Many project managers feel their role with stakeholders is to corral them into obedience. It is important that all stakeholders are involved in the development of projects and not just direct beneficiaries of an initiative. Good project managers begin their projects by identifying stakeholders, understanding their role in the project, identifying their project-related expectations, and, relative to other stakeholders, confirming common expectations while resolving expectations that are in conflict. The aim of the stakeholder management plan is to engage your stakeholders and create positive relationships with them by setting objectives and managing their expectations. In 2016, Mike founded OnlinePMCourses.com. Why is it so important to improve stakeholder management? Why is stakeholder management important to project success? After twelve years of active project management, Mike became a sought after trainer and he has delivered training and seminars to many thousands of people. To communicate more effectively with stakeholders, you should: Stakeholder management is important because it is the lifeblood of effective project relationships. webinar, Thursday 28 June 2018. On the largest projects, things are usually different. The consequence of these effects is that stakeholder engagement is something of a Cinderella discipline. Many people rely on the results being successful. Many people have – and continue to – refer to stakeholder engagement as ‘stakeholder management’. This blog first appeared as an article in the Spring edition of Project Journal. And there are many customers, some visible and obvious, and others not so easily seen. What is stakeholder engagement and why is it important? Mike Clayton is an accomplished trainer, speaker and trusted advisor. However, stakeholder management is a very narrow way of looking at how we work with people on projects to achieve a common goal. Why is Stakeholder Management Important? The next most important consideration for stakeholder engagement is an example of how the two tiers can cross over. MikeYou make a good point re the distinction between Stakeholder Engagement and Management. But they rarely are. The need for first-class stakeholder engagement is well recognised. They need a different product, a different method, or a different way of doing things. Too often, we honour stakeholder engagement more in the breach than in the observance. 3) Listening to stakeholders. They therefore tend to outsource it to a specialist communications agency or in-house team. Why Stakeholder Management is Vital to Successful Projects The various stakeholders, who are involved in your project, are a critical resource. They are usually trained; sometimes to a high standard. The Importance of Project Stakeholder Management By Cynthia Snyder Stackpole As you study for your project management professional (PMP) certification exam, you’ll explore stakeholder management. As the project changes, the stakeholder management plan can change with it to better serve the needs of the project. The work is frequently delegated to junior team members, who get little support in their role. What we need is more and better training – at all levels. Join us at InfoWorks as together we strive to be smarter about business. So we owe it to our stakeholders to be more respectful than that; to be ethical in our dealings. Stakeholders are people who actively participate in project-related decisions as they’re affected by the results of project execution and results. You certainly don’t want to have a “successful” project that fails in delivering the really important things the users and customers want and need. Businesses create projects to do something different, to make a change, because they can’t get the results they need if they keep doing things the same way. Stakeholder Management Systems are fundamental to sustainable management processes. Whether they commissioned the project, work on it, or provide feedback, they must be engaged and informed at all times. With strong stakeholder support you gain a valuable ally who can help make your project a success. Some are more important to the life of the project, such as the sponsor, steering committee, or project team members. There remains a view that we need to ‘manage’ our stakeholders. They broaden the pool of people who care about the well-being of your company, making you … Small projects are rarely run by full-time project managers. Stakeholder management is important since it is the lifeline of effective project relationships. Other stakeholders typically have a shorter involvement limited to particular aspects of the project, usually a more specific role in completing activities and tasks either of a functional nature (such as legal, marketing, or human resources) or of a technical nature (such as contractor, supplier, or application-specific roles). Quick Overview: Define, Analyze, Plan manage and engagement is the tradition step of the stakeholder mapping process Very little. Some are project management professionals like most of the readers of this journal. Secondary customers may want to know: will the needs of other secondary customers take priority over mine? Most projects you work on will involve multiple stakeholders, and each one potentially has the ability to speed up, slow down or completely obstruct your progress. Successful Delivery. As an example, outside of business, you are a stakeholder in a family - your own, whether as a child, parent, or grandparent. Stakeholder management is the central part of an organization’s effectiveness. Good stakeholder management is vital to your business’s success. The primary customer may be asking: is this going to help me do my job more effectively? The stakeholder management plan is a living document. But there is something else that we need. The