Q.) I have found that management sometimes doesn't give the project adequate support. How can the project manager influence executive management to convince them that the steps being taken to enhance life cycle control of the project are in the right direction?

Management failures—sponsor failures—account for a high percentage of project failure and/or inefficiencies. One of the absolute top ways to change this trend is to educate management on the need for full participation—in many cases, a nearly impossible task. A second method is to ensure that every project has a very clear Charter—one that is signed by your sponsor and is made public within the enterprise.

The frustrating reality, though, is that a majority of companies moved into project management in an ad hoc manner. As a result, bad project management & support habits were set in place early on and pushing back against those bad habits can cause you, the project manager and/or team, difficulties.

Read up on Organizational Change Management. It will help you both in understanding what is occurring and conceiving ideas to help people out of their ruts. People tend to be human (humor) no matter what the country of origin. Once they have found their comfort zone (rut) in any activity it takes enormous pressure to move them to a higher level of focus.

Checklist:

• Read Change Management (Try FastCompany.com & other Internet resources. My site, Biztechnet.org, has some materials and I have over two dozen more to post when I manage to find the time.)
• Start keeping a Project Notebook. Keep track of your project successes and failures. Conduct clear and unemotional project end reviews and place the data in your notebook. Use these trends, customized to your projects, to show how much the company loses when projects are not effectively supported or managed.
• Also remember that effective management professionals are attracted to formal—proven—processes and procedures. If you are not already using Project Management Institute (PMBOK) methodologies (or those of a professional PM organization of your choice within your own country) begin adopting those methods right away. Be sure to forewarn management that you are creating a standardized, repeatable, process for successfully pursuing project success—one that the company can use as the foundation for any / every project.
• Begin a process of searching the Internet for industry statistics on project successes and failures. Keep track of these and use them in your discussions. Remember that you, the project manager, must thoroughly understand what makes your management (sponsors) tick—what they're interested in and how they want to receive information. When you understand what these folks are looking for, you take an enormous step toward gaining more of their attention and support.