Many project managers are responsible for delivering high-impact initiatives without having direct authority over the people who must help make them successful. This session explores practical strategies for leading through influence, building stakeholder commitment, and delivering results in complex, rapidly changing environments.

Drawing on the real-world case study of coordinating a regional, in-person tabletop exercise involving more than 100 independent healthcare, public health, emergency management, government, nonprofit, and private-sector organizations, attendees will learn how to align competing priorities, navigate changing requirements, build trust across organizational boundaries, and keep large-scale projects moving forward when plans inevitably change.

Rather than focusing on emergency preparedness, this session highlights universally applicable project management principles that can be used in any industry. Participants will leave with practical tools and techniques for stakeholder engagement, governance, communication planning, risk management, decision-making, and leading successful projects when influence—not authority—is the key to success.

Key Takeaways

1. Apply practical strategies to lead complex, cross-functional projects through influence rather than formal authority.
2. Build stakeholder alignment and maintain engagement across diverse organizations with competing priorities and objectives.
3. Implement communication, governance, and risk management techniques to keep projects on track when plans change and uncertainty arises.
4. Translate lessons from a large-scale, multi-organization project into actionable tools for improving collaboration, decision-making, and project outcomes in their own organizations.