Build a H.U.T. and Rule the Stakeholder Jungle

Rob Saxon is a Project Management Professional, Certified Information Systems Auditor and a trained Six Sigma Specialist. Rob is currently developing methods to integrate project management into previously unexplored areas of business.

  Stakeholder Management   Work Breakdown Structures (WBS)  

H.U.T. stands for:

Honest
Unbiased
Timely

Honesty is the best policy. Be unbiased, and consider the good of the project first. Time is money. As people and especially as project managers, these truisms buzz by our ears every day. We can take these truisms for granted: Of course being truthful is important. How else can we build relationships and garner trust? Of course the project is important. At the core of project management are projects. Of course it’s good to be timely. If we make decisions at the right time, they can be very powerful. When we apply all three considerations to managing stakeholder expectations, however, we have a powerful formula for success.

Honesty is Not Just Good Policy, It’s Essential to Success

“No legacy is so rich as honesty.” -- William Shakespeare

The first building block for our hut is honesty. Our project decisions need to be based on good information, and our relationships with our stakeholders need to be based on trust. We can more manage successful projects and have long-term stakeholder relationships when honesty is core to the mix.

There might be temptations to forego honesty, however, both when projects are going well--and when projects encounter problems. When things go well, we might have the natural inclination to sing our victory from the rooftops. The sales people or proud …

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