Stakeholders: special attention zone
As soon as a new project is born in the world, he immediately has friends and enemies. It is explained very simply: any project entails changes. Well, people react to changes differently - someone is ready for them and warmly welcomes, and someone does not like changes and fears, because he sees them as a threat to their status, lifestyle, stability or, even worse, the appearance of additional work. Both the first and second may be among the people who can influence the course and outcome of the project.
People and organizations that influence the project are called stakeholders. The term “stakeholder” (from an English stakeholder, literally “owner of a share”) in the official literature is translated in different ways. PMBOK offers the option "interested party", our GOST 51897-2002 - "participial party" (Gostovsky translation, perhaps, more accurate).
Stakeholders can be:
* Those who are actively involved in the project and work in it (project team, sponsor, steering committee, third-party companies involved and other performers, etc.)
* Those whose interests may be affected by the project and who will use its results (customers, heads of functional departments and their employees, business partners, customers, customers, etc.)
* Those who are not involved in the project, but who, by virtue of their position or professional activity, can influence it (top managers of the company, owners and investors, shareholders, creditors, external and internal partners, regulatory authorities, etc. .)
The project manager has to deal with all types of stakeholders. Its task is to identify the key stakeholders for the project and manage their influence in such a way as to reduce the negative consequences of this influence and strengthen the positive ones. In other words, the project manager must manage the stakeholders so that the project is successful. It is easy to say, but incredibly difficult to do - the manager is confronted with conflicting points of view and the interests of people who often occupy a much higher position in the company than with him, corporate political intrigues, an undercover struggle. It is no coincidence that project management gurus are advised to protect the team from external influences, to the point of giving it a separate room outside the office. That's exactly what young Steve Jobs, who created the Macintosh, did at the time. By the way, he killed one more hare with this - he emphasized the elitism of the team members and their belonging to the chosen one, and at the same time raised the prestige of the project.
')
But back to our realities - no one will provide us with a separate office and will not transfer the project to a desert island for the duration of the project. Therefore, the only thing left for us is to use the methodology for working with stakeholders, the essence of which is as follows.
In the first step, we must identify all stakeholders. We sit down at the table, take a pen and a piece of paper (oh, sorry, of course, an iPad) and begin to write out all the people and organizations that can influence the project. The result is a list of stakeholders. It’s good to connect the project team and the sponsor at this step — you may simply not be aware of all the parties involved, especially at the beginning of the project.
In the second step, we classify the stakeholders by their influence on the project and their interest in it. It is convenient to use the following graphical representation, which is called the matrix of support and influence:
The horizontal axis shows the influence of the stakeholder on the project, from the strong to the weak, and on the vertical, the attitude to the project, from support to opposition. The axes divide the plane into four quadrants.
In quadrant 1 there are those who bring joy and tranquility to our lives. :-) First of all, it is a sponsor. If the sponsor misses the first quadrant, your project will have a short and joyless life. In the same quadrant should be the project team. Also, there may be customers and other interested parties, for example, a top manager of the company, in whose work the project will bring positive changes. The project manager should work primarily with this quadrant - after all, the project’s driving force is concentrated in it, it needs to be actively managed. We can not allow the transfer of stakeholders from this quadrant to others - this will always lose the project. The strategy for working with this quadrant is to “actively manage and not to miss!”
In quadrant 2, those who are pleased with your project, but have no great influence on it. Perhaps they are not very influential in the company. It is necessary to regularly inform these people about the progress of the project - this will support their interest and maintain a common positive attitude. And who knows if they will not go into quadrant 1 in the future, for example, making a career? The main strategy of working with this quadrant is “to keep up to date and in good shape!”.
In quadrant 3 weak project opponents. Their opposition is strong, but the impact is insignificant. We must keep them in sight, and then suddenly they will become strong? Well, a good strategy would be to drag them even into quadrant 2. Perhaps they just do not understand their benefits from the project, help them see them. The basic rule of working with this quadrant is “do not neglect!”.
In the fourth quadrant lurking dangerous enemies of the project. It is possible that you alone can not cope with them. It is for such cases that the sponsor and other inhabitants of the first quadrant should be attracted in order to influence opponents through them. The strategy for working with quadrant 4 is “be prepared for danger and stay ahead!”.
Pay attention to Mr. Flyugerova. He has a rather influential figure, but in relation to the project is almost neutral. There are cases where stakeholders are located on or close to the axes. Such an unstable situation represents potential areas of risk for your project, you need to work with these stakeholders in addition. Otherwise, according to all the laws of meanness, neutral stakeholders will become enemies of the project.
In the third step, we develop a plan of action - how do we influence each stakeholder, depending on which quadrant he is in and taking into account the internal conditions of the project. For each stakeholder, the project manager should have ready answers to the questions:
* What is he interested in? What are his goals in the project?
* How will his life change if the project is successful? And if unsuccessful?
* Why is he in this quadrant? Can I drag it to others?
* How can he help and harm the project?
* How to prevent harm and, if it happened, how to neutralize the consequences?
* How to increase its positive impact?
When the action plan is ready, you can work with each stakeholder and regularly update our matrix, because life is not worth it - new stakeholders appear, old ones switch to other quadrants. And it is very good if it is the result of your exposure, and not the machinations of villains and villains.
Well, the last. When I talk about the impact of the stakeholder on the project, then, of course, we are talking about the impact on the timing, scope of the project, budget and quality. This is very important, but not the main thing. The most important thing is the impact on the project manager, on which all these parameters largely depend. Not abstract economic and temporal functions, but you yourself are the object of influence of the stakeholders. The sponsor will (and should) help you, project opponents, both strong and weak, will put pressure on you.