project’s end product or result should meet all of the important needs of the primary stakeholders. The effort is often piecemeal. On training courses, it is the section on stakeholders that often gets the biggest wow and the highest retention factor. But there is something else that we need. Excellent stakeholder management removes and reduces some issues and then creates other issues in itself. Each is an essential competence and a route to specialisation. The focus of stakeholder management isn’t to manage stakeholders but instead to … Additionally, stakeholders … Now I am all for simple tools; when applied vigorously, the results are excellent. o e.g. If a project is small in size, the number of stakeholders can be small. The drivers to manage the stakeholders can be as below. Related Topic: Stakeholder VS Shareholder. Log in to post a comment, or create an account if you don't have one already. Identifying stakeholder expectations is critically important to the success of a project because: Understanding who your stakeholders are, and why their needs are important to the success of the project, is a key responsibility for any project manager, and a responsibility as well for all the people who are involved in project decisions. Stakeholders must play a central role in setting up priorities and objectives of water and sanitation initiatives in order to ensure relevance and appropriateness. Sign-up for the latest news, information, research, and tools to expand your knowledge of business! This means not only knowing your stakeholders but also understanding their unique communication needs at various points in the project. But no matter their role, all of your stakeholders matter, and managing stakeholders effectively can make a big difference to the success of your project. Once this is done, the job of managing stakeholders really begins. The more you engage with your stakeholders and communicate with them in an effort to manage them, the greater are the chances that you uncover some potential risks, which may otherwise go unnoticed. Why is stakeholder management important. They must gain compliance or, failing that, marginalise and overcome them. Providing Expertise However, stakeholder engagement is not easy, because all projects involve people whose behaviour can change over the course of a project. But my experience suggests three distinct tiers of situation. It’s a truth that we project managers often repeat: stakeholders are critical to the success of our projects. Stakeholders play important roles as advocates, sponsors, partners and agents of change. For the end user of the project’s result, the overall goal is to receive the actual product or service and find that it meets their needs. Engaging stakeholders during—and especially at the beginning of—your project will help reduce and uncover risks and increase their “buy-in.” When stakeholders are adequately engaged, their influence spreads far and wide. Engaging with key stakeholders will … This post summarizes a 1995 academic paper by Thomas Donaldson and Lee E. Preston, called “The Stakeholder Theory of the Corporation: Concepts, Evidence, and Implications.”From time-to-time, I will highlight important papers like this to make them more easily accessible. Five Strategies for Successful Stakeholder Management. Consequently, it's important to identify the most influential stakeholders. In the procurement environment, this is particularly true in driving change management and transformation. To me, this feels like a disrespectful throwback to earlier times. o If repositioning a stakeholder is required - determine what needs to be done to shift power? And they also give them less attention than even larger projects. There may have been several unsuccessful attempts to do it the old way before someone with the clout to make it happen finally decides they have to make a project of it. Invite stakeholder group - team members to key planning meetings 5) Maintain engagement o Similar to risk management, use this analysis when planning stakeholder communication But project managers often see it as ‘something a bit different’. You need to establish trust and maintain relevance. When you have mapped the stakeholders, it will help in better managing their expectations. He started his career in project management for consulting firm Deloitte, where he delivered major projects for large organisations like BAA, Vodafone, Transport for London, Railtrack, British Gas, General Motors and MoD. In addition to gaining their support it is key that you properly manage your stakeholders. Why is managing stakeholders so important in project management? Because we need people to get the project work done. It’s beneficial and advisable to know about good stakeholder management skill and communicate constantly with stakeholders in order to collaborate on the project because after all, they are also affected by the product. Why is stakeholder management important to project success? Stakeholders are people interested in your company, ranging from employees to loyal customers and investors. The orientation of stakeholders may keep on changing as the project progresses and therefore effective stakeholder management system is important for positive results. This means not only knowing your stakeholders but also understanding their unique communication needs at various points in the project. Many people have – and continue to – refer to stakeholder engagement as ‘stakeholder management’. That’s why I launched my Charter for Ethical Stakeholder Engagement. 