In the bustling world of IT Project Management, success hinges not only on delivering top-notch solutions but also on mastering the delicate art of managing project team stakeholders. From the ground level to leadership, each stakeholder brings unique perspectives, challenges, and expectations to the table, and as a project manager, balancing stakeholder needs is key to success. In this blog, we embark on a journey through the labyrinth of project team stakeholder relationships, exploring key strategies, tips, and tricks for effective stakeholder management. 

Whether you’re a seasoned project manager or just starting in the field, this blog intends to help you effectively manage project stakeholders and thereby drive project success. Drawing from our expertise at Fresh Gravity, where we specialize in mastering stakeholder dynamics, we are delighted to share actionable strategies to elevate your project management endeavors. 

Understanding the Landscape 

In the realm of project management at Fresh Gravity, we navigate the intricate landscape of client-stakeholder relationships with expertise that comes from our experience. Ground-level stakeholders, including end users and front-line employees, offer invaluable insights into day-to-day pain points that impede smooth operations. By engaging with them, we foster buy-in at the grass-roots level, ensuring that our solutions resonate with their needs and drive operational efficiency. 

As we progress, we encounter business and technical stakeholders, each serving as a domain expert shaping the solution’s business, functional, and technical aspects. Close consultation with these stakeholders is indispensable to ensure alignment with client requirements and deliver exceptional outcomes that meet or exceed expectations. 

Throughout our journey, we recognize the importance of engaging both leadership and visionaries guiding the organization. These individuals possess a holistic view of the firm’s strategic objectives and priorities. At Fresh Gravity, winning their trust and soliciting their inputs are fundamental pillars of our stakeholder management approach. By aligning our efforts with their vision, we ensure the successful realization of project goals and long-term organizational success. 

Strategies for Managing Project Stakeholder Relationships  

Fresh Gravity’s approach on embarking on the journey of managing project stakeholder relationships is more than just business or technical prowess – as an organization, we strive to follow a mastery of interpersonal skills tailored to the nuances of human interactions, which are often unpredictable.  

The diagram below illustrates some strategies to manage project stakeholder relationships – \

Strategy 1: Active Listening 

As Fresh Gravity, we believe that active listening is our superpower. Like a compass, it helps us navigate all the different voices and opinions. Take a cue from Stephen R. Covey: ‘Understanding comes before being understood’. By listening compassionately, we hear the pain points of each project team member and understand them to find better ways of helping. It is about using our ears and our voice together, not just the latter! 

Strategy 2: Tailored Communication 

At Fresh Gravity, we place immense trust in the power of tailored communication when managing project team stakeholders. Recognizing that every individual possesses unique ways of working, thinking, and acting, we understand the importance of strategizing at a grass-roots level. 

We strive to speak the language of our audience, whether it be technical jargon or plain English, to ensure effective communication with each project team stakeholder. By tailoring our communication to their preferences and needs, we foster better understanding and collaboration, ultimately driving project success. 

Strategy 3: Building Relationships 

When it comes to managing project team stakeholder relationships, Fresh Gravity believes that building trust is akin to laying sturdy foundations for a towering skyscraper. In the consulting ladder, we emphasize investing time and effort in cultivating authentic connections with stakeholders across all levels. Be it over casual coffee chats or virtual brainstorming sessions, we often share stories, dreams, and aspirations, weaving a tapestry of mutual respect and camaraderie. These bonds prove invaluable especially in rough phases of the project, providing a lifeline of support amidst the unpredictable twists and changing requirements in current-day projects. 

Strategy 4: Managing Expectations 

In managing project team stakeholders at Fresh Gravity, our approach centers on setting and managing expectations with rationality. We emphasize the importance of establishing clear, realistic expectations from the project’s inception and consistently reinforcing them to ensure alignment and understanding among all stakeholders. When challenges arise, such as missed deadlines or budget overruns, we proactively take accountability and address the situation head-on with viable solutions. We firmly believe that this approach fosters trust and accountability within the team. At Fresh Gravity, we uphold the golden rule of transparent communication, even when conveying potentially unfavorable news, as we understand that transparency is key to building understanding and trust among all stakeholders in a team and beyond. 

