I have a new stakeholder to a new project, and unfortunately, they have some unrealistic expectations in terms of staffing a 24x7x365 operation with one FTE per site. In broaching the issue with this customer, I was advised that it was 'my problem'.
To complicate matters further, some of the locations require work VISA/OCONUS, and some locations are CONUS.
What have you all done when dealing with this type of issue?
Tell them that slavery was outlawed in most countries a few decades back...
Our role is to influence expectations - if you are unsuccessful in that, seek assistance from others who might have more influence over the stakeholder.
Kiron Saving Changes...
Joshua RenderProduct Owner| CognizantHarrisville, Ny, United States
Do realistic stakeholders exist? Saving Changes...
Anton OosthuizenSenior Business Analyst / Project Manager| Self EmployedPretoria, Gauteng, South Africa
I would start out by finding out why they are unrealistic. Yes like Josh asks, do we have realistic stakeholders? I believe we do. We often misidentify opportunistic stakeholders as unrealistic. The job of any stakeholder is to be opportunistic, try to get as much as possible for as little as possible.
Typically truely unrealistic stakeholders are the result of mis-, or no communication i.e. they do not understand the project objectives because they were not involved throughout the process.
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1 reply by Joshua Render
Aug 13, 2018 6:13 PM
Joshua Render
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I was being facetious. I think the "job" of a good stakeholder is to try and get as much as they can for as high of quality as they can. An unrealistic stakeholder is just someone pushing harder than the rest.
Saving Changes...
Eric SimmsSenior Program ManagerBaltimore, Maryland, United States
Does your contract or Service Level Agreement obligate you to listen to this stakeholder's unrealistic expectations?
How much influence does this stakeholder have? Can you disregard his or her comments?
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1 reply by Anton Oosthuizen
Aug 14, 2018 2:21 AM
Anton Oosthuizen
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Personally, I keep contracts and SLA's as the very last resort. I can probably count the number of times that a stakeholder was truly unreasonable on my one hand. There is normally a very legit reason and it is far better to address the cause than the symptom. That way you can maintain a good relationship, something you should strive for regardless of the stakeholder influence or power level. Disregard their input at your peril. Guess who's face shows up on the ORAT team? Yip, probably that same ignored stakeholder.
My approach is that even if they are being truly unrealistic I try to find a way to accommodate the request. 'Accommodate' does not always mean giving them what they want, it means that they feel 'listened' to if it is at least put onto a e.g. back burner/log.
Saving Changes...
Joshua RenderProduct Owner| CognizantHarrisville, Ny, United States
Aug 13, 2018 3:26 PM
Replying to Anton Oosthuizen
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I would start out by finding out why they are unrealistic. Yes like Josh asks, do we have realistic stakeholders? I believe we do. We often misidentify opportunistic stakeholders as unrealistic. The job of any stakeholder is to be opportunistic, try to get as much as possible for as little as possible.
Typically truely unrealistic stakeholders are the result of mis-, or no communication i.e. they do not understand the project objectives because they were not involved throughout the process.
I was being facetious. I think the "job" of a good stakeholder is to try and get as much as they can for as high of quality as they can. An unrealistic stakeholder is just someone pushing harder than the rest. Saving Changes...
Anton OosthuizenSenior Business Analyst / Project Manager| Self EmployedPretoria, Gauteng, South Africa
Aug 13, 2018 6:09 PM
Replying to Eric Simms
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Does your contract or Service Level Agreement obligate you to listen to this stakeholder's unrealistic expectations?
How much influence does this stakeholder have? Can you disregard his or her comments?
Personally, I keep contracts and SLA's as the very last resort. I can probably count the number of times that a stakeholder was truly unreasonable on my one hand. There is normally a very legit reason and it is far better to address the cause than the symptom. That way you can maintain a good relationship, something you should strive for regardless of the stakeholder influence or power level. Disregard their input at your peril. Guess who's face shows up on the ORAT team? Yip, probably that same ignored stakeholder.
My approach is that even if they are being truly unrealistic I try to find a way to accommodate the request. 'Accommodate' does not always mean giving them what they want, it means that they feel 'listened' to if it is at least put onto a e.g. back burner/log. Saving Changes...
Pier Luigi CalabriaProject Manager| INFORM Institut für Operations Research und Management GmbH, Aachen, GermanyAachen, Germany
Show what is possible and why.
In case the stakeholder resists, go to your manager and ask for support.
I hope that the stakeholder you're talking about is not this manager.... Saving Changes...