4 Reasons Why Project Stakeholder Management Is Important. In this topic, we are going to cover, why mapping is so important, and how the project manager utilizes different tools/templates for managing easily. Once the key stakeholders are determined, it's time to develop a stakeholder engagement plan and influence them at the right times. They often fall back on a small selection of simple tools. It also created, "As we navigate the lasting effects of the pandemic and social unrest, mitigating AI bias will continue to become m…, The freelance revolution is 'growing': Publicist CEO. Donnie,Further to your point about the APM/RICS guidelines for stakeholder engagement: there is now a section on the APM website about Stakeholder Engagement that uses the 10 Principles of Effective Stakeholder Engagement as a framework for relevant resources: https://www.apm.org.uk/stakeholder-engagement.There is a wealth of information being collected on the site including: case studies from practising project managers with tried and tested tools and techniques for dealing with tricky situations; and a bibliography for anyone wishing to dig a bit deeper into the topic or planning to do research on SE. As management guru Stephen Covey succinctly puts it, Your organisation is a complex ecosystem of multiple, interdependent parts both inside and outside its formal boundaries, and your stakeholders are its most important elements. Using a project management tool with lots of different communication options means that you can tailor your notifications to each stakeholder’s unique needs, while still keeping a full audit history of every action and decision (which is especially handy when it comes to reporting time). Following are some of the benefits of stakeholder management that can explain why it is given so much importance: Uncovers risks beforehand. But there is a resigned frustration at the lack of tools and knowledge needed to do it in a structured way. What I have found is this: relative to their size, these projects pay less attention to stakeholders than smaller projects. Without strong stakeholder support requirements can be missed. They may not be able to move ahead without this different mix of suppliers, new work environments, or emerging group of customers in the marketplace. Knowing the role of stakeholders in project management is important to ensuring the success of your project. If that were always so, it would automatically follow — or at least easily be derived — from acceptable predicate definitions for 'stakeholder', 'analysis', and 'important'. The corporate intelligence provided by the system yields a better understanding of organisational positioning, and thus enhanced responsiveness in the short term, and … By identifying individual stakeholders and their unique needs, a project manager can more effectively communicate with stakeholders, leading to satisfied sponsors and stakeholders, happy and productive team members, coordinated efforts focused on common targets, and more successful project outcomes. Our how-to articles, editorials, and thought pieces offer key insights in the areas of project management, leadership, entrepreneurship, consulting, freelancing, and the future of work. With a nimble stakeholder management plan, a project team can appropriately gather input and feedback from stakeholders as well as keep those stakeholders informed. But it shouldn’t be. So the results are only as good as the enthusiasm and creativity of the work-stream lead. The InfoWorks blog helps today’s business professional adapt to the ever-changing work world of the twenty-first century, where critical thinking skills and an openness to learn are paramount. Involve stakeholder in early stages of planning o e.g. For example, at the initial stage of the project, the project sponsor may be wondering: is this worth the investment? Project stakeholders include those who care about the project or will be affected by it in some way: Primary project stakeholders are those who will be a part of the project for the duration. Projects stakeholders have an interest in the outcomes of your project. Sign-up for the latest news, information, research, and tools to expand your knowledge of business! Stakeholder management it seems to be very important than ever because of the increasingly globalizations and the interconnected nature of the modern world. Sharing this information with the team, and asking the team to help define the answers, is important if the project is to produce a real solution. As one of the authors I can recommend reading about the 10 principles of effective stakeholder engagement which came through our experience of working and training with thousands of stakeholders.https://www.apm.org.uk/blog/art-successful-stakeholder-engagement#.VBqgzpRdUd1. And your project team members might be thinking: is this a project I want to work on? More than likely the project is not the first attempt to meet this need. Of course, the situation is more complex than this. They often recognise the need to engage their stakeholders. What we need is more and better training – at all levels. Project planning, risk management and change control are all seen as skilled project roles. Some of the ways stakeholders are important to a project are as follows. The fact is that most projects involve a large number of stakeholders. Larger organisational projects often do have a full-time project manager. Effective stakeholder management also means communicating with your stakeholders and understanding that not all stakeholders require the same information at the same time. So a project is created, along with certain expectations. Why stakeholder management? These needs involve establishing a sound relationship, feeling trusted and relevant, and understanding how their work is contributing to successfully meeting project objectives. Yet how much of the average project management textbook, paperback or training course is dedicated to stakeholder engagement? Stakeholder management is important because it is the lifeblood of effective project relationships. What is stakeholder analysis? Stakeholder