the days of pushing people to the ground are way behind us.  Everyone’s an adult now, but we still need to know how to play nice together. Part of playing nice is to understand there are rules to follow and boundaries to work within. Understanding these dynamics will help you learn how to be a program manager that pushes back…nicely, of course.