Stakeholder Analysis One Of The First Things A Project

stakeholder analysis one of the first things a project sponsor an/or manager must do is a stakeholder analysis. these individuals will provi

Stakeholder Analysis
One of the first things a project sponsor an/or manager must do is a
stakeholder analysis. These individuals will provide important
information during the development stage and throughout the system’s
useful life. A stakeholder is anyone who will be affected by the new
system. It is important to conduct a stakeholder analysis to identify
these individuals or groups including their name, organization, role
on the project, level of interest, level of influence, unique facts,
expectations (how they define success) and ways to manage their
expectations. This information is important because it is these
individuals who will identify the system requirements and provide
project resources and support. If the team misses an important
stakeholder or doesn’t manage the stakeholders’ expectations, these
individuals could work against the project and keep it from achieving
its objectives.
This information is collected by interviewing the stakeholders. It may
be sensitive and should be tightly controlled. At the same time it is
vital so that the project team can understand and manage these key
stakeholders expectations.
An example stakeholder analysis follows:
Name
Organization
Role
Interest
Influence
Unique
Facts
Expectations
(success means)
Ways to Manage Expectations
Jim
CFO
Project Sponsor
High
High
Very demanding likes to know the details. Expects to get this
information verbally.
Jim sold this to the board and his job is at stake if the project
isn’t successful. He expects the project will reduce payroll costs by
20% for customer service employees.
Currently Jim’s objective of a 20% reduction in payroll costs for
customer service employees is not a project objective. Meet with Jim
as soon as possible to discuss this and agree to some common project
objectives.
Sue
CEO
Steering Committee
Medium
High
Not interested in details, just results and how this affects the
bottom line
Not convinced this is a good investment, but is willing to let Jim
take this risk. Of course if it doesn’t work, Jim may lose his job.
She expects that the project will reduce costs, but also significantly
hurt customer relationships and loyalty.
Make sure that the project objectives are clearly tied to improving
customer relations. Get a quick win or two, which shows how customer
relations will be improved by the new system. Show how the project
team will also manage project costs and provide a good return on
investment.
Customer Support Staff
Customer Support
System Users
High
Medium
Customer Support is mostly made up of people who have been around for
a long time and have poor computer skills
Most of these people are very afraid of the new system. They think
they may lose their jobs because the new system will replace them.
Get this group involved early in identifying system requirements while
helping them to understand the project purpose and their role in the
project. Make sure they receive sufficient training and are involved
in all aspects of the project.
Customers
N/A
System Users
High
High
In general your customers are very sophisticated. Many are
professionals with very little spare time. They want things to be easy
and fast. They also expect things to work on the first try.
The customers aware of the new system are excited. They hate the
current process and expect the new system will let them register for
available facilities at their leisure. They also expect that like with
the current system, the old timers will continue to get their court
preferences.
Based on the customer’s feedback, there are some incorrect
expectations. When the registration process is automated it will be
first come first serve and customers will not always get their court
preferences merely the time and type of facility if they are
available.
It will be important to regularly communicate with stakeholders and
hold several open houses to discuss project plans.
Chief Technology Officer (CTO)
Information Technology
Steering Committee
Low
High
The CTO is busy with several other initiatives that he believes are
higher priority.
He is unfamiliar with the new technology being implemented but has
heard from his friends at other companies that it doesn’t work. He
expects that he will have to save the customer service folks again on
this project.
Get Don involved early. Try to demonstrate why this project is so
important to the company. Get some quick technology wins to build his
confidence in the new system and the project team.
Mary
Customer Support
Process Owner
Medium
High
Mary designed the current process and forms being. She doesn’t see the
need to change it and is afraid she may lose her power as a result of
this project.
She doesn’t know what to expect and is unclear about her role on the
project team.
Get with Mary as soon as possible to discuss and address her concerns.
Make sure she is clear about her role on the project team.
BOD
Board of Directors
Writing the Checks
Medium
High
The board was split on whether to invest in this project
Some board members have taken a big risk by making this investment.
Most of them believe that the project will give them a real boost in
terms of 20% cost reduction and increased customer satisfaction.
Keep the board informed on a regular basis (at least every month).
Stay focused on delivering this value expected.
HR
Human Resources
Steering Committee and Human Resource Allocation
Low
High
HR is too busy with many other more important initiatives
Unclear
Schedule a meeting with the head of HR to discuss the project and find
out more about their needs and expectations.
Bill
Consultant
Process Expert and Application Software Expert
High
Low
Bill is not very good in front of people. He tends to be hard headed
and thinks his way is the only way.
He expects that he will define the way the new process works with
little input from other key stakeholders. As far as he is concerned
everyone in Customer Support is clueless.
It is risky to keep Bill on the team and he will need to be watched
closely. He will be used as an expert in closed door sessions with the
core project team only. We must control his interaction with Mary. His
involvement needs to be re-evaluated as soon as possible.
It is common for the project manager(s) to schedule face-to-face
meetings with key stakeholders at the beginning of the project. One of
the most important things to get from these meetings is how the
stakeholder defines project success (their expectations). This
information can then be used to refine the project purpose and
objectives. If for some reason the stakeholders’ expectations are
different than those of the project team, this is an opportunity to
communicate this and begin to manage these expectations. These will
also need to be managed throughout the project, as stakeholder
expectations often change over time. By including key stakeholders in
regular status meetings and sending this type of information to other
stakeholders as part of the project communications plan, the project
manager can better manage these changing expectations.
Using our Phillips example, we had discussions with project
stakeholders, and the project purpose and objectives were modified and
now look as follows with changes in bold:
Project purpose: Currently Phillips Center customers are experiencing
an average of 15 minutes hold time to reserve athletic facilities. The
purpose of this project is to provide customers with self-service
registration for athletic facilities to improve customer access and
satisfaction.
Prioritized project objectives:
1.
Provide web-based, self-service registration for athletic
facilities available 24 hours per day, 7 days per week.
2.
Implement the new registration system by October 1 in time for the
busy fall season.
3.
Increase customer satisfaction with the registration process from
its current 68% to 90% satisfied using the current measurement
process.
4.
Provide phone-based registration during regular office hours for
those customers that prefer this.
5.
Capture registration and actual usage information that will be
used to improve center utilization to 65% during off-peak times
and 95% during peak times.
6.
Allow users to put their names on a list of players looking for a
partner. When a suitable match is found, the system should make
the match and register a court for them based on their stated
preferences.
By adding several measures that address customer satisfaction issues,
management can be sure that the team will not sacrifice customer
service for cost reductions. These objectives have also now been
prioritized based on stakeholder feedback so the most important ones
are completed first.