Not so much by the attitude towards any economic indicators, as by the personal attitude towards you personally, the attitude of the stakeholder to the project will be determined.
In general, as always, everything in the project depends on its manager. Well, what do you think? :-)
People and organizations that influence the project are called stakeholders. The term “stakeholder” (from an English stakeholder, literally “owner of a share”) in the official literature is translated in different ways. PMBOK offers the option "interested party", our GOST 51897-2002 - "participial party" (Gostovsky translation, perhaps, more accurate).
Stakeholders can be:
* Those who are actively involved in the project and work in it (project team, sponsor, steering committee, third-party companies involved and other performers, etc.)
* Those whose interests may be affected by the project and who will use its results (customers, heads of functional departments and their employees, business partners, customers, customers, etc.)
* Those who are not involved in the project, but who, by virtue of their position or professional activity, can influence it (top managers of the company, owners and investors, shareholders, creditors, external and internal partners, regulatory authorities, etc. .)
The project manager has to deal with all types of stakeholders. Its task is to identify the key stakeholders for the project and manage their influence in such a way as to reduce the negative consequences of this influence and strengthen the positive ones. In other words, the project manager must manage the stakeholders so that the project is successful. It is easy to say, but incredibly difficult to do - the manager is confronted with conflicting points of view and the interests of people who often occupy a much higher position in the company than with him, corporate political intrigues, an undercover struggle. It is no coincidence that project management gurus are advised to protect the team from external influences, to the point of giving it a separate room outside the office. That's exactly what young Steve Jobs, who created the Macintosh, did at the time. By the way, he killed one more hare with this - he emphasized the elitism of the team members and their belonging to the chosen one, and at the same time raised the prestige of the project.
')
But back to our realities - no one will provide us with a separate office and will not transfer the project to a desert island for the duration of the project. Therefore, the only thing left for us is to use the methodology for working with stakeholders, the essence of which is as follows.
In the first step, we must identify all stakeholders. We sit down at the table, take a pen and a piece of paper (oh, sorry, of course, an iPad) and begin to write out all the people and organizations that can influence the project. The result is a list of stakeholders. It’s good to connect the project team and the sponsor at this step — you may simply not be aware of all the parties involved, especially at the beginning of the project.
In the second step, we classify the stakeholders by their influence on the project and their interest in it. It is convenient to use the following graphical representation, which is called the matrix of support and influence:
The horizontal axis shows the influence of the stakeholder on the project, from the strong to the weak, and on the vertical, the attitude to the project, from support to opposition. The axes divide the plane into four quadrants.
In quadrant 1 there are those who bring joy and tranquility to our lives. :-) First of all, it is a sponsor. If the sponsor misses the first quadrant, your project will have a short and joyless life. In the same quadrant should be the project team. Also, there may be customers and other interested parties, for example, a top manager of the company, in whose work the project will bring positive changes. The project manager should work primarily with this quadrant - after all, the project’s driving force is concentrated in it, it needs to be actively managed. We can not allow the transfer of stakeholders from this quadrant to others - this will always lose the project. The strategy for working with this quadrant is to “actively manage and not to miss!”
In quadrant 2, those who are pleased with your project, but have no great influence on it. Perhaps they are not very influential in the company. It is necessary to regularly inform these people about the progress of the project - this will support their interest and maintain a common positive attitude. And who knows if they will not go into quadrant 1 in the future, for example, making a career? The main strategy of working with this quadrant is “to keep up to date and in good shape!”.
In quadrant 3 weak project opponents. Their opposition is strong, but the impact is insignificant. We must keep them in sight, and then suddenly they will become strong? Well, a good strategy would be to drag them even into quadrant 2. Perhaps they just do not understand their benefits from the project, help them see them. The basic rule of working with this quadrant is “do not neglect!”.
In the fourth quadrant lurking dangerous enemies of the project. It is possible that you alone can not cope with them. It is for such cases that the sponsor and other inhabitants of the first quadrant should be attracted in order to influence opponents through them. The strategy for working with quadrant 4 is “be prepared for danger and stay ahead!”.
Pay attention to Mr. Flyugerova. He has a rather influential figure, but in relation to the project is almost neutral. There are cases where stakeholders are located on or close to the axes. Such an unstable situation represents potential areas of risk for your project, you need to work with these stakeholders in addition. Otherwise, according to all the laws of meanness, neutral stakeholders will become enemies of the project.
In the third step, we develop a plan of action - how do we influence each stakeholder, depending on which quadrant he is in and taking into account the internal conditions of the project. For each stakeholder, the project manager should have ready answers to the questions:
* What is he interested in? What are his goals in the project?
* How will his life change if the project is successful? And if unsuccessful?
* Why is he in this quadrant? Can I drag it to others?
* How can he help and harm the project?
* How to prevent harm and, if it happened, how to neutralize the consequences?
* How to increase its positive impact?
When the action plan is ready, you can work with each stakeholder and regularly update our matrix, because life is not worth it - new stakeholders appear, old ones switch to other quadrants. And it is very good if it is the result of your exposure, and not the machinations of villains and villains.
Well, the last. When I talk about the impact of the stakeholder on the project, then, of course, we are talking about the impact on the timing, scope of the project, budget and quality. This is very important, but not the main thing. The most important thing is the impact on the project manager, on which all these parameters largely depend. Not abstract economic and temporal functions, but you yourself are the object of influence of the stakeholders. The sponsor will (and should) help you, project opponents, both strong and weak, will put pressure on you.
Not so much by the attitude towards any economic indicators, as by the personal attitude towards you personally, the attitude of the stakeholder to the project will be determined.
In general, as always, everything in the project depends on its manager. Well, what do you think? :-)
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/127630/
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