It takes N success factors to make a project succeed, but 1 failure factor is enough to throw a project into trouble. In other words, it takes N stakeholders to make the project go well, but 1 stakeholder is enough to make the project go wrong. For example, a project team can be stumped when one stakeholder proposes complex requirements to prepare for an event that is highly unlikely. The management of the customer side may delay the project, saying that they do not like this or that of the screen design for which there is no correct answer. In product development projects, it is also common to see stakeholders who strongly insist on features that provide low value to customers but are very complex to implement.
Let’s define a stakeholder who gets the project into trouble as a ‘negative stakeholder’. When a project is going well, the influence of negative stakeholders on the project is limited. There is no controversial issue, or even if there is, the influence is small, so even if negative stakeholders do what they want, it will not have a great impact on the project. However, care must be taken as the influence of negative stakeholders increases in projects with many issues.
The following contents are assumed when performing an SI project. Regardless of the project carried out inside the organization (eg, product development project), good or bad personal relationships between individuals or dynamics between departments have already been established while working on a daily basis. Therefore, it is very difficult to change the negative mutual relationship that has been established through a specific project.
It is best not to create negative stakeholders. Ways to minimize negative stakeholdersIs as follows.
1. In order to win the hearts and minds of stakeholders, you need to step up when there are no project issues.
Meeting with stakeholders often does not make them supportive of me, but the possibility of becoming a negative stakeholder is reduced. It is especially important to be careful with each other and to step in early in the project when there are no project issues. The project manager compiles a list of key stakeholders and meets with them on a weekly or bi-weekly basis to learn their personal stories or interests about the project. Such meetings need not continue until the end of the project. Depending on the project situation, 1-2 months is sufficient. The project manager’s initiative at the beginning of the project will be the priming water that leads to project success.
2. I tell the story the other person wants to hear before the story I want to say.
Project managers have a lot of things to say to stakeholders in order to convince them. However, it is difficult for my argument to have persuasive power in a state where the other person has not told me what they are curious about. After fully explaining what the other person is curious about, you have to talk about what you want to say. It is easier to understand if you change your perspective.
3. Discuss with stakeholders before important reports.
The moment when a neutral stakeholder can easily turn into a negative stakeholder is at a meeting or briefing. If the project manager logically opposes the opinion of a particular stakeholder, that stakeholder is likely to assert a stronger counterargument, thinking that he or she has been humiliated in front of many people. The project manager continues to argue, thinking that backing down would make the project very difficult. Project managers cannot beat stakeholders. The only way to win over a stakeholder is to get the support of that stakeholder’s boss. Even if you use that method, the hearts of the stakeholders have already turned around. It is very likely that you will bump into the project manager on a different issue in a different position. Many of the officially raised issues appear to have been resolved, but only subside for a while. If another issue arises, it can come to the surface at any time.
It would be great if you could enjoy the luxury of not having negative stakeholders while working on a project, but that is a dream come true. If negative stakeholders cannot be avoided, the influence of negative stakeholders must be reduced. How You Can Reduce the Impact of Negative StakeholdersIs as follows.
1. I think it’s different, I don’t think it’s wrong.
There is something an old friend often said. “I treat the ‘gum’ who hates me like a ‘gum’ and treat the ‘person’ who likes me like a ‘person’”. It’s like Hammurabi’s code of talking about an eye for an eye, but it applies to most people. It’s hard to treat someone who likes me like a guy, and it’s hard to treat someone who hates me as a person. There is no project manager who intentionally treats stakeholders like a bastard. However, blaspheming personally does not mean treating him like a bastard.
It is very important to distinguish difference from wrong in social life. Saying that the other person’s thoughts are different from mine does not make me a bastard to the other person. However, if the other person says that you are wrong in an official setting, the story is different. Because there is no objective criterion for right and wrong in projects like mathematics or natural laws, everyone including you who are reading this thinks that their thoughts are right. You can respect other ideas, but it is difficult to respect wrong ideas. No matter how politely you say it, the thoughts in your head appear implicitly. In order to have a wise social life, you must train to think and respect the opinions of others as different.
2. Do not immediately respond to embarrassing requests from stakeholders.
In the course of a project, there are moments when stakeholders make embarrassing requests. A case in point is a customer request that has a significant impact on the project schedule or budget, for which there is not enough logic to refute. At this time, if the project manager treats the customer with the mindset that it is the end if pushed here, the customer who brought up the word will be armed with a stronger logic.
It may be a cavalcade, but it is also a way to move on as if it is not a big deal, “Yes, I will review it”. Time solves a lot more than you think. Other urgent matters may arise for that stakeholder, or their thoughts may change. In particular, matters discussed verbally at meetings rather than through documents or e-mails tend to fade over time as no evidence remains. Of course, there are cases where stakeholders take the silence of the project manager positively and go to the next meeting.
3. Do not try to win over emotionally disaffected stakeholders with logic.
The worst way to exacerbate a relationship with a negative stakeholder is to logically subdue or persuade the emotionally disaffected stakeholder. Logical persuasion is ineffective for most stakeholders who are offended. Outwardly, just because the other party made an argument that had nothing to say does not mean that the other party accepted it. The more you do, the deeper the negative emotions go, saying, “Okay, let’s see.” Relationships with emotionally damaged stakeholders should be left frozen, if possible.
talk again No project manager can beat stakeholders.
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