Managing Project Stakeholders
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"Lots of project management books teach how to deliverproject objectives on-time and within budget. But veryfew teach how to manage the critical stakeholderdimension. This is the best that I've seenbecause it provides common-sense tools and tips for turning yourstakeholders into raving fans". --Terry Schmidt,PMP & SMP, Founder, ManagementPro.com; author, StrategicProject Management Made Simple: Practical Tools for Leaders andTeams "Mission driven organizations like The Centers forFamilies and Children depend on internal and/or external projectmanagers that can successfully lead and manage all the stakeholdersinvolved in creating, designing and executing key strategicprojects. As we all know firsthand, it's the peopleinvolved and impacted by the project, "thestakeholders," that will make or break anorganization's ability to successfully implement a strategicproject. Tres Roeder's book Managing ProjectStakeholdersprovides clear, actionable techniques and toolsrequired to effectively "managing the stakeholders." Itis a must read for all of us managing multiple stakeholders inorder to effectively implement a project on time and onbudget."--Bernadette M. Kerrigan, Chief TalentOfficerWeitere Details
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Inhalt
Chapter One
What Is a Stakeholder?
It is never too late to be what you might have been.
George Eliot
Projects require people. People are needed to conceive the idea for the project, design project plans, approve the plans, execute the plans, and close out the project. People are impacted by the outcome of the project. Whether the project is implementing a new software system, a new business unit, or a new bridge, there will be an impact on people. All of these people are stakeholders.
Project Managers Must Be Nimble
This book discusses how to effectively identify, categorize, prioritize, manage, and lead project stakeholders. Projects are temporary endeavors, so project managers must learn how to launch a team of stakeholders, manage the team for the duration of the project, then thank and disband the team when the project is complete. This stands in contrast to operational management, which is more permanent in nature.
Project management is a discipline focused on delivering results and then moving on to the next project. In contrast to operational management, projects have a defined beginning point and a defined end point. Operational management is focused on the tasks and activities required to manage an organization on an ongoing basis.
The temporary nature of projects leads to transient stakeholders. Project stakeholders come and go as the project works through different phases. When the project ends, the stakeholder group is disbanded. Operational management, in contrast, may focus on the same stakeholders for years. An occasional stakeholder may come or go, but the overall stakeholder base is far less transient in operational management than in project management. As a result, project managers must be nimble, adaptable, and constantly vigilant to understand their stakeholder environment.
The Balanced Approach
Project stakeholder management requires a robust skill set. Effective project managers must have expert knowledge of their project scope and plans. They must know what they are trying to do and the constraints upon them to get it done. And they must be able to work with people. Successful project managers deploy a three-pronged approach to managing their projects: technical project management skills, business acumen, and “sixth sense” people skills. (See Figure 1.1.)
Figure 1.1 The Balanced Approach
Technical Skills
Technical project management skills are the formulas, frameworks, and processes of project management. Technical skills include earned value management, writing a charter, creating a work breakdown structure (WBS), and so on. When we use the term technical skills in this book we are not referring to knowledge of the underlying technologies, products, or services the project is developing. Expertise in the underlying product technology is not necessarily required for successful project managers. What is required, however, is expertise in the technical skills and frameworks used to manage projects. Successful project managers understand these technical skills and know when to deploy them to facilitate project success. They also know when the standard technical skills are not appropriate and adapt accordingly.
Business Acumen
Business acumen is knowledge of the organization’s goals, strategies, and language. Business acumen is understanding how one’s project will help the organization achieve its goals and strategies. Effective project managers understand why the project is important. At any point in the project life cycle effective project managers can describe not only what they’re doing but also why they’re doing it and why it matters to the organization. This is business acumen.
The successful project manager also understands the operational and strategic language of the organization. The project manager should know terms such as return on investment, net present value, and strategic alignment. Each organization has its own unique language to describe strategic goals and the tactics deployed to achieve the goals. It is important for the project manager to understand and use this language.
Importance of Business Acumen Many organizations deploy a Project Management Office (PMO) to oversee major projects. Interestingly, the number of organizations with PMOs is declining and many of those still having PMOs are reducing the staff in them. Recent research from The Hackett Group shows that there may be good reason for the decline. On average, PMOs increase the cost of an organization’s information technology (IT) function without delivering improvement to the on-time or on-budget performance of projects. There’s an interesting twist, however. Top performing IT organizations continue to use PMOs and get results from them. Business acumen is one of the key factors correlated to successful PMOs in these top performers. Successful PMOs hold their project teams accountable for business results. Source: “Most Companies with Project Management Offices See Higher IT Costs, No Performance Improvements,” The Hackett Group, November 1, 2012.“Sixth Sense” People Skills
Third, and most importantly, effective project managers know how to work with people to achieve results. They are strong communicators, good negotiators, effective leaders, and astute observers of human behavior. Decades of research proves that people skills are the most important driver of effective project management. The project manager’s ability to harness their expertise and intuition to lead people to successful outcomes is called “A Sixth Sense for Project Management®.”
Together, the three core capabilities of technical skills, business acumen, and people skills comprise the Balanced Approach. Alone, each of these skills is not enough. Together, they form a powerful method for change. Successful project stakeholder management requires the Balanced Approach.
A Sixth Sense for Project Management® The first section in the book A Sixth Sense for Project Management highlights the need for the project management profession to embrace people skills. Section One, comprised of three chapters, documents research showing that people skills are more highly correlated with project success than project management technical skills. At the conclusion of Section One project managers are asked to come together to broadcast the message that interpersonal skills are critically important. Others in the profession are champions of people skills, too. The message has been heard; the latest version of the PMBOK® Guide includes a chapter devoted to stakeholder management, Chapter 13. There’s still much work to do. Many project managers and project organizations continue to have an unhealthy overemphasis on the technical side of project and change management. Working together, we must continue to strive toward the more balanced approach that has proven to greatly increase the probability of project success.The Project Management Institute
The Project Management Institute (PMI) is a not-for-profit global project management association. Founded in 1969, PMI has grown from humble beginnings to a powerhouse with almost a half-million people globally holding its foundational professional designation, the Project Management Professional (PMP®).
The Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide)
PMI correctly recognized that the profession of project management did not have a common knowledge base. In the past, when a group of project managers got together they did not have common terminology to describe what they were doing. They might take a large part of their meeting figuring out what the others were talking about. Recognizing this gap PMI commissioned a project to create a global standard. The goal was a standard that could be used in almost any project situation. After a number of years of effort the first standard was published in 1987. The standard was named A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge. Today, in its fifth edition, we will call this document the PMBOK® Guide.
PMBOK® Guide, Chapter 13
For the first time, the PMBOK® Guide includes a chapter on project stakeholder management. Chapter 13, Project Stakeholder Management, is one of the 10 knowledge areas. Each of the knowledge areas represents foundational information all project managers must know. Adding project stakeholder management to the knowledge areas is a major and game-changing development.
Increased Emphasis on People Skills
Chapter 13 is game-changing for several reasons. First, it is the most attention authors of the PMBOK® Guide have devoted to project stakeholders. Stakeholders have always been critical to project success. Regrettably, these skills have not been a major part of a project manager’s professional development requirements until recently. Many project managers and organizations incorrectly view project management as a skill mainly focused on technical skills. People and organizations with this misguided understanding are more likely to suffer from failed projects.
People Skills Integrated into Technical Skills
A second reason why Chapter 13 is game-changing is because its addition to the...
