Managing stakeholders with competing interests can be one of the toughest parts of the job.  

One of the biggest challenges of program management is effective stakeholder management.  Understanding who the stakeholders are and what interests they hold is one of the most important skills a PM can develop. Sometimes stakeholders can be hard to identify and can impact you when you least expect it. Other times you may have identified all the stakeholders, but it can be difficult to know their interests due to diverse perspectives, competing priorities, or their interests may change all of which have potential for impact on project success.

There are many techniques to determine if you have identified all the stakeholders for a particular project and to understand how they change over time. One method I have leveraged with success is asking during project discovery, “Do we have representation from all groups who may be interested in this project?” Remember that stakeholders can have varying degrees of power, influence, interest, and impact. It’s crucial to look beyond just the sponsors or primary decision-makers. Stakeholders can fall into any category of the RACI matrix (Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed), and each role warrants appropriate engagement, not just the Accountable and Responsible.

By asking if we have representation from all groups who might be interested, you are ensuring you are getting a comprehensive list. As you continue through discovery and beyond, you can build out your stakeholder roster or register as well as update the RACI to help you engage each appropriately. Don’t be afraid to ask repetitively to make sure you’ve identified all possible stakeholders. I continue to ask in other phases to see if anything has changed or if a new stakeholder has emerged that we didn’t recognize before. This not only ensures we have the right people and teams involved but keeps the roster evergreen as we progress and ensures more appropriate engagement with each group. As we learn more or as we move through phases, their role may change, which is why it is important to have the conversation consistently.

For example, when I was leading a project to migrate a large volume of ERP data from one storage solution to another, initially our most concerned stakeholder was finance as they wanted to reduce overall cost,  ensure 0% data loss, and 100% data quality post migration. Seems reasonable at face value. When I asked who else might be interested, we identified the datacenter teams, logistics, customer support, and manufacturing teams as additional stakeholders. In addition, the project crossed 5 different business units because each had its own ERP instance. As we progressed through the project, we identified several more groups, and the role of each group evolved over time. As we started finance, data center, and logistics teams were highly involved. Once the new storage arrays were delivered and installed, the teams moved from R to “Informed (l)” and the business teams moved from I to R, not all at once but in sequence based on the plan. Keeping them all involved at the right level, enabling open communication, and providing consistent updates ensured engagement, which contributed to our success in completing the initiative.

Ensuring a deep understanding of stakeholder interests is another critical area. What is truly important to them? How might those priorities shift over the course of the project, and how can you stay informed of those changes? This is where relationship building is critical. I spend a lot of time upfront having group as well as 1-on-1 conversations with stakeholders, getting to know them and asking about what is important to them. I do a lot of listening. I also document my understanding, review, check, and adjust. The next part is critical to building trust; you have to do what you say you are going to do. Once stakeholders see you follow through and get things done, it will strengthen your relationship, making it easier for them to convey their interest or to openly and honestly discuss with you when they have changed.

Building these relationships isn’t always easy, as I learned managing a different project where we were delivering an HRIS on-premise to HCM cloud business transformation, I worked with an HR sponsor who was not interested in building relationships with people below V. P. level. This made it very challenging for me to leverage the techniques I’ve described. Instead, I began meeting regularly with the HR director and built a strong relationship. The HR sponsor did not share their perspective, interest, or expectations and was quick to ridicule us when we were not meeting them. I was able to gain perspective due to my relationship and conversations with the director.  Finally, through the director’s mentorship, I was able to find a way to connect with the HR sponsor.  Sometimes you have to leverage other relationships to attain your goal. In the end, I was able to understand the sponsor’s interests and work with the director and delivery team to meet the expectations.

As we have discussed, stakeholder management can be like herding cats. By utilizing a few simple techniques, you can ensure you have the right stakeholders and a good understanding of their interests. Once you know the stakeholders and their interests, you can work effectively to engage appropriately across the group to ensure success.