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What team leader hasnt had the frightful experience of proposing an important team project to senior management, only to come out of the presentation feeling like the executives hadnt fully understood the importance of the initiative?
Passion for their work is a key element to most successful team leaders and group managers. Therefore, it is usually quite obvious to you that your groups work adds value to the overall organization. The sad truth: it is often not quite so clear to the very people you need to convince to support a proposal for additional resources. While difficult for all group leaders, it is unfortunately even more true for those teams in an organization that spend more in their budget than they make.
Over the past decade, I have worked closely with change leaders in all types of organizations. It is such a common concern among these folks to be able to gain executive support for their projects, so I talked directly with the senior executives of several private and public organizations in order to find out how team leaders and managers can gain that support more readily. The executives agreed that finding out how a proposed initiative will result in a positive return on their investment is a key factor that many team leaders fail to communicate properly.
It is a common mistake for group leaders to leave out a thorough analysis of how their teams work has a positive influence over the bottom line of the company. However, they are still confused and surprised when their projects get little or no funding or support from the senior management of the organization.
It is key to your success to be able to give senior management the reasons why they should invest in your groups initiative over all of the other proposals they are considering, regardless of whether you are seeking funding, resources, or some other support. I talked to one executive who indicated that he weighs the benefits a groups initiative will bring to the organization over all other proposals he hears before recommending funding support. You must be able to describe what the company will get out of their investment in a clear and concise manner.
Uncertain how to communicate the value of your proposal to the executive team? My suggestion is for you and your team to examine each priority and goal and identify the benefit achieving such goals will have on the companys:
Sales Costs Errors Production time Customer satisfaction Customer loyalty Ability to attract top talent Employee engagement Employee retention Brand recognition Stakeholder support Stockholder confidence Ability to meet regulations Ability to mitigate risks
If you arent able to show a bottom line impact, interview some allies and advocates at executive levels to hear how they would describe the value your group brings. Keep pushing yourself and your team to hear and understand what your executives are looking for and be sure to describe impact in their terms. By focusing on this in your presentations, you will see much more support for your proposals from the executive team.
Passion for their work is a key element to most successful team leaders and group managers. Therefore, it is usually quite obvious to you that your groups work adds value to the overall organization. The sad truth: it is often not quite so clear to the very people you need to convince to support a proposal for additional resources. While difficult for all group leaders, it is unfortunately even more true for those teams in an organization that spend more in their budget than they make.
Over the past decade, I have worked closely with change leaders in all types of organizations. It is such a common concern among these folks to be able to gain executive support for their projects, so I talked directly with the senior executives of several private and public organizations in order to find out how team leaders and managers can gain that support more readily. The executives agreed that finding out how a proposed initiative will result in a positive return on their investment is a key factor that many team leaders fail to communicate properly.
It is a common mistake for group leaders to leave out a thorough analysis of how their teams work has a positive influence over the bottom line of the company. However, they are still confused and surprised when their projects get little or no funding or support from the senior management of the organization.
It is key to your success to be able to give senior management the reasons why they should invest in your groups initiative over all of the other proposals they are considering, regardless of whether you are seeking funding, resources, or some other support. I talked to one executive who indicated that he weighs the benefits a groups initiative will bring to the organization over all other proposals he hears before recommending funding support. You must be able to describe what the company will get out of their investment in a clear and concise manner.
Uncertain how to communicate the value of your proposal to the executive team? My suggestion is for you and your team to examine each priority and goal and identify the benefit achieving such goals will have on the companys:
Sales Costs Errors Production time Customer satisfaction Customer loyalty Ability to attract top talent Employee engagement Employee retention Brand recognition Stakeholder support Stockholder confidence Ability to meet regulations Ability to mitigate risks
If you arent able to show a bottom line impact, interview some allies and advocates at executive levels to hear how they would describe the value your group brings. Keep pushing yourself and your team to hear and understand what your executives are looking for and be sure to describe impact in their terms. By focusing on this in your presentations, you will see much more support for your proposals from the executive team.
About the Author:
Wendy Mack is a professional mentor, trainer, and author with an emphasis on leading and change management. Contact Wendy at, or obtain her free e-book, Transforming Anxiety into Energy at www.WendyMack.com.
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