Strategy 5: Anticipating Needs 

In managing project team stakeholders, we uphold the belief that foresight is our superpower. With a keen eye for detail and a dash of intuition, we endeavor to anticipate the needs of our project team stakeholders before they arise, pre-empting potential obstacles and clearing the path ahead for seamless collaboration and success. 

For instance, if a technical stakeholder expresses concerns regarding compatibility with existing systems, we swiftly align internally to devise or propose viable workarounds. This proactive approach demonstrates our unwavering commitment to their success and ensures that we stay one step ahead in addressing challenges. By anticipating and addressing the needs of our project team stakeholders, we earn the respect and admiration of all who embark on this journey with us. 

Each interaction is a chance to hone our skills and build stronger connections. With these tools in our kitty, we are right here, ready to tackle challenges that come our way. 

Useful Skills for navigating Project Stakeholder dynamics 

In the realm of stakeholder dynamics, navigating through challenges necessitates few key skills. At Fresh Gravity, we recognize the significance of the following core principles guiding our approach: 

Flexibility 

Remaining agile and adaptable is crucial at Fresh Gravity. 

Situation: Imagine a scenario where a key technical stakeholder unexpectedly leaves midway through a project, jeopardizing timelines and deliverables. In such situations, flexibility becomes paramount. Rather than succumbing to panic, swift assessment and exploration of alternative solutions are imperative. Whether redistributing responsibilities among existing team members, engaging external consultants or expediting the onboarding process for a replacement, we strongly advocate for adaptability – it ensures project continuity despite disruptions. 

Empathy 

At Fresh Gravity, empathy serves as our compass. Put yourself in the concerned stakeholders’ shoes, empathize with their perspectives, and tailor your actions accordingly. 

Situation: Often in our projects, when ground-level stakeholders express frustration with proposed changes, empathy guides our response. By genuinely understanding their concerns and acknowledging their challenges, we make efforts to foster trust and collaboration. It is important to collaboratively explore potential solutions that would address their needs while aligning with broader project goals.  

Resilience 

Expect setbacks and challenges, but as an organization, we try to maintain a culture of resilience in the face of adversity. We see every obstacle as an opportunity to learn and grow. 

Situation: Consider scenarios such as delays in securing approvals, budget constraints, or scope creep. Rather than succumbing to frustration, we truly feel perseverance is vital. Regrouping with the team, reassessing priorities, and devising creative strategies to overcome obstacles are essential steps that we follow and recommend. Each setback serves as an opportunity for learning and growth. By documenting and internalizing these lessons, we believe that resilience fuels continuous improvement and future success. 

Success at the Confluence: Lessons Learned 

As we approach the final stretch of our journey in managing project stakeholder relationships, it’s essential to reflect on our experiences and learnings. Each interaction and every challenge overcome has brought us closer to our goal of fostering strong, collaborative partnerships. 

In the end, success in consulting is not solely measured by delivering top-notch solutions, but by the strength of relationships forged along the way. With a steadfast commitment to excellence, we, the Gravitians, try to pave the way for sustained business success and lasting impact. 

For those reading along, whether a seasoned project manager or someone new to the field of project management, these insights might prove to be useful. They are practical tips that can be applied to any project management endeavor, regardless of industry or specialization. Whether one is overseeing a large-scale data warehouse implementation, managing a software development team, or even coordinating a marketing campaign, effectively managing stakeholder relationships is crucial for the success of the project. So, as we bid farewell to this phase of client relationships, let us carry forward the key lessons we have learned and continue to execute them with the Fresh Gravity way of excellence.

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Have you ever experienced the frustration of your management team deciding to change a System Integration (SI) partner right in the middle of an implementation? I’ve seen this happen at least 5 times in multi-million dollar deals in the past 20 or so years. The costs (direct financial cost, time cost, and people-emotion cost, to name a few) to the company for which the implementation is being done are enormous. I’ve concluded that often the root cause is a lack of good partnership between the company receiving the services (client) and the firm delivering the services (SI). So, what can you as a client do to ensure the SI you pick at the start of your project is the one you finish the project with? 

