Bob, I'm a staff level IT employee at a large regional company where even the most mundane things can, and usually do, become heavily politicized. In particular, there is outright animosity between IT and most of the business lines, stemming from ego and ambition as much as anything else. Most days I avoid these and go about my job of researching and evaluating technology. Recently, though, I was given the Bob,I’m a staff level IT employee at a large regional company where even the most mundane things can, and usually do, become heavily politicized. In particular, there is outright animosity between IT and most of the business lines, stemming from ego and ambition as much as anything else. Most days I avoid these and go about my job of researching and evaluating technology. Recently, though, I was given the “opportunity” of managing a troubled, high-profile, high-risk project. The CFO impressed upon me that this is the most important priority to the bank, and that all other priorities pale beside it. The problem isn’t my skill set — I have several years of solid PM experience. The problem is that I fear the project is headed toward failure because of politics. My hands are tied from truly, effectively managing the project, and instead I’m encouraged to continue the tradition of hostility toward business users. I’ve been directed to actually withhold necessary information from the business line, to teach them a lesson. The business line doesn’t want me involved in “their” project but they’re going through the motions because, in effect, the chairman told them they have to. Regardless of the outcome, one group or the other will deem it a failure, and I’ll be the scapegoat. What depresses me most is that I’ve become mostly concerned about saving my hide. My co-workers are placing bets, with the odds favoring me being the next person to exit the company, under whatever circusmtance. Any advice?– Tied to the Tracks.Dear Tied … My best advice: Keep your head down and your focus as narrow as possible so you can report weekly progress even though it’s not progress in any real sense. Redefine project governance so all decisions are made by the project team members, by making whatever assumptions they need to make whenever they can’t get the right kind of involvement or decisions from the right people. While you’re doing so, find another job in another company as soon as you can – before everything blows up. You should be able to stretch things out for at least three months before anyone figures out the progress is, while real, entirely pointless. If you want to really play the game, include this project on your resume as an indicator of the esteem in which you’re currently held (“Currently managing strategic business initiative identified by CFO as company’s most important priority.”)If, on the other hand, you decide you need to find ways to actually succeed in this disaster-in-the-making, here’s the only technique I know of that will have any chance at all of success: Get all the liars on one room and keep them there. But first …Perform a stakeholder analysis. Identify every individual and group that will have an impact on the project’s success. Label each as a change supporter, resister, or non-combatant (neutral), second-guess the reasons why, rate their level of impact, and develop a strategy for addressing resistance (co-opt through involvement; marginalize; swamp with information; redesign solution to benefit them, etc.). This will help you anticipate what’s likely to happen in the meeting. You didn’t tell me if the CFO is a supporter or one of the gamers. If he/she is the former, have a completely frank conversation about the project’s likelihood of success under the current circumstances and make it clear that the only way things can possibly move forward is for the company’s top executives to become involved personally as executive sponsors. If the CFO is one of the game-players, don’t try to meet with the CEO … just move forward as outlined below.Convene the meeting. The official meeting subject is “Relaunching the project.” Go through the statement of work’s objective statement, scope, and deliverables. Insist that everyone in the room agree that if the project accomplishes the stated objective and creates the deliverables within the established scope that they’ll consider it to be a success. This is an around-the-room exercise: Ask each individual, not the room at large, so that abstentions aren’t possible.Then, in the same meeting, review the project governance – how decisions will get made and by whom; how issues will be escalated and to whom. Once again, go around the room and ask, if the project follows this governance, whether everyone in the room will abide by the project’s decisions. At some point in the proceedings, someone will complain, “Do we really have to go through this nonsense?” Know in advance how you’ll respond so you don’t come across as defensive, or offensive. “Yes. Where we are right now, it’s quite clear that the different business entities affected by this project and IT aren’t on the same wavelength, and when the project team needs decisions, we get conflicting direction from different stakeholders. If we can’t fix this the project can’t move forward because the definition of where ‘forward’ is will depend on which one of you we’re talking to. So yes, we do need to go through these steps so that everyone involved in the project has the same understanding of what we’re trying to achieve and how. And even more important, so that everyone involved in the project knows that everyone else is operating under the same set of assumptions.”Before you’re done, confirm the governance model with some for-instances. “Just to confirm that we all have the same understanding … if we need time from business users to confirm aspects of the design or to help with the testing and we can’t get it, I call you, Bill, and you’ll intervene to make sure it happens, is that right?” And so on, putting the most likely change-resisters on the spot.Last piece: At the end of the meeting, say, “Since this is such a high-profile project and is in such a high level of distress at the moment, I think we need to have this group meet monthly as an executive committee to review progress and resolve any issues that can’t be resolved any other way.” Follow the meeting with complete notes, of course, distributed to all participants, and from that point forward document everything and copy everyone. What you’re trying to do, of course, is create an environment where it’s politically dangerous to be the odd person out or try to sabotage things. And if the person who instructed you to withhold information chews you out, be blunt: He might benefit from your doing so, but your butt is on the line with the project, and if causing it to fail is a condition of employement all that means is that no matter what you do you’ll lose your job.Oh, one more thing. If you can’t get everyone to agree to attend the meeting in the first place, I only see one real alternative: Set up a meeting with the CEO, say similar words about different constituencies operating under different sets of assumptions to the ones above, and then say, “This project is in serious trouble. If it isn’t important enough for the stakeholders to meet and find a way to rescue it, my recommendation is that you personally kill it before it wastes any more of the bank’s resources.”Understand, everything you do from now on is high-risk one way or another, so filter this advice through your company’s actual politics, which you know better than I do. I agree, your chances of getting into trouble are greater than your chances of succeeding. Which means my first advice is probably your best course of action, even though you might feel a bit weaselish in pursuing it.– Bob ——– Technology Industry