Stakeholder Perception vs. Project Reality

  Stakeholder Management   PM Network  

“It’s just a little tweak.” Sound familiar? Here's some advice on breaching the disconnect between a stakeholder’s perception and how things really stand.

Mistrust vs. Lack of Engagement

Perception: We haven’t been briefed on the status of the project for a while; the project manager must be keeping something a secret.

Reality: The project manager failed to conduct a stakeholder analysis to engage them throughout the effort.

Solution: To maintain open lines of communication with external stakeholders, conduct a hybrid stakeholder analysis, suggests John Turner, an independent project manager and developer working for Mace, a program and project management consultancy and construction company in London, England.

Early on, come up with a list of all of the individuals involved in and touched by the project. Then identify a select group of 10 or so key stakeholders who are representative of the larger group based on their work experience, proximity to the final user base and buy-in to the project concept.

“For example, if you need to include someone to represent the financial people in the organization, the representative should have a strong financial background,” Mr. Turner says. “If you are working on an IT project, stakeholder representatives should have some concept of what you are producing and …

Please log in or sign up below to read the rest of the article.