Must-Dos for Stakeholder Engagement

The successful completion of a project is largely dependent on how the stakeholders view the results and whether or not they consider their expectations, requirements and agendas being met. For this reason effective stakeholder engagement is a crucial activity for any professional project manager to master in order to achieve project success. Stakeholder ‘engagement’ is a practice for influencing outcomes through a variety of communication means. This works alongside stakeholder ‘management’ or the process of identifying and managing stakeholders. Some key must dos for such engagement are outlined in this article to help to increase the chance of successful project outcomes.
Establish Buy-In at all levels
Stakeholders want to know that their contribution and time are of value for the project success and that they will therefore receive the end benefit. However generally senior executives see change as an opportunity for gain to both the wider business and for their own interests but employees view change as a disruption that will involve a loss. To combat this, for each key executive stakeholder you have identified, determine a ‘what’s in it for them’ proposition and deploy it for early buy-in and support. Ensure they understand the expectation that this needs to be championed down to the employee level to ensure a positive message is distributed that will appeal to them also. Give a clear message to all stakeholders that you are openly accessible and schedule frequent communication checkpoints as a place for them to voice concerns and ensure their needs are heard and addressed.
Keep Involved throughout the project
Often stakeholders are involved only in the early stages of the project and then not again until they see the final deliverable, of which increases the risk of needs being unmet. Utilise regular board meetings to advise up on status and concerns but remember to always position in such a way to propose ‘solutions’, rather than advise ‘problems’. Always use business language and not jargon they would not understand. Finally always make the stakeholder look good and don’t surprise them with bad news. In addition to formal board meetings also ensure to plan dedicated stakeholder engagement tasks into your schedule around key milestones. This would include reviewing requirements, design, test results throughout the development life cycle. This will ensure they are kept involved right throughout the core activities and not just through high-level infrequent updates.
Provide clear purpose and R