Which of the Following Can Help Offset the Power of Interest Groups?

Master Body

5. Stakeholder Management

A project is successful when it achieves its objectives and meets or exceeds the expectations of the stakeholders. But who are the stakeholders? Stakeholders are individuals who either care nigh or accept a vested involvement in your project. They are the people who are actively involved with the work of the project or have something to either gain or lose every bit a result of the project. When you manage a projection to add lanes to a highway, motorists are stakeholders who are positively affected. Withal, you negatively affect residents who live nearly the highway during your projection (with construction noise) and after your project with far-reaching implications (increased traffic noise and pollution).

NOTE: Key stakeholders tin make or interruption the success of a project. Even if all the deliverables are met and the objectives are satisfied, if your fundamental stakeholders aren't happy, nobody's happy.

The project sponsor, generally an executive in the organization with the authority to assign resources and enforce decisions regarding the projection, is a stakeholder. The client, subcontractors, suppliers, and sometimes even the government are stakeholders. The project manager, projection team members, and the managers from other departments in the system are stakeholders as well. It's important to identify all the stakeholders in your projection upfront. Leaving out important stakeholders or their department's function and not discovering the error until well into the projection could exist a project killer.

Figure 5.ane shows a sample of the project surround featuring the different kinds of stakeholders involved on a typical project. A written report of this diagram confronts us with a couple of interesting facts.

Get-go, the number of stakeholders that projection managers must deal with ensures that they will take a complex task guiding their project through the lifecycle. Problems with any of these members can derail the project.

2nd, the diagram shows that projection managers accept to deal with people external to the arrangement too as the internal environment, certainly more than complex than what a managing director in an internal environment faces. For example, suppliers who are late in delivering crucial parts may blow the project schedule. To compound the trouble, projection managers generally have little or no direct command over any of these individuals.

Allow's take a await at these stakeholders and their relationships to the project manager.

Project Stakeholders

Top Management

Meridian management may include the president of the company, vice-presidents, directors, division managers, the corporate operating committee, and others. These people straight the strategy and development of the organisation.

On the plus side, y'all are likely to have top direction support, which means information technology volition be easier to recruit the best staff to carry out the project, and larn needed material and resource; also visibility can enhance a project manager's professional person continuing in the company.

On the minus side, failure can be quite dramatic and visible to all, and if the project is large and expensive (nigh are), the cost of failure will be more than substantial than for a smaller, less visible projection.

Some suggestions in dealing with top management are:

Develop in-depth plans and major milestones that must be approved by top management during the planning and design phases of the projection.
Enquire top management associated with your project for their data reporting needs and frequency.
Develop a status reporting methodology to be distributed on a scheduled ground.
Keep them informed of project risks and potential impacts at all times.

The Project Team

The project team is fabricated up of those people dedicated to the project or borrowed on a part-time ground. As project manager, you lot need to provide leadership, management, and to a higher place all, the support to team members as they go almost accomplishing their tasks. Working closely with the team to solve issues can help yous larn from the team and build rapport. Showing your back up for the project squad and for each fellow member volition help you go their support and cooperation.

Here are some difficulties you lot may run across in dealing with project team members:

Because project team members are borrowed and they don't report to you, their priorities may be elsewhere.
They may be juggling many projects as well as their total-time chore and have difficulty meeting deadlines.
Personality conflicts may arise. These may be acquired by differences in social style or values or they may exist the event of some bad experience when people worked together in the by.
You may find out about missed deadlines when it is too tardily to recover.

Managing projection squad members requires interpersonal skills. Hither are some suggestions that tin can help:

Involve team members in project planning.
Adapt to encounter privately and informally with each team member at several points in the project, perhaps for lunch or coffee.
Be available to hear squad members' concerns at any time.
Encourage squad members to pitch in and aid others when needed.
Complete a project performance review for squad members.

Your Director

Typically the boss decides what the assignment is and who tin can work with the projection managing director on projects. Keeping your manager informed will help ensure that you become the necessary resources to complete your projection.