engagement suggests managing the project for this wide stakeholder audience. Their information needs, inputs, and decision-making will vary over time, but will be broadly focused on seeing the project to a successful conclusion. View our privacy policy. What can you learn from your local supermarket. The more active communication you have with your stakeholders, the better your risk management strategy will be. It is not part of their core responsibility of managing the project. Others are managers and professionals from other disciplines, with a lot of project experience. Their power, interest, influence, expectations, and impact differ greatly. The quality and extent of work done to engage stakeholders depends on the context, the project and the project manager. They have their influence over the project, its deliverables, and the project team members, so their participation is crucial for successful project delivery. It is important to involve the stakeholders to get some insights about organization directions, its vision, goals, pipeline projects. As the person running that organization, you have an obligation to your stakeholders. 1. Read about our philosophy here, and sign up for our newsletter. A stakeholder management system shall be implemented and maintained and the information about each stakeholder shall be updated in the system from time to time. And many of the people that run these projects have little or no training in project management. This offers six commitments, which I hope you will join me in making. Stakeholders give your business practical and financial support. A vital part of running a successful project is to develop and maintain good relationships with those communities who will be affected and other stakeholders. Stakeholder management is a critical function of any project manager’s job. When people have made an investment in what you’re doing, they’re naturally interested in how it does. Building Project Management Experience in a Down Market, 14 Questions Consultants Ask to Improve Client Relations, 13 Strategies Consultants Use to Guide Change, Reaching Agreement in Client-Consultant Relationships, Embracing Adaptation During Challenging Times. For the organization, the overall goal is to capture the value of the challenging opportunity or pressing business need. One of the most important parts of managing a project is having a clear idea of what results you are producing, for whom, and why those results are important. Stakeholder engagement in the procurement industry. Stakeholder management is about creating long-term relationships based on trust, integrity and customer satisfaction with key players involved in a business on any level. Readers may be interested in the guide that that the APM/RICS published which I describe in my blog (link below). Others are no less important but are involved only in parts of the project, such as subject matter experts, cross-functional managers, and suppliers. However, stakeholder management is a very narrow way of looking at how we work with people on projects to achieve a common goal. For a well-rounded project manager, stakeholder engagement management should also be seen as vital. Mike is also an author of fourteen books, including four directly about project management: - The Influence Agenda - about stakeholder engagement is the most recent - How to Manage a Great Project - Brilliant Project Leader - Risk Happens! Project sponsor: the person who is going to pay the bills and who has ultimate sign-off authority on the project, Primary customer: the primary user of the project’s outcomes or products, Secondary customers: others, both inside and outside of the organization, who will benefit from the project or who will be interacting with it, Project team: people who will be expected to carry out the project, including support personnel and outside consultants, Your stakeholders as a group will usually understand the situation better than you can, The situation may look quite different when viewed from different perspectives, Different stakeholders might have different expectations, You may risk rejection of your finished product if your customer feels his/her expectations and priorities haven’t been considered, Identify the intended recipients of the communication, recognizing that different stakeholders might require different information, and in different forms, Identify the issues of concern to each stakeholder, particularly concerns related to decisions each stakeholder must make, Determine which information should be communicated based on the specific information requirements of each stakeholder, Select a communication approach that will work most effectively with each stakeholder, Building project management experience in a down market ->, The coronavirus destroyed jobs. Our projects affect lives, wellbeing and livelihoods. The data-driven workplace of today has meant change for today’s leaders, and projects have taken on more importance as the business environment evolves. SIgn Up for the latest news, information, research, and resources to expand your knowledge of business. And these needs should be carefully spelled out before the project starts. This needs to involve establishing a sound relationship and understanding how their work is contributing to project success. For a well-rounded project manager, stakeholder engagement management should also be seen as vital. Because we need people to get the project work done. Want to know more? Stakeholder mapping is essential for the success of a project. The various stakeholders, you should: stakeholder management is the lifeline of why is stakeholder management important project relationships method, or feedback... How it does an initiative to their size, the overall goal is to them! 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