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Viewing Posts by Lynda Bourne
Project Delivery Teams are Stakeholders, Too
Categories:
Stakeholder Management
Categories: Stakeholder Management
| We talk a lot about stakeholders. But we often forget that people who actually do the work within an organization's project portfolio and programs are stakeholders, too. And if they're to be effectively supported and motivated to help the organization's project delivery system succeed, you must recognize their needs and aspirations. Here are four broad stakeholder groups that every organization should be paying attention to: Team members: There should be clear direction and support to help project team members accomplish their work and earn the opportunity to grow into a leadership role. Project manager: Success for project managers lies in planning and managing the overall project he or she is responsible for. Organizations can foster their success by providing a supportive environment with effective governance and access to project management skills development. Program managers or project directors: This is a role focused on achieving organizational objectives through the work of other managers. Successful program managers will deliver organizational change and benefits that correlate with stakeholder and sponsor needs and expectations. Organizational support for these senior roles should focus on creating an environment where the managers can create value for the organization. Portfolio management and project management offices (PMOs) support organizational governance structures. These management roles are focused on providing strategic advice to the executive. Portfolio managers assess current and planned projects and programs on a routine basis to recommend the optimum mix for future resourcing. The PMO manager provides input to the portfolio management process based on the performance of current projects. Additionally, he or she provides input to the organization's overall governance structure. Success in the roles of portfolio and PMO managers is being a 'trusted advisor' to the executives in the organization. From an organizational perspective, effective stakeholder management focuses on supporting the managers and helping them support the business. Recognizing the needs and aspirations of each of these groups of stakeholders is important if they are to be effectively motivated and supported so they can help the organization be successful. Do you feel these brief descriptions fit the roles in your organization? Do you consider members of project delivery teams as stakeholders? |
Communicating Project Perceptions with Stakeholders
Categories:
Stakeholder Management
Categories: Stakeholder Management
| When you deliver a message to a stakeholder, the impact that it has on him or her can vary depending on the individual. The same person can react quite differently to similar messages at different times. For example, let's say you need to advise two senior managers about a US$50,000 reversal in an expected project outcome. One manager had no idea there was a problem in the first place. The other manager heard through the grapevine that your project was facing a US$500,000 reversal. For the manager who thought that everything was OK, US$50,000 is bad news. But since the other manager's perception was that a major disaster was looming, US$50,000 seems like good news. There are several factors at play in this situation. One is certain peoples' perception of the work you are doing. The perception may be unrealistic, but it's real to the person holding it. Where your message falls in the stream of information the person is dealing with also plays a role. If yours is the one bit of good news in a bad day, for instance, you may get a much warmer response than if your bit of good news is swamped by other spectacular events in other parts of the business. The challenge of communicating with stakeholders is not knowing the perceptions they currently hold of you and your project. You also have no control over the other news he or she receives in a given day. The only solution is to listen carefully to the feedback from the stakeholder. Then try to put your message and the feedback in context and adjust accordingly. It helps if you are in regular two-way communication with your key stakeholders and if you are tapped into their grapevine as well. By being connected you will be able to understand a little of the "ambient temperature." You can adjust the way you communicate and the timing of the communication to increase the chance of a successful outcome. Then expect the unexpected. How much time do you spend thinking about the impact of key communications? What are some of the ways you've found success in communicating with stakeholders? |
The Project Management Stakeholder Web
Categories:
Stakeholder Management
Categories: Stakeholder Management
