Enable Change to Achieve the Envisioned Future

Correct Answer: Facilitate stakeholder engagement to ensure alignment with the change objectives

During a project that aims to bring about significant organizational change, the project manager's role includes facilitating stakeholder engagement to ensure alignment with the project's change objectives. Effective stakeholder engagement helps to address concerns, manage expectations, and foster support for the change, all of which are critical for the success of a change initiative. Other answers mentioned could be part of a project manager's responsibilities but are not the best description of the primary duty in a change-oriented project. Adopting a rigid approach with no deviations from the plan could be detrimental to a project that might require flexibility and adaptability as circumstances change. Overseeing financial auditing is important to ensure the project remains within budget, but this task does not address the human and organizational aspects of a change-centric project. Finally, implementing a rapid deployment strategy focuses on speed rather than on the effectiveness of change adoption and could risk the project's success by not allowing enough time for proper engagement and adaptation. Therefore, these aspects, while important, do not represent the most comprehensive view of the project manager's responsibility in a change initiative.

Correct Answer: Assimilate feedback to iterate on the project plan while aligning with the change objectives

When facilitating a project with the aim of enabling change for the future, the project manager should integrate stakeholder feedback by assimilating it to iterate on the project plan while aligning with the change objectives. This approach enables the project to evolve based on input from those it will affect and ensures that the project remains relevant and effective in meeting its goals Rejecting feedback until the final stages limits the opportunity for meaningful integration and can result in a final deliverable that doesn't fully meet stakeholder needs or expectations. Keeping the project plan static ignores the dynamic nature of most projects and the valuable insights that stakeholders can offer throughout the project life cycle. Focusing on feedback exclusively for risk identification and mitigation overlooks the potential for feedback to improve other areas of the project, such as design, functionality, and user experience.

Correct Answer: Facilitator to ensure the team aligns with the change objectives

The primary role of a project manager in the context of a project designed to enable change and achieve the envisioned future state is that of a facilitator. This role requires the project manager to ensure that the entire team is aligned with the change objectives, facilitating communication, collaboration, and problem-solving to meet the objectives of the project. The project manager needs to work with stakeholders to integrate their needs and manage expectations. The other options do not accurately describe the primary role of a project manager in a change-enabling project. The project manager is not usually the sole decision-maker for change-related activities, as this approach does not foster team collaboration or buy-in and fails to incorporate the collective expertise of the team. Being a gatekeeper who prevents scope changes is a restrictive view; while project managers need to control the scope, they should also be adaptable to necessary changes that align with project goals. Lastly, while technical expertise can be beneficial, the project manager's role is not to dictate change implementation details; instead, they coordinate and lead efforts through the knowledge and skills of the project team.