In project management, the importance of management by related parties is particularly important. Qualified project managers are often able to grasp the project requirements and expectations (scope, schedule, quality, risk, communication, etc.) of the relevant parties of the project, and maximize the benefits of the project. Through a series of tools and methods, they can effectively capture the relevant parties’ Requirements, analyze and formulate related management strategies, so as to get more positive support during the project implementation process, try to avoid or reduce the impact of which related parties do not support, thereby greatly improving the success rate of the project. Through this article, you can understand the basic concepts and processes of related party management, as well as some practice sharing in actual projects.
table of Contents
Planning stakeholder participation
Manage stakeholder participation
Supervise the participation of relevant parties
basic concepts
Project stakeholders
Any organization or individual whose interests will be positively or negatively affected by the project and can exert influence on project activities or results. For example: project manager, project execution organization, project team, customer, project sponsor, family members of project team members, individual citizens, relevant interest groups, etc. (the perspectives, interests, and expectations of all parties are different)
Project sponsor
The people who provide funds and other important resources for the project appear first before the project is established. There is a need for the project and the overall requirements for the project are put forward with the project work statement to promote the start of the project.
Project senior management
A collection of managers higher than the project manager in the project execution organization, the superior of the project manager.
project manager
Individuals appointed by the project executive organization to lead the project team to achieve the project goals. Under certain assumptions, assume the ultimate responsibility to the project sponsor or senior management for the success or failure of the project. [Challenge]: If there is not enough formal authorization, the project must be successful, and other rights should be used to make up for the lack of formal power, such as expert power and reference power.
client
The users of the project include both direct users and indirect users. Customers and users are generally synonymous.
Functional manager and functional department
The functional department is usually the reserve of the professional technology and professional talents required by the project; in different organizational forms, the role of the functional manager is different. [Functional type]: The project is mainly directed by the functional manager; [Project type]: The functional manager does not participate in project command; [Matrix type]: The functional manager and the project manager jointly direct the project.
Basic process
Identify interested parties
The process of identifying related parties, analyzing and recording their interests, participation, interdependence, influence and potential impact on the project, that is, establishing hierarchical concerns and outputting a register of related parties.
Related party classification
Evaluate related powers (level of authority or ability to influence project results), urgency (due to time constraints or related parties have major interest claims on project results) and legitimacy (appropriateness of participation) to classify;
[Top] Senior management of executive organization or client or client organization, sponsor and steering committee;
[Down] Teams or experts who temporarily contribute knowledge and skills;
[Outward] Related party groups or representatives outside the project team;
[Horizontal] The same level of project manager
【Project Practice】
In actual projects, the identification of related parties will vary with different stages of the project, and is not constant. For example, there are obsolete related parties and new ones. As a project manager, you must continue to iteratively identify related parties throughout the entire process and maintain a register of related parties. Try not to omit, especially important related parties.
Planning stakeholder participation
According to the needs, expectations, benefits and potential impact of the relevant parties on the project, formulate the process for the relevant participants of the project to participate in the project.
Related party classification
Don’t understand: Don’t know the project and its potential impact
Resistant: Know the project and its potential impact, but resist changes caused by the work or results of the project
Neutral: understand the project, neither support nor oppose it.
Supportive: Understand the project and its potential impact, and will support the work and results of the project.
Leadership: understand the project and its potential impact, and actively participate to ensure the success of the project.
Stakeholder influence matrix
Evaluate the impact of related parties on the project, identify the main stakeholders, and carry out appropriate levels of communication based on the gap between each related party's current and expected participation levels, and accurately guide related parties to participate in the project.
Four strategies for stakeholder management
High power-low interest: satisfy it
High power-high interest: key management
Small power-high interest: keep informed
Low power-low interest: good supervision
【Project Practice】
In actual projects, the needs, expectations, and interests of related parties often lack consideration of implicit needs, such as relationships, trust, communication, and emotions.
Manage stakeholder participation
The process of communicating and collaborating with related parties to meet their needs and expectations, as well as dealing with related issues and promoting reasonable participation of related parties. Improve the support of related parties for project work, and reduce and weaken the resistance of related parties to the project.
【Project Practice】
In actual projects, the important skills of related party management are "interpersonal relations and team skills" (conflict management, cultural awareness, leadership, interpersonal communication, political awareness, negotiation, observation and conversation) and "communication skills" (feedback, presentation ), this link is inseparable from project communication management. - "Understanding Communication Management"
Supervise the participation of relevant parties
Supervise the relationship with related parties and guide the process of reasonable participation of related parties in the project by revising participation strategies and plans.
The main work
Investigate, record and analyze the actual participation of the relevant parties in the project, and compare it with the required participation to form work performance information, and propose a change request (corrective and preventive measures used to improve the current level of participation of the relevant parties).