Microsoft Project 2013: The Missing Manual

Obtaining Approval for the Plan

With the convenience of email distribution lists and shared file storage, you may be tempted to email project stakeholders and ask them to review the plan and email their approvals back to you—without holding a sign-off meeting to make sure everyone understands what they’re approving. Unfortunately, the attached plan is likely to sit unread in all those email inboxes. You may receive approvals, but they may get unapologetically revoked later when people realize that the plan doesn’t meet their needs.

To obtain approvals that really stick, set up a sign-off meeting to review the plan and snag approvals then and there. (The box on Starting Before the Plan Is Approved talks about how to handle another approval issue—starting project execution before the plan is approved.) Here are some tips for a successful sign-off:

1. Distribute the project plan in advance, and urge the stakeholders to read it before the meeting.

   You can hand out hard copies, send the plan as an email attachment, or place a copy of the plan online where everyone can access it. The sign-off meeting (described in the next step) provides some motivation for the stakeholders to read the plan beforehand.

2. At the sign-off meeting, don’t assume that the stakeholders have read the plan.

   Your job as project manager is to present the plan at the meeting, covering its key aspects and pointing out potential conflicts, problems, and risks. Encourage questions and discussion—this is your last chance to hash ...