If things go wrong on a project, it is squeamish to have an understanding and supportive boss to go to bat for y'all if necessary. By supporting your manager, you lot will discover your managing director will back up you more often.

Find out exactly how your performance volition be measured.
When unclear near directions, ask for clarification.
Develop a reporting schedule that is acceptable to your boss.
Communicate frequently.

Peers

Peers are people who are at the aforementioned level in the organization as you and may or may not be on the projection squad. These people will also take a vested interest in the production. All the same, they will have neither the leadership responsibilities nor the accountability for the success or failure of the project that y'all take.

Your relationship with peers tin be impeded past:

Inadequate control over peers
Political maneuvering or sabotage
Personality conflicts or technical conflicts
Envy because your peer may have wanted to lead the project
Alien instructions from your director and your peer's manager

Peer support is essential. Because most of us serve our cocky-interest first, employ some investigating, selling, influencing, and politicking skills hither. To ensure you have cooperation and back up from your peers:

Get the support of your projection sponsor or peak direction to empower you lot every bit the projection director with as much potency equally possible. Information technology'due south important that the sponsor makes it clear to the other squad members that their cooperation on project activities is expected.
Face up your peer if you notice a behaviour that seems dysfunctional, such as bad-mouthing the project.
Be explicit in asking for full back up from your peers. Suit for frequent review meetings.
Establish goals and standards of performance for all team members.

Resource Managers

Because project managers are in the position of borrowing resource, other managers command their resource. So their relationships with people are especially important. If their relationship is skilful, they may be able to consistently acquire the best staff and the best equipment for their projects. If relationships aren't skilful, they may find themselves not able to go good people or equipment needed on the projection.

Internal Customers

Internal customers are individuals within the organization who are customers for projects that encounter the needs of internal demands. The client holds the ability to take or pass up your piece of work. Early in the relationship, the project director volition need to negotiate, clarify, and document project specifications and deliverables. After the project begins, the project director must stay tuned in to the customer's concerns and problems and go along the customer informed.

Common stumbling blocks when dealing with internal customers include:

A lack of clarity about precisely what the customer wants
A lack of documentation for what is wanted
A lack of cognition of the customer's organization and operating characteristics
Unrealistic deadlines, budgets, or specifications requested past the customer
Hesitancy of the client to sign off on the projection or accept responsibility for decisions
Changes in project scope

To meet the needs of the customer, client, or owner, be sure to do the post-obit:

Learn the client organisation's buzzwords, culture, and concern.
Clarify all project requirements and specifications in a written agreement.
Specify a modify procedure.
Plant the project manager equally the focal point of communications in the project organization.

External customer

External customers are the customers when projects could be marketed to exterior customers. In the case of Ford Motor Company, for example, the external customers would exist the buyers of the automobiles. Also if you are managing a project at your company for Ford Motor Company, they will be your external client.

Government

Project managers working in sure heavily regulated environments (e.g., pharmaceutical, banking, or war machine industries) will take to deal with government regulators and departments. These tin can include all or some levels of government from municipal, provincial, federal, to international.

Contractors, subcontractors, and suppliers

In that location are times when organizations don't have the expertise or resources available in-house, and work is farmed out to contractors or subcontractors. This can be a structure direction foreman, network consultant, electrician, carpenter, architect, or anyone who is not an employee. Managing contractors or suppliers requires many of the skills needed to manage total-fourth dimension project team members.

Any number of problems can arise with contractors or subcontractors:

Quality of the piece of work
Price overruns
Schedule slippage

Many projects depend on goods provided by outside suppliers. This is true for example of structure projects where lumber, nails, bricks, and mortar come from outside suppliers. If the supplied appurtenances are delivered late or are in short supply or of poor quality or if the cost is greater than originally quoted, the project may suffer.

Depending on the projection, managing contractor and supplier relationships tin consume more than half of the project manager'southward fourth dimension. It is not purely intuitive; it involves a sophisticated skill ready that includes managing conflicts, negotiating, and other interpersonal skills.

Politics of Projects

Many times, projection stakeholders have conflicting interests. It's the projection director'due south responsibility to understand these conflicts and effort to resolve them. It'south also the project manger's responsibleness to manage stakeholder expectations. Be certain to identify and see with all cardinal stakeholders early in the project to sympathise all their needs and constraints.

