Stakeholder Relationships and Expectations
Site: | Saylor Academy |
Course: | BUS605: Strategic Project Management |
Book: | Stakeholder Relationships and Expectations |
Printed by: | Guest user |
Date: | Friday, 18 April 2025, 1:06 PM |
Description
As you read this chapter, study the relationship-building techniques that relate to stakeholder expectations.
Managing Stakeholders
Often there is more than one major stakeholder in the project. An increase in the number of stakeholders adds stress to the project and influences the project's complexity level. The business or emotional investment of the stakeholder in the project and the ability of the stakeholder to influence the project outcomes or execution approach will also influence the stakeholder complexity of the project. In addition to the number of stakeholders and their level of investment, the degree to which the project stakeholders agree or disagree influences the project's complexity.
A small commercial construction project will typically have several stakeholders. All the building permitting agencies, environmental agencies, and labour and safety agencies have an interest in the project and can influence the execution plan of the project. The neighbours will have an interest in the architectural appeal, the noise, and the purpose of the building.
Example: Tire Plant in India
A U.S. chemical company chartered a project team to design and build a plant to produce the raw materials for building truck tires designed for unpaved roads. The plant was to be built in India a few years after an accident that killed several Indians and involved a different U.S. chemical company. When the company announced the new project and began to break ground, the community backlash was so strong that the project was shut down. A highly involved stakeholder can significantly influence your project.
Example: Wind Turbine on a College Campus
A small college in South Carolina won a competitive grant to erect and operate a wind turbine on campus. The engineering department submitted the grant as a demonstration project for engineering students to expose students to wind technology. The campus facilities department found only one location for the wind turbine that would not disrupt the flow of traffic on campus. The engineering department found that location unacceptable for students who had to maintain the wind turbine. The county construction permitting department had no policies for permitting a wind turbine and would not provide a building permit. The college had to go to the county council and get an exception to county rules. The marketing department wanted the wind turbine placed in a highly visible location to promote the innovative approach of the college.
Each of the college's stakeholders had a legitimate interest in the location of the wind turbine. The number of stakeholders on the project, multiplied by their passion for the subject and the lack of agreement on the location, increased the complexity of the project. Significant time and resources of a project will be dedicated to identifying, understanding, and managing client expectations.
Example: Stakeholders and a Bridge Project
The Department of Highways chartered a project to upgrade a number of bridges that crossed the interstate in one of the larger cities in South Carolina. The closing of these bridges severely impacted traffic congestion, including a large shopping mall. The contract included provisions for minimizing the impact on the traffic and communities near the construction areas. This provision allowed businesses or interested parties to review the project schedule and make suggestions that would lessen the impact of the construction. The project leadership invested significant time and resources in developing alignment among the various political stakeholders on the project approach and schedule.
Source: Adrienne Watt,
https://opentextbc.ca/projectmanagement/chapter/chapter-5-project-stakeholders-project-management/
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Relationship Building Tips
Take the time to identify all stakeholders before starting a new project. Include those who are impacted by the project, as well as groups with the ability to impact the project. Then, begin the process of building strong relationships with each one using the following method.
- Analyze stakeholders: Conduct a stakeholder analysis, or an assessment of a project's key participants, and how the project will affect their problems and needs. Identify their individual characteristics and interests. Find out what motivates them, as well as what provokes them. Define roles and level of participation, and determine if there are conflicts of interest among groups of stakeholders.
- Assess influence: Measure the degree to which stakeholders can influence the project. The more influential a stakeholder is, the more a project manager will need their support. Think about the question, "What's in it for them?" when considering stakeholders. Knowing what each stakeholder needs or wants from the project will enable the project manager to gauge his or her level of support. And remember to balance support against influence. Is it more important to have strong support from a stakeholder with little influence, or lukewarm support from one with a high level of influence?
- Understand their expectations: Nail down stakeholders' specific expectations. Ask for clarification when needed to be sure they are completely understood.
- Define "success": Every stakeholder may have a different idea of what project success looks like. Discovering this at the end of the project is a formula for failure. Gather definitions up front and include them in the objectives to help ensure that all stakeholders will be supportive of the final outcomes.
