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How do you handle protected stakeholders?

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Sante Delle-Vergini, PhD Senior Project Manager| Infosys Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
It's always nice to deal with cooperative stakeholders that want the project to succeed as much as you do. But what about those really antagonistic, negative and non-cooperative stakeholders more senior than your sponsor who seem to be protected by the organization no matter how bad they behave, and no matter how much you try to build a relationship with them? How do you personally handle that situation?
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Sante Delle-Vergini, PhD Senior Project Manager| Infosys Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Mar 08, 2018 11:09 AM
Replying to Scott MacDonald
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In my case I try to remember that those stakeholders may have conflicting agendas. The best you can do is keep them inside the goalposts by having good approved project definition and scope. My two cents.
Very pragmatic Scott. I like the analogy of keeping them inside the goalposts; akin to keeping your friends close, and your enemies closer.
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Karthik Ramamurthy Author, Say YES to Project Success| Founder KeyResultz Chennai, Tamilnadu, Tamilnadu, India
Great discussion, Sante!
A disengaged stakeholder is a huge risk to project success.
For many PMs, normal human nature forces them to ignore stakeholders to seem antagonistic to their projects, assuming that keeping them away helps.
This attitude often has the exact opposite effect.
It makes alot of sense to bite the bullet and take every effort to meet and empathetically listen to the concerns of these stakeholders.
This way, PMs will be able to clarify misconceptions and assuage concerns.
Such a proactive attitude goes a long way in improving stakeholder relationships, and therefore improves the chances of project success.
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Sante Delle-Vergini, PhD Senior Project Manager| Infosys Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Good points Karthik. It's better to confront (in a mature way) than avoid these stakeholders.
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