Projection managers are somewhat like politicians. Typically, they are not inherently powerful or capable of imposing their volition directly on coworkers, subcontractors, and suppliers. Similar politicians, if they are to get their way, they accept to exercise influence effectively over others. On projects, projection managers have directly control over very few things; therefore their power to influence others – to be a adept politician – may be very important

Here are a few steps a good project pol should follow. Nevertheless, a good dominion is that when in doubt, stakeholder conflicts should always exist resolved in favour of the customer.

Assess the environment

Identify all the relevant stakeholders. Considering any of these stakeholders could derail the projection, you lot need to consider their item involvement in the projection.

One time all relevant stakeholders are identified, try to determine where the power lies.
In the vast cast of characters, who counts most?
Whose actions will have the greatest impact?

Identify goals

Later on determining who the stakeholders are, place their goals.

What is information technology that drives them?
What is each later?
Are there any subconscious agendas or goals that are not openly articulated?
What are the goals of the stakeholders who agree the power? These deserve special attention.

Define the trouble

The facts that constitute the problem should be isolated and closely examined.
The question "What is the real situation?" should be raised over and over.

Culture of Stakeholders

When project stakeholders practise not share a mutual culture, project management must adapt its organizations and work processes to cope with cultural differences. The post-obit are three major aspects of cultural difference that tin bear on a projection:

Communications
Negotiations
Decision making

Communication is perhaps the almost visible manifestation of civilization. Project managers encounter cultural differences in communication in language, context, and candor.

Language is conspicuously the greatest barrier to advice. When project stakeholders do not share the same language, communication slows down and is often filtered to share merely data that is deemed critical.

The bulwark to communication can influence projection execution where quick and authentic exchange of ideas and data is critical.

The interpretation of data reflects the extent that context and candor influence cultural expressions of ideas and agreement of data. In some cultures, an affirmative reply to a question does non always hateful yes. The cultural influence tin create confusion on a project where project stakeholders represent more than than one civilization.

Case: Civilisation Affects Communication in Mumbai

A project management consultant from the United states was asked to evaluate the effectiveness of a U.South. project direction team executing a project in Mumbai, India. The project team reported that the project was on schedule and inside budget. Subsequently a project review meeting where each of the technology leads reported that the design of the projection was on schedule, the consultant began informal discussions with private engineers and began to discover that several critical aspects of the project were behind schedule. Without a mitigating strategy, the projection would miss a critical window in the weather between monsoon seasons. The information on the project flowed through a cultural expectation to provide positive information. The project was eventually canceled by the U.S. corporation when the market and political risks increased.

Not all cultural differences are related to international projects. Corporate cultures and even regional differences tin can create cultural defoliation on a project.

Example: Cultural Differences between American Regions

On a major project in South America that included project team leaders from seven dissimilar countries, the greatest cultural difference that affected the project communication was between two project leaders from the United States. Two team members, ane from New Orleans and one from Brooklyn, had more difficulty communicating than team members from Lebanon and Australia.

Managing Stakeholders

Frequently there is more than than i major stakeholder in the projection. An increase in the number of stakeholders adds stress to the project and influences the project'due south complexity level. The business or emotional investment of the stakeholder in the projection and the power of the stakeholder to influence the projection outcomes or execution approach will also influence the stakeholder complexity of the project. In addition to the number of stakeholders and their level of investment, the degree to which the project stakeholders agree or disagree influences the project's complexity.

A small commercial construction projection will typically have several stakeholders. All the building permitting agencies, environmental agencies, and labour and safety agencies have an interest in the project and can influence the execution plan of the project. The neighbours will accept an involvement in the architectural entreatment, the noise, and the purpose of the building.

Example: Tire Plant in India

A U.South. chemical company chartered a project team to blueprint and build a constitute to produce the raw materials for building truck tires designed for unpaved roads. The plant was to be built in India a few years after an blow that killed several Indians and involved a different U.Southward. chemic company. When the company appear the new project and began to break ground, the community backlash was and then strong that the project was shut down. A highly involved stakeholder tin significantly influence your project.

