We have already seen that people in positions of
power can have a negative impact on your projects and on your position.
With a little effort, some of them could become strong supporters rather
than a source of stress.
Manage Your Stakeholders
If you are to progress
in your career, it is important to identify potential allies – people
who have sufficient influence to make a difference to what you are
doing. As you become more successful in your career, the work you do,
the actions you take, and the projects you run will affect more and more
people. It is vital for your success that these “stakeholders” –
especially those with the most power over you – are solidly behind what
you are doing. Stakeholder management can ensure that your projects will
succeed where others fail, and will enable you to manage the intense
politics that are so much a part of the stress of major projects. People
who are top achievers in their jobs will usually use the technique of
stakeholder management to gain the support they need.
Identify the Stakeholders
Think about who
your stakeholders are – all the people who are affected by your work,
who have influence or power over it, or who have an interest in its
successful (or unsuccessful) conclusion.
At Work
Your manager
Senior executives
Alliance partners
Shareholders
Your co-workers
Your team
Customers
Suppliers
Outside Work
The government
Trade associations
Interest groups
Lenders
The public
Prospective customers
The community
Your family
Analyze Their Interests
Once you have your list of
stakeholders, the next step is to work out their power, influence, and
interest, so that you can focus your attention and efforts. A good way
to do this is to plot the various stakeholders on a Power/Interest Grid.
Your manager is likely to have high power and influence over your
particular project, as well as a high level of interest. Family members
may have high interest, but are unlikely to have much power. People in
the high power/high interest quadrant are the ones you must fully
engage, and make the greatest efforts to satisfy. Think about how best
to communicate with each person, and win his support. Keep people in
other quadrants informed, and draw on their support and assistance where
you can.
Win the Support of Your Stakeholders
Canvassing the
support of the principal stakeholders does much more than simply ensure
that they do not hamper your progress and cause you stress.
The experience, opinions and advice of your principal stakeholders may improve your project and make it more successful.
Their support can help you to win the resources you need for your project, greatly improving its chances of success.
Feedback from stakeholders will help you to anticipate people’s
reactions to your project and enable you to build into your plan the
actions and elements that will win support for the project.
Focus most of your efforts on the High Power/High Interest stakeholders, but keep others appropriately informed.