- Keep stakeholders involved: Don't just report to stakeholders. Ask for their input. Get to know them better by scheduling time for coffee, lunch, or quick meetings. Measure each stakeholder's capacity to participate and honour time constraints.
- Keep stakeholders informed: Send regular status updates. Daily may be too much; monthly is not enough. One update per week is usually about right. Hold project meetings as required, but don't let too much time pass between meetings. Be sure to answer stakeholders' questions and emails promptly. Regular communication is always appreciated – and may even soften the blow when you have bad news to share.
These are the basics of building strong stakeholder relationships. But as in any relationship, there are subtleties that every successful project manager understands – such as learning the differences between and relating well to different types of stakeholders.
How to Relate to Different Types of Stakeholders
By conducting a stakeholder analysis, project managers can gather enough information on which to build strong relationships – regardless of the differences between them. For example, the needs and wants of a director of marketing will be different from those of a chief information officer. Therefore, the project manager's engagement with each will need to be different as well.
Stakeholders with financial concerns will need to know the potential return of the project's outcomes. Others will support projects if there is sound evidence of their value to improving operations, boosting market share, increasing production, or meeting other company objectives.
Keep each stakeholder's expectations and needs in mind throughout each conversation, report or email, no matter how casual or formal the communication may be. Remember that the company's interests are more important than any individual's – yours or a stakeholder's. When forced to choose between them, put the company's needs first.
No matter what their needs or wants, all stakeholders will respect the project manager who:
- Is always honest, even when telling them something they don't want to hear
- Takes ownership of the project
- Is predictable and reliable
- Stands by his or her decisions
- Takes accountability for mistakes
Supportive Stakeholders are Essential to Project Success
Achieving a project's objectives takes a focused, well-organized project manager who can engage with a committed team and gain the support of all stakeholders. Building strong, trusting relationships with interested parties from the start can make the difference between project success and failure.
Tools to Help Stakeholder Management
There are many project decelerators, among them lack of stakeholder support. Whether the stakeholders support your project or not, if they are important to your project, you must secure their support. How do you do that?
First, you must identify who your stakeholders are. Just because they are important in the organization does not necessarily mean they are important to your project. Just because they think they are important does not mean they are. Just because they don't think they need to be involved does not mean they do not have to be. The typical suspects: your manager, your manager's manager, your client, your client's manager, any SME (subject matter expert) whose involvement you need, and the board reviewing and approving your project. Note that in some situations there are people who think they are stakeholders. From your perspective they may not be, but be careful how you handle them. They could be influential with those who have the power to impact your project. Do not dismiss them out of hand.
Second, you need to determine what power they have and what their intentions toward your project are. Do they have the power to have an impact on your project? Do they support or oppose you? What strategies do you follow with them?
Third, what's the relationship among stakeholders? Can you improve your project's chances by working with those who support you to improve the views of those who oppose you? Table 5.1 summarizes the options based on an assessment of your stakeholders' potential for cooperation and potential for threat.
Low threat potential | High threat potential | |
---|---|---|
Low potential for cooperation | Type: Marginal
Strategy: Monitor |
Type: Non-supportive
Strategy: Defend |
High potential for cooperation | Type: Supportive
Strategy: Involve |
Type: Mixed blessing
Strategy: Collaborative |
Table 5.1 Stakeholder Analysis
Now that you have this information, you can complete a stakeholder analysis template (Table 5.2) that will help you define your strategies to improve their support:
Stakeholder Names and Roles | How important? (Low – Med – High) | Current level of support? (Low – Med – High) | What do you want from stakeholders? | What is important to stakeholders? | How could stakeholders block your efforts? | What is your strategy for enhancing stakeholder support? |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Table 5.2 Stakeholder Analysis Template
Finally, a key piece of your stakeholder management efforts is constant communication to your stakeholders. Using the information developed above, you should develop a communications plan that secures your stakeholders' support. The template in Figure 5.2 can be used.
Figure 5.2 Stakeholder Communication Template