Example: Air current Turbine on a College Campus

A small college in South Carolina won a competitive grant to erect and operate a wind turbine on campus. The engineering science department submitted the grant every bit a demonstration project for engineering students to betrayal students to air current technology. The campus facilities department found but one location for the air current turbine that would not disrupt the menstruation of traffic on campus. The engineering section found that location unacceptable for students who had to maintain the wind turbine. The county construction permitting department had no policies for permitting a wind turbine and would non provide a edifice permit. The college had to go to the county council and become an exception to county rules. The marketing department wanted the wind turbine placed in a highly visible location to promote the innovative approach of the college.

Each of the higher'due south stakeholders had a legitimate interest in the location of the air current turbine. The number of stakeholders on the project, multiplied past their passion for the subject and the lack of agreement on the location, increased the complication of the projection. Meaning time and resources of a project will exist dedicated to identifying, understanding, and managing client expectations.

Instance: Stakeholders and a Bridge Projection

The Department of Highways chartered a project to upgrade a number of bridges that crossed the interstate in 1 of the larger cities in South Carolina. The closing of these bridges severely impacted traffic congestion, including a large shopping mall. The contract included provisions for minimizing the touch on on the traffic and communities near the construction areas. This provision immune businesses or interested parties to review the project schedule and brand suggestions that would lessen the bear on of the structure. The projection leadership invested meaning time and resource in developing alignment amongst the various political stakeholders on the projection approach and schedule.

Relationship Building Tips

Accept the time to identify all stakeholders before starting a new project. Include those who are impacted by the project, as well every bit groups with the ability to impact the project. Then, begin the process of edifice strong relationships with each one using the post-obit method.

Analyze stakeholders: Deport a stakeholder analysis, or an assessment of a project's key participants, and how the project will affect their problems and needs. Place their individual characteristics and interests. Discover out what motivates them, as well as what provokes them. Define roles and level of participation, and determine if at that place are conflicts of involvement among groups of stakeholders.
Assess influence: Measure the degree to which stakeholders tin can influence the projection. The more influential a stakeholder is, the more a project manager will need their support. Think about the question, "What'southward in it for them?" when considering stakeholders. Knowing what each stakeholder needs or wants from the project will enable the projection manager to approximate his or her level of support. And think to residual support against influence. Is it more than important to accept strong back up from a stakeholder with niggling influence, or lukewarm support from one with a high level of influence?
Empathise their expectations: Blast down stakeholders' specific expectations. Ask for clarification when needed to be sure they are completely understood.
Define "success": Every stakeholder may accept a unlike idea of what project success looks similar. Discovering this at the terminate of the projection is a formula for failure. Assemble definitions up front and include them in the objectives to help ensure that all stakeholders will be supportive of the last outcomes.
Go on stakeholders involved: Don't only written report to stakeholders. Ask for their input. Get to know them meliorate by scheduling fourth dimension for coffee, lunch, or quick meetings. Mensurate each stakeholder's capacity to participate and award time constraints.
Go along stakeholders informed: Send regular status updates. Daily may be too much; monthly is not enough. 1 update per week is normally well-nigh right. Agree project meetings equally required, but don't let too much time pass between meetings. Be sure to answer stakeholders' questions and emails promptly. Regular communication is ever appreciated – and may even soften the accident when you have bad news to share.

These are the basics of edifice strong stakeholder relationships. Just as in any relationship, there are subtleties that every successful projection manager understands – such every bit learning the differences between and relating well to different types stakeholders.

How to Relate to Different Types of Stakeholders

Past conducting a stakeholder analysis, project managers can gather plenty information on which to build potent relationships – regardless of the differences between them. For example, the needs and wants of a director of marketing will be different from those of a chief information officer. Therefore, the project manager's engagement with each volition need to be different likewise.

Stakeholders with financial concerns will need to know the potential return of the project's outcomes. Others volition back up projects if at that place is sound prove of their value to improving operations, boosting market share, increasing product, or meeting other visitor objectives.

