A senior stakeholder bypasses the project manager and assigns work directly. What should happen?
Uncontrolled instruction channelMake the impact visible and agree a simple route for new work. Respect legitimate authority while ensuring instructions do not silently override priorities, capacity, or approved scope.
What to do now
- Capture the requested work
- Assess impact on current commitments
- Confirm the authorized priority decision
- Communicate the revised plan to affected owners
When to escalate
Escalate when
Direct instructions conflict with agreed authority or contractual commitments.
Who decides
The stakeholder decision owner and project sponsor
Example
A department head's urgent request enters the work queue and explicitly displaces a lower-priority task.
Mistake to avoid
Telling staff to obey both conflicting instructions.
Prevent a repeat
Check stakeholder understanding at important decisions rather than counting messages sent.
Suggested ApprovedFlow setup
- Projects
- Documents
- Approvals
Keep stakeholder decisions and supporting records with the project and assign follow-up actions to named owners. See the platform
Related cases
- How do we keep external partners informed without exposing confidential information?Uncontrolled information sharing
- A stakeholder resists the project but will not explain why. What should I do?Unexplored stakeholder concerns
- A stakeholder wants to add work directly to the sprint. Who handles it?Uncontrolled sprint work intake
- The project manager assigns every task in an agile team. Is that necessary?Overcentralized work coordination