“There are two ways to go through life. The easy way and the hard way. The hard way is to learn from your own mistakes. The easy way is to learn from other peoples’ mistakes.”
Often a solo mentality can emerge among project teams. This is, without much consideration to others affected and influencing the project.
That's where the stakeholder evaluation and analysis come to place.
Stakeholders are defined as those who have interest in the "stake" of the project. General groups include: the Chief Executive Board, Senior management of different departments (Financial, Production, Logistics, IT), Procurement management, Other business divisions and units, Internal customers, Shareholders and so on. But, there could also be external parties. For example: Suppliers, Financial institutions, Customers, Local people, Media, Universities, Government departments and Legal authorities.
All these different internal and external stakeholders should never be treated the same.
Mendelow (1991) presents a matrix to classify all the different groups.
Using the method, we categorise the stakeholders based on different power and interest. This allows to capture all possible stakeholders to a project. This also facilitate the development of relevant communication and management strategies for each group. Those stakeholders having high power need appropriate attention. This is particularly important for communication with stakeholders through relevant means, forms, media, formats and regularity.
It is the goal of keeping them "on board". We need to understand how to keep each group informed and select appropriate media to achieving it. Even if it requires additional time and resources.
How do we manage stakeholders?
The basic actions should consider:
Carefully identify and analyse all the stakeholders of the project
Assess the relative interest level
Assess the power of each stakeholder
The relevant stakeholders objectives can be further evaluated for the impact on project Time, Cost and Specification.
4. Create a Mendelow matrix
5. Develop communication and consultation plan - who, what, when
6. Implement the plan
7. Revisit regularly whether some stakeholders have changed in terms of their power and influence
Low power / Low interest - do not waste time and resources actively managing these stakeholders - minimum communication is sufficient
Low power/ High interest - keep the stakeholders informed through regular one-way communication, such as project updates, leaflets, newspaper, notices, websites, occasional briefings. Time consuming methods are not required
High power/Low interest - this is a high risk group, if they become interested, they are powerful. Keep them satisfied by offering appropriate information. For example regular reports and being available on the personal basis.
High power/ High interest - these are the key players and critical to the project success. Regular meetings, communications and consultations should be employed. Do your best to influence this group as your supporters.
How do we influence the key players?
Never underestimate the power of one-to-one communications. Personal relationships are very important. Building good relationships will enable to focus on positive issues (solving problems rather than dwelling on them) and encourage positive actions. Negative actions often result from insufficient communications.
We must understand the power balance of the stakeholders and the sources of the power. We should aim to establish a positive and professional relationships with them. We should also focus on developing a friendly personal touch. We might also use some good influencing techniques. Appropriate forms of communications are also very important.
One rule of thumb when in doubt - always meet and consult!
Stakeholders might also move segments, Sometimes a key player might loose interest.
Those who are performing the tasks
Project management is not the technical job of doing the activities. It is getting people to perform the work to meet the objectives as well as manage the other stakeholders. We should strive to keep the workers performing above the minimum acceptable performance level. Making people to perform is a skill. We need to turn the focus from technical oriented management to people oriented.
This might require direct empowerment of people to do the tasks without asking for permission. Every interaction with stakeholders should be a moment of truth.
We need to exercise leadership as well as management. People skills would the the number one skill of a project manager. This can be the most challenging part in the project environment. Take the time to self-evaluate first. What principles are driving your actions?
An improved understanding of yourself and the stakeholders will lead to more efficient communication and better project leadership decisions.
We need the ability to persuade, motivate and resolve conflicts.
The more flexible and agile we become, the better changes of project success.
Should the stakeholders adjust to leadership style?
Of course not. We need to deviate from autocratic to more delegative approach. We might be moving continuously from one leadership style to the next. We need to invest time and efforts to developing those skills. We need to adjust our reactions to people and circumstances. We need to be disciplined to modify this approach.
An important part in this is to create consistency in the relationships. You need to gain trust and respect, potentially admiration. Walk the talk.
We should also encourage risk taking and try to eliminate the fear of failure. This can be done by levelling the knowledge and capacity. Made mistake? Say "My bad" and learn from it.
Getting the best out of people, requires focusing on them as individuals. Spend time with your stakeholders and find out what makes them tick. If you take time to spend time with them you find out who they are.
Summary
Stakeholders management is a complex field. However, proper stakeholder's management can bring significant benefits to the project. Right communication channels are imperative. Project managers should continuously search for improving relationships, determining needs and evaluating the best actions to communicate.
Bibliography:
Heagney, J., (2012), "Fundamentals of Project Management", 4th edition, American Management Association
Lock, D., (2013), "Project Management", 10th edition, Farnham
Maylor H., (2010), "Project Management", 4th edition, Harlow
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