Your stakeholders are important to any project, and it is important to make sure that they are informed and happy with the progress. Your stakeholders are the people who have a vested interest in the project, and they can mobilize resources to make the project happen. It is important to recognize all of your stakeholders and keep track of their expectations and keep them informed. Take a look at the top seven ways to improve stakeholder management.
Table of Contents
1. Communicate
The most important thing that you can do to improve stakeholder management is to communicate. Not only should you communicate with all stakeholders during every step of the project, but you should also gather information about your stakeholders. It is important to understand who they are, why they are involved in the project, and what they hope the outcome will be. Once you understand them, it will be easier to communicate with them in a way that is meaningful. They will feel more positive about the project when communication is there.
2. Consultation
When you begin a new project, the direction may seem unclear to those who aren’t directly involved in the planning. As the project manager, you understand the purpose, scope, risks, and approach to your project, but you need to consult with stakeholders to make sure that they understand these as well. It is better to consult with them as early as possible in case they have feedback. If they have concerns, they need to be addressed before you get into the heart of the project. You can consult with stakeholders during each step as you plan your project.
3. Be Attentive and Understanding
Your stakeholders are humans, and they may not always respond in a way that appears reasonable or predictable to you. They may be wrapped up in their ideas about the project and say things that don’t make a lot of sense. It is important to be attentive and try to understand the cause of what they are saying or how they are acting. You need to work with them and have a productive relationship, so it is up to you to listen and understand that it may take some effort on your part to understand their concerns.
4. Plan
Make sure that you plan carefully before you approach stakeholders. You should be able to answer any questions they have when you go to them with information about the project. Plan and anticipate what they may want to know so that you can answer their questions and alleviate their concerns. This will improve your relationship and help them feel more positive about the process. Using a stakeholder management software like Borealis can prove beneficial for this.
5. Relationship-Building
While you are working on the project, you should try to develop working relationships with your stakeholders. This is a great way to build trust, and you will be able to work together more effectively. As you build these relationships, everyone will have more confidence in the direction of the project, and it will reduce any uncertainty and make any decisions easier to make. Relationships are key to working together, and when you focus on building them, it will be much easier to get through the project.
6. Simplify It
In addition to your standard project planning, you need to simplify the process by planning for potential issues that may come up. Take the time to anticipate any problems, and make sure that you alert stakeholders right away. This is one of the trickiest steps to manage, as it requires keeping stakeholders informed without worrying them. However, it will improve your stakeholder management and make your project go smoothly.
7. Compromise
When you are managing a large project, there can be a number of stakeholders involved, as well as many other people. The first thing you need to do is to establish a baseline for expectations that everyone can agree to. As issues appear, you need to consider all of the different viewpoints of stakeholders and come up with a compromise that keeps everyone satisfied. There are some requirements where you won’t be able to be flexible, but there are other places where you can compromise. This helps you achieve your goals and complete the project while making everyone feel comfortable that their concerns are attended to.