The Role of the C-suite in Project Management

The growing technology has led leaders to think strategically and make informed decisions that can help contribute to the company’s growth. The PMO (Project Management Office) plays a pivotal role in organizational growth. They execute projects, assign tasks to the employees based on their qualifications and expertise, track the project’s status, and consider other factors to ensure the successful completion of the project.

How do you think the PMP performs all levels and complexities of operations without any hassle? Well, the C-suite is key to efficient project management and smooth organizational function. In this post, we are going to discuss the role of the C-suite and how they drive the company’s growth.

What is a C-Suite?

C-level executives refer to the high-authority people that are supposed to execute complex tasks or oversee other critical management operations. The project charter, budget, timeline, changes, and other activities are approved by the C-level executive before the manager, and the team starts working on the project.

We live in a world where being first to market with an average product is better than launching your product late but offering the best quality. The focus has been shifted to the speed of delivery, as people want a quick solution to their problems. This has a significant impact on project management. The C-level executives are the senior managers that ensure the project goals are aligned with the corporate objectives, and people working on the project follow all instructions to ensure the best quality and timely delivery.

Unlike project managers that are responsible for answering all user queries and keeping employees up-to-date with the latest changes, the C-level executives step in only when there is a risk of the project missing its deadline. Their role is to track the project’s success and check if the end product meets the quality standards planned in the project initiation phase. Let’s get into the details of the role of C-level executives in project management.

Select the Right Projects

Selecting a project might seem like a simple task, but it’s pretty complex. A senior-level manager who understands the company’s final objectives must check whether the project aligns with the company’s long-term objectives before accepting. Whatever project you take, no matter how profitable it looks, it must align with your organizational objectives. A project that doesn’t contribute to the company’s long-term growth is of no use.

Determine Your Involvement

When an employer faces a problem in a project, they report to the project manager and not the c-level executives. Suppose you are working on a project that has a strict deadline. You need an emergency leave. You will approach the project manager with your leave application, not the CEO.

The c-suite executives assign all day-to-day tasks to the project management. In fact, the senior management can leave the entire operation to the project manager. All they do is oversee the final results.

That works for all low-risk projects, but if it’s a complex project that experiences changes in the specifications frequently or is not flexible enough to be executed easily, a senior-level manager has to step in. They need to work with the project manager and the team to handle all operations smoothly.

Explain the Strategic Vision to the Team

A project won’t be completed as required when the vision and mission are not clear to the project manager or the team. Any project that the C-level executives accept affects the organization's strategic objectives in some way.

When the project is not accomplished, it negatively affects these organizational goals. That’s why a senior manager must conduct a meeting where the project’s specifications with its vision are discussed. This gives your team a better idea of how they should execute their tasks so that the end goals are achieved as planned.

Allocating Resources

The senior level management allocates resources, including human resources, money, equipment, technology, and raw materials, based on the requirements. The project manager creates a project charter that shows the list of the things required to accomplish a project. The project is started once the c-suite executives accept this request and allocate resources to each department.

They Oversee the Project's Progress

The project manager is responsible for monitoring the progress of a project and reporting the same to the senior-level executives. A senior manager should record all milestones and the project’s status at regular intervals and implement changes in the plan to ensure faster and smoother completion of the project. The project manager creates a detailed report on the project’s status, specifications, and other metrics and hands it to the C-level executives.

They Mentor Project Managers

Senior-level executives must have worked as project managers before they got promoted to the C-level suite. These professionals have knowledge and expertise in handling projects of different natures and complexity levels.

This experience helps the c-level executives to train the existing project managers on how to accomplish projects with a limited budget and strict deadlines while maintaining pre-determined quality standards. In addition, these executives hire the right project managers after carefully evaluating their qualifications, experience, skillsets, and other eligibility metrics.

Every manager requires the right mentoring from senior-level executives. This facilitates easier and smoother completion of the project.

Adapting the Technology

The rapidly progressing technology requires a professional who understands AI, Machine Learning, and other advanced tools and knows how to implement them to achieve better results. Earlier, managers used to focus on the deadline and budget. They would mark the project completed once it was finished within the given timeframe and tick all boxes of specifications.

Today, the focus is more on innovation within the project. Tech leaders are encouraging senior-level management to shift their focus to modern tools, such as cloud storage and all-in-one project management software, to maximize efficiency.

That’s the role of the C-suite managers in project management. They accept projects, align them with the organizational objectives, monitor the progress, and suggest modern solutions to accomplish projects within the given timeframe and budget.