Leadership - Stakeholders
Stakeholders
Identify those involved
How the project is managed will depend upon the potential affect on the project.
Who will make the final decision? A vision may need to be presented to the appropriate stakeholder.
This is just the same as for any project.
You and the team will have to be sure who that is.
Is it a steering committee or the board?
Other stakeholders whose opinion may need to be considered are legal departments, health and safety, regulatory and environmental bodies etc.
Typically a steering committee will be focussed on the budget and any deviation from it.
Risk and issues
If you are trying to convince someone of your vision you will need to present not only the vision itself but some of the key risks and issues in getting there.
We have to remember the difference between ‘risk’ and ‘issue’.
| Risk: | A potential event that may have a detrimental affect on time, cost, quality and deliverables. |
| Issue: | This is an unpredicted event that requires a decision otherwise a negative effect on the project may result. |
In effect, risks are identified in advance and should thus be taken into account in the project plan, whilst issues may arise unexpectedly.
Identifying risk areas can present some problems. For instance, if the system is over zealous too many minor risks (in terms of potential impact) could be raised.
This would become an irritation to a steering committee. A system generating too many minor risk areas could end up masking more significant ones owing to a lack of focus and poor technique.
Level of influence
As we have referred to previously we can use the techniques of mind mapping or spheres of influence to try to better visualise the stakeholders input to achieving the vision in terms of influence.
Once you have the list and a visual representation make sure you challenge it.
Get the team or others to add their comments.