A typical IT project involving an SI goes through several phases. These might include: 

• Request for Quote/Proposal Stage 
• Negotiating and Contracting 
• Project Execution 
• Handoff/transition to steady state 

A few key actions at each stage should leave you smiling and with enough funds left over for a grand go-live celebration with your SI. 

Stage 1 – Request for Quote/Proposal Stage 

It’s easy at this stage to feel that you are going to be paying for experts who have been-there-done-that and so they should know most of what there is to know. However, keep in mind that even though they may be domain experts or technology experts, they do not know your specific business nuances, your systems, your data, your processes, or your people. The proposal stage is the time to make sure they have enough information and details to come up with a realistic solution, an implementation approach, and a bid. A few recommendations to get the best proposal possible: 

1) Do your homework and compile all the relevant information you can about your project goals, systems, processes, and people data. Provide the SI with information in a format and at a level of detail that makes it easy for them to digest.
2) Spend time with them going through your thoughts and ideas but let the potential SI Partner (the EXPERTS) present to you their thoughts that are likely going to be based on their experience with several similar initiatives.
3) Budget enough time so they can get the clarifications and additional input that they may need from you. This is critical. Sometimes companies push an SI to turn around a proposal in a few days and all this does is get you a substandard proposal. Don’t forget that everyone is working through multiple priorities and respecting this is key to a long-term relationship.

Stage 2 – Negotiating and Contracting 

1) Drive a bargain. You’ve got to make sure the estimate is within your budget, and you are getting the best value for your money. However, be reasonable.
2) Don’t always go for the lowest bid. I’ve done that on home remodeling and have REPENTED! Look for expertise, the quality of the proposal (is likely a reflection of the quality of work), cultural fit, confidence, stability, and other factors important to you when making your choice.
3) Don’t force a fixed price on the SI unless you have really given them enough information to provide a fixed bid. The hidden unknowns in your project are what will cause a relationship to sour the minute things go awry and change orders come up.
4) Keep a buffer for overruns. A good rule of thumb is 20-25% of the total bid price. If the proposed price point is too close or above your budget, work with SI to compromise on the scope of what they need to deliver so it is a win-win for all. This may mean taking on some of the scope yourself or reducing the scope to what can be done within the approved budget.
5) If you are working towards a fixed price deal, make sure the milestones and associated deliverables proposed by the SI are realistic, tangible, and measurable so you remove the ambiguity of determining completeness of a milestone during the implementation.
6) Make sure the SI has accounted for adequate analysis and design time. You are the best judge of the complexity of your project. Do not compromise on the analysis and design stages.

Stage 3 – Project Execution 

1) Project execution is the most important and the most challenging part of the journey. True partnership is required during this time.
2) Keep in mind, you have likely selected an SI whose done what you need done several times over.  Do not assume they know everything and therefore simply leave them to their ways but do respect their knowledge and experience.
3) Create a mirror team of your SI’s team at your end. Not necessarily person for person, but you need to have representation from all the right stakeholders, constituencies, business functions, technology areas, etc. that the project impacts.
4) Budget enough time from your side to participate in the project. This is not the SIs project. It is yours and you need to be totally vested.  Making sure you have preset expectations with the right IT team members and business team members around commitment to the project. It is important to have their leadership buy into this commitment with a correlated compromise to their daily work expectations.
5) Identify a core set of team members from your organization that should be trained or experienced in the technology being implemented so they can take over the operational aspects of managing the application in as efficient a manner as possible.

Stage 4 – Handoff/Transition to steady state 

If you have gotten this far without your fingers burnt, congratulations! You probably have a great relationship and a smooth hand-off and transition to a steady state is likely going to be a natural extension of your successful partnership.  

If things have not been that smooth, perhaps consider some of the strategies above and look for opportunities to adjust for your next project. 

Think we left something out? Add your suggestions in the comments.  

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