Elizabeth HarrinDirector| RebelsGuideToPM.comLondon, England, United Kingdom
What can you do when faced with stakeholders who appear not to listen? Have you ever had to repeat yourself to stakeholders, when you know that you have communicated a point or discussed an issue with them and yet when it is next mentioned, they act as if they haven't heard it before?
Communication goes both ways, so I know that if I am trying to get a message across it is my responsibility to make sure it is understood and acted on. What are your tips for or experiences of dealing with stakeholders who don't listen (or don't retain the information, even if they listen the first time)? Saving Changes...
Russell GeakeProject Management Consultant| Deciduous Partners LtdLostwithiel, Cornwall, United Kingdom
At school, we learn from an early age that everyone has their optimum way of learning, and understanding the information being presented. Some will take in audible information more readily than they do written text, at the same time a picture can speak a thousand words (or equal roughly one RAG chart). Making it fun and interesting will increase the amount of information retained, accessible and useful - who doesn't remember learning the periodic table with the song by Tom Lehrer? (for those that missed this gem Tom Lehrer sings the Periodic Table )
The key, I find, is to determine who accepts which type of communication most easily, a busy director may prefer a graph with a red line, a peer may prefer a quick email with bullet points, while a client might want a phone call... either way, if people are failing to understand, don't let it stop there. Follow up with another method. (One of my people in a stand-up scrum actually said "I'd like to provide my input in the form of EXPRESSIVE DANCE... and proceeded to bang his head against the wall...we all got the message)
Make it humourous, S P E L L I T O U T, make it punchy with a few bullet points. the choice is yours. End up by asking, "do you understand?" or "have I got that right?" if necessary then BOTH. Write the confirmation and share it with others if appropriate. Once you have the evidence that they understand, and that you were right you should be ok.... until the next meeting/discussion.
At the NEXT MEETING, ask "do you remember...we agreed that...?" This will create a firm foundation as the basis for the following discussion... it will become more meaningful and there will be less opportunity for confusion to creep in.
Hi Elizabeth,
Yes I have come across stakeholders that have a very short memory! so the way I would approach it is to document what was discussed and agreed, just put it into words that your understanding of todays meeting and agreement on this issue is....... get them to acknowledge. It works! Saving Changes...
I believe there is a strong difference between stakeholders who genuinely don't remember what was discussed during the previous meeting, and those who conveniently seem never to remember those decisions that don't go their way.
In the first case, I suggest the real-time writing of minutes during any meeting - you're discussing an open issue and appear to reach, if not an agreement, at least a decision. Pause the meeting, and say out loud: "so, I am going to write [the decision] word for word, are you okay with the wording and is there anything else you want to add?". That works pretty well for formal meetings - that way, if amnesia strikes, you can always point them back to the meeting minutes. For informal meetings like a discussion around the coffee machine, I'd suggest sending a recap email of the talk just to ensure there's a trace of it. Of course it might sound like CYA, but for those stakeholders that have a million things going on at the same time, I'm sure they'll appreciate the reminder. As someone who has a rather poor memory myself, I am not at all adverse to people sending me emails just to remind me of what we talked about.
As for the second case, stakeholders with selective memory, what can I say: paper trail, paper trail, paper trail... Saving Changes...
Paper trails are good as especially are Russell's suggestions about communication style. Also try to consider why they are not "listening" - among others they may well be one of these
-it may be that they are entirely happy for you to carry on & don't feel they need to be involved in the issue,
-or they may be a (dreaded) micro-manager who is avoiding an important issue,
-or perhaps, as I have also met, they just don't understand, (or even want ) the stakeholder role
If you can think yourself into their shoes it may help to see the whole picture.
Also, if in any doubt, come up with an option for the issue that will have direct cost implementations - that is sure to wake them up! Saving Changes...
Elizabeth HarrinDirector| RebelsGuideToPM.comLondon, England, United Kingdom
Tim, that's a great suggestion: tying 'listening' to money or decisions required, rather than just taking in information.
Paper trails are the way to go, it seems... Saving Changes...
Stakeholders have a vast interest and commitment to the project, if the stakeholders are the wrong people why were they selected in the first place! The sponsor of the project is a person who does listen even if they form part a team of stakeholders, the project manager and sponsor work closely together, he or she has the influence to steer the project and providing support to the PM even with difficult unruly, rude sponsors that dont listen or take their responsibilities seriously enough or perhaps they are just too busy to get involved into the nitty gritty of project management. No project is the same, and usually we get a new set of stakeholders for each project, the point I am making your sponsor cares, they will support you and they will ensure the others follow things through... Saving Changes...
One of the key note is if there was a communication plan made for the project, will be surely helpful as you progress with the project. With the plan it should be noted the medium of communication that will be used (at times even the template to use in communicating, and most importantly the frequency and schedule of communication and the distribution list). It depends on the type of group or the level of the stakeholder, others they want high level points in the report while other may want an acceptable granularity of details. The kind of details that wont loose the reader :>
its true there are stakeholders that seem to be on a different plane or may seem to careless. However, it should be noted that timely feedback is required if only to move forward with a certain activity. It would be good that aside from communicating what is needed and so on, it is important to note as well the impact of late or no feedback at all.
I always try to sort of limit the length of email thread in communicating the project. In that, if there is a need to escalate then by all means escalate to higher authority. At the end of it all the objective is to get the task to move forward. Saving Changes...
Taralyn Frasqueri-MolinaSenior Project Manager| Independent ContractorPasadena, Ca, United States
What does it matter if they listen? Are you just wanting to be heard?
If a stakeholder (including someone on your implementation team) doesn't remember every word you say what's the harm in that? So you have to repeat yourself a few times - ah well. No one's attention is 100% focused on you. Never will be. Even my attention writing this isn't focused on you. I have to keep going back to the question to remember what was asked!
I think what matter is, is the situation you are in time sensitive and/or does the stakeholder have to do something with what you say.
If you're in a time sensitive situation, and don't have time to reexplain, you can always say, "I'll remind you later, I just need to get this done."
If you're not in a time sensitive situation, then explain it again.
If the stakeholder doesn't have to do something, if they don't have to act on what you say, then leave it be. You mentioned it, you posted it somewhere, done.
If the stakeholder has to act, then communicate with them one on one. "Hey, here's a reminder that I need you to do this thing by this time. I'll send you an email about it."
A PM's job is 90% communication. 45% of that is repeating everything you already said in every communication medium imaginable. Saving Changes...
Wai Mun KooPMO Director| Intergraph PP&MSingapore, Singapore
I agree with Taralyn. Whether the stakeholders are listening or not depends on what do they benefit out of it which in turn reflects on their commitment in the project. The assumption here is people will listen if it is something that will interest them or have an impact on them. Probably, this is the reason why they are called 'stakeholders' - what is the stake they have in the project. So, work on the 'stake' part and make it important and more meaningful to the stakeholders. Saving Changes...
Elizabeth HarrinDirector| RebelsGuideToPM.comLondon, England, United Kingdom