| Web 2.0 is changing the way stakeholders interact and work together within the project team and in the wider community around the project and the organization. Social networking, instant messaging and collaboration tools are overwhelming traditional organization charts, hierarchies and management structures. Here are a few examples of how things might change: Building and maintaining relationships will change. People add their uniquely human value in non-routine processes and creativity and organizations will increasingly use automation or "self-service" systems for the majority of routine activities. There will need to be a balance between pure efficiency (which is often appreciated) and developing meaningful relationships with stakeholders through human interaction. Weak links and extended networks let people pick up information from people who know the people they know. Project managers will need to learn to navigate their personal, professional and social networks to exploit these strong and weak links for the benefit of their project. Work swarming is characterized by a flurry of collective activity by anyone available and able to add value. Using weak links, swarms form quickly, attack a problem or opportunity, and then dissipate. The phenomenon is powerful but not controllable in any traditional sense. Informal groups outside the direct control of the organization often use social media to impact the success or failure of a project. Smart project managers will learn how to live in a social environment they can only partially influence. Virtual environments will become the workplace. People will interact with each other and the virtual environment to reshape the world they're looking at through simulation and experimentation. The challenge facing organizations and project managers is adapting to this environment to obtain the potential benefits for the project, the team and the organization. They must simultaneously maintain appropriate levels of governance and remain focused on the project objectives. Individuals will also need support to manage the complexity created by overlapping demands. Forcing individuals to operate in an over-stimulated state will be detrimental to the person and their performance on the project team. How is Web 2.0 affecting your stakeholder management? |
Using Expert Stakeholders Wisely
Categories:
Stakeholder Management
Categories: Stakeholder Management
| One group of stakeholders whose input is critical to most projects are experts -- subject matter experts, risk experts, quality experts. Project managers must know how to make effective use of these experts' knowledge. The advantage of using an expert is of course his or her depth of knowledge. But not all experts are created equal and too many people simply accept an expert's views as a profound truth. Project managers may misunderstand the expert's area of expertise, for example. Or they fail to grasp the danger of 'group think,' which is a version of common sense held by a particular group of experts. Instead, project managers need to be more engaged and understand the basis of the expert's opinion. What makes sense to the expert may not make sense to you or may not be the optimum solution to your problem. One technique you can use to make sure the expertise is useful and applied effectively is asking the expert to explain his or her ideas in simple language. Then dig into the assumptions, evidence and methodology used to reach his or her opinion. It also helps if you can make space for managed dissent. Allowing divergent views opens up alternatives that may allow new insights into the problem. By combining different ideas with more traditional tactics, you're likely to generate a wider range of options. And that often leads to a better solution than simply accepting a single expert opinion. Experts confident in their knowledge are unlikely to be challenged by this approach. Instead, they will use the opportunity to learn new things and enhance their expertise. How do you make use of an expert stakeholder's knowledge? |
Pragmatic Leadership in Stakeholder Management
Categories:
Stakeholder Management
Categories: Stakeholder Management
| One of the key roles of a successful project manager is to provide effective leadership to a range of stakeholders, including the project team, suppliers and contractors. But leadership is not as simple as having a position in the organization chart and managing processes. Pragmatic leadership is a choice you make to influence other people's thinking to act in the interests of the project and the organization. Pragmatic leadership adds the power of directed motivation and a commitment to success that significantly improves routine operations within the project and becomes essential when problems are encountered. It's a balance between managing and leading. Management skills and technical knowledge are important in determining the appropriate work, but leadership generates the motivation that translates into willingness to do the work. The art of leadership in project management is developing commitment from your stakeholders -- making the successful completion of your project important to each individual. This needs more than effective management processes. Effective management defines schedules, work assignments and performance criteria. It's about compliance and procedures to ensure quality, safety and other key requirements are met. Management is largely taught and focuses on process skills. Leadership is about creating commitment to the work. A great leader understands the task and inspires the team. Leadership is a more complex process derived from combinations of self-esteem, confidence, credibility, the ability to communicate clearly and a willingness to listen and engage with people. Leadership skills can be learned, but they have to be based within a leader's inherent personal characteristics to be authentic. Leadership adds the power of directed motivation and a commitment to success that significantly improves routine operations within the project and becomes essential when problems are encountered. The bigger the disaster, the more important it becomes to have a committed team-- to survive a major setback, each individual needs to be willing to do what's necessary. How do you see your pragmatic leadership skills developing? |