Keep each stakeholder's expectations and needs in mind throughout each chat, report or email, no thing how casual or formal the communication may exist. Remember that the company'south interests are more than important than any individual's – yours or a stakeholder's. When forced to cull betwixt them, put the visitor's needs first.

No affair what their needs or wants, all stakeholders will respect the projection manager who:

Is always honest, even when telling them something they don't want to hear
Takes buying of the project
Is predictable and reliable
Stands by his or her decisions
Takes accountability for mistakes

Supportive Stakeholders are Essential to Project Success

Achieving a project's objectives takes a focused, well-organized project director who can appoint with a committed squad and gain the support of all stakeholders. Building strong, trusting relationships with interested parties from the start tin make the difference between projection success and failure.

Tools to Assist Stakeholder Management

There are many projection decelerators, among them lack of stakeholder back up. Whether the stakeholders support your project or not, if they are important to your projection, yous must secure their back up. How do you do that?

Offset, you must place who your stakeholders are. But considering they are important in the arrangement does not necessarily mean they are of import to your project. Just because they retrieve they are of import does non hateful they are. Just because they don't think they demand to be involved does not mean they do not have to be. The typical suspects: your manager, your manager'southward manager, your client, your client's director, any SME (bailiwick thing expert) whose involvement you lot need, and the board reviewing and approving your projection. Note that in some situations there are people who think they are stakeholders. From your perspective they may non exist, but be conscientious how y'all handle them. They could be influential with those who take the power to impact your project. Practice not dismiss them out of hand.

2nd, yous need to determine what power they have and what their intentions toward your projection are. Practice they have the power to have an impact on your project? Do they back up or oppose y'all? What strategies do yous follow with them?

Third, what's the human relationship among stakeholders? Can y'all improve your project's chances by working with those who support y'all to improve the views of those who oppose y'all? Table 5.1 summarizes the options based on an cess of your stakeholders' potential for cooperation and potential for threat.

Table 5.1 Stakeholder Analysis (Solera, 2009)
	Depression threat potential	Loftier threat potential
Low potential for cooperation	Blazon: Marginal Strategy: Monitor	Type: Non-supportive Strategy: Defend
High potential for cooperation	Type: Supportive Strategy: Involve	Type: Mixed approval Strategy: Collaborative

Now that y'all have this information, you tin can complete a stakeholder analysis template (Tabular array 5.2) that will assistance you define your strategies to amend their back up:

Table 5.2 Stakeholder Analysis Template (Solera, 2009)
Stakeholder Names and Roles	How important? (Low – Med – High)	Current level of support? (Low – Med – Loftier)	What practice you want from stakeholders?	What is important to stakeholders?	How could stakeholders block your efforts?	What is your strategy for enhancing stakeholder support?

Finally, a primal piece of your stakeholder management efforts is constant communication to your stakeholders. Using the information developed above, you should develop a communications plan that secures your stakeholders' support. The template in Effigy 5.ii can be used.

Stakeholder communication template. Image description available — Figure five.2 Stakeholder Communication Template [Image description]

References

Solera, J. (2009). Project Decelerators – Lack of Stakeholder Support. Silicon Valley Project Management. Retrieved from https://svprojectmanagement.com/project-decelerators-lack-of-stakeholder-back up.

Paradigm descriptions

Figure 5.ii Stakeholder Communication Template

The stakeholder analysis template has 6 fields plus a table to be filled out. The lines ask for: the project scope, primal messages, communication goals, communication teams, projection team, and other stakeholders. And then, in that location is a table with seven columns where you tin rail the communication plan. The column headers of this table are: advice date, deliverable, audition, message, activeness detail or FYI (info?), plans, and condition. [Return to Figure 5.2]

Text Attributions

This chapter of Project Direction is a derivative of the following texts:

Project Management From Simple to Circuitous by Russel Darnall, John Preston, Eastern Michigan Academy. © CC Past (Attribution).

thornskeethe1959.blogspot.com

Source: https://opentextbc.ca/projectmanagement/chapter/chapter-5-project-stakeholders-project-management/