(Part 1 – Overview)
Communication with Stakeholders is one of the most important pieces to managing the project puzzle. Get this right and you have just passed a major hurdle!
In this first post, we are going to give an overview of each type of stakeholder and then We will follow with three posts that will give you a more in-depth description of communicating with each type. We welcome your comments and questions.
Let’s start with the basics…
Who is a Stakeholder anyway?
A stakeholder is anyone that is impacted by your project. I know…you may have been thinking a stakeholder is only the managers and owners that have an interest in the project. Or, you may have been thinking it is only the team members that are working on the project. Well, you are right in both cases. The stakeholders are all managers, owners, project team members and yes, even the end users of the project who may need training after completion.
Let’s break this down into three different types of stakeholders…
Managers and Owners involved either directly or indirectly with the project are some of your most important stakeholders and require special attention. These members, either your direct managers or not, can be your best ally or a thorn in your side. Early identification of what they want out of the project, the information they want along the way and how they want to receive it is key to your success.
Team members working on the project are the backbone of getting a successful completion. It is important to keep everyone in the ‘loop’ and moving forward. This is done through finding just the right mix of communication.
End users, either in-house or offsite, will need to be involved in all steps along the way to make sure the projects finished product meets requirements. Getting information to them so you can get feedback is crucial. Can you imagine working in a vacuum without their input??
Check back for our next three posts where We will go into detail about communicating with each of these three types of stakeholders…
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