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Managing Project Stakeholders: A Strategic Approach
Michael R. Wood is a Business Process Improvement & IT Strategist Independent Consultant. He is creator of the business process-improvement methodology called HELIX and founder of The Natural Intelligence Group, a strategy, process improvement and technology consulting company. He is also a CPA, has served as an Adjunct Professor in Pepperdine's Management MBA program, an Associate Professor at California Lutheran University, and on the boards of numerous professional organizations. Mr. Wood is a sought after presenter of HELIX workshops and seminars in both the U.S. and Europe.
What does it take to manage the stakeholders of a project and why is it so important? More than ever, the most challenging part of a project isn’t the budget or the time constraints but rather the politics in play. Keeping stakeholders happy is no easy task, and when they are not happy, bad things can happen to projects, project managers and their teams.
The problem is that far too many project managers see stakeholders as necessary evils, and in so doing create their own demise. Project stakeholders can make or break a project. When happy they can provide support, resources and slack, but when unhappy they can create stress, micromanage, sabotage efforts and wreak havoc. So what does it take to manage project stakeholders? Perhaps the answer can be found in the approach use to evaluate how they are most likely influence that success.
Those who have a vested interest in the outcome of a project are stakeholders in that project. Life would be great if every stakeholder was supportive and enthusiastic about every project and the changes that would occur upon successful completion. Unfortunately, reality paints a different picture. Therefore, it only stands to reason that we need a way to create stakeholder profiles that objectively indicate how each stakeholder should be managed. This article presents a profiling technique that evaluates a stakeholder …
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