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Stakeholder & Sponsor Engagement Michelle Elkins. November 2012. Topics. Stakeholders Strategy Sponsors Appendix. Stakeholder Management. Supports an organization in achieving its strategic objectives by interpreting and influencing both the external and internal environments
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Stakeholder & Sponsor EngagementMichelle Elkins November 2012
Topics • Stakeholders • Strategy • Sponsors • Appendix
Stakeholder Management • Supports an organization in achieving its strategic objectives by interpreting and influencing both the external and internal environments • Creating positive relationships with stakeholders through the appropriate management of their expectations and agreed objectives Official Definition
Stakeholders • Project stakeholders are those entities within or outside an organization which: • Sponsor a project • Have an interest upon a successful completion of a project • Positive or negative influence in the project completion. • Examples: • Project leader • Project team members • Upper management • Customers • Project testers • Sponsors • External customers • Suppliers • Resource Managers • Functional Managers Anyone or any organization that can affect or be affected in any way
Identify Stakeholders Tie this to your communication plan!
Identifying stakeholders • Who gains and who loses from this change? • Who controls change management of processes? • Who designs new systems? • Who will make the decisions? • Who procures and decides what to buy? • Who controls the resources? • Who has influence? • Who pays for this? • Who can pose a risk? Continually review the “Who’s”
Analyzing Stakeholders • What motivates them? • Are they positive/negative? • Financial or emotional interest • How do they want to receive information? • How do you manage negative impacts? • What information do they have and do you have? • What are their current opinions? • How are they influenced? How can they contribute to success
Stakeholder Quadrant Power of Influence Interest Low
Sample Stakeholder Analyses Influence Importance
Build Strategy • Analyze • Meet with stakeholders • Validate • Build communication strategy plans • Finalize communication strategy and plans • Find a mentor • Build a “core” team • Build the plan; validate regularly Build the team foundation
Strategy • Who are you engaging? • What are you communicating? • Where are you communicating? • When and how often are you engaging? • Why engage? • Transparency • Information • Risk management • Accountability WIIFM and WIIFT
Sponsors • Executive • Fiscal authority • Political clout • Personal commitment • Project has value to them Poor Sponsorship = significantly diminished chance of success
What can they do for you? • Represent the project with senior management • Escalation point • Project advisor • Provide funding • Chair the steering committee • Keep the team focused • Helps define success • Share accountability And anything else within reason!
Key Responsibilities & Accountabilities • Be visible, available and participate actively • Help navigate the political environment • Removes roadblocks • Ensure appropriate stakeholder involvement • Liaison with senior leadership • Facilitate organization acceptance and transition • Share accountability Sponsors can be your #1 ally
Communication Planning • Specific and appropriate • Who, what , when and why • Sample Unified Collaboration: • Project teams – meet daily for 15 minutes and weekly • Core team – bi-weekly • Steering committee – bi-monthly • IT Functional phase gates – as required • End customers – as deployed • Customer Reviews - monthly • Executive – monthly Change your plan dynamically and as required
Top Ten Attributes of a Great Project Sponsor • Be the advocate, coach, influencer, and battering ram • Clearly understand the problem to be solved • Ensure that the solution fixes the problem • Know where “good enough” is • Build the right team to solve the problem • Hold the team accountable for results • Know the big issues and what is needed to resolve them • Make the thoughtful, tough decisions • Ensure that the project finishes strong • Know when to pull the plug A Strong Sponsor can make or break a project
Basics • Avoid jargon • Educate • Be credible • Be genuine • Show project control • Use common sense • Active listening • Clear and concise messages • Understand the power dynamics • Create common platform and goals There is no silver bullet
Sponsor Communication • Build relationship • Be prepared • Start out at the high level • Story board • Managing escalation without a bus accident • Proactive solutions • Use spell check! And then re-check! Do your homework!
Sponsor Management Workshop Tools • Roles & Responsibilities • Organizational Readiness Assessment • Sponsor Readiness Assessment • Stakeholder Analysis Matrix • Questionnaire for Sustaining Effective Sponsorship • Sponsor Feedback Questionnaire Samples in the Appendix
References • PMBOK 4th & 5th Editions • THE TOYOTA PRODUCTION SYSTEM by Yosuhiro Monden • Aerospace VPD™ How we improve Product Development link • The Toyota Product Development System by James M. Morgan, Jeffrey K. Liker • Death by Meeting: A Leadership Fable About Solving the Most Painful Problem in Business by Patrick Lencioni • Darryl Connor, ODR, 1993 • Adapted from Project Sponsorship by Randall L. Englund and Alfonso Bucero, Jossey-Bass, 2006.
