Can You Avoid Stakeholder Management?

So, what is a stakeholder?  These are the people that think they have a say in your project.  Notice that I said they “think” they have a say in your project.  Unfortunately, the cold hard truth is that anyone who feels they are a stakeholder in your project could end up a stakeholder in your project.

I was once working for a company setting up wireless wide area networks (WAN) for school districts.  These networks required towers to shoot radio waves line of sight.  One time there was an airport nearby and they did everything they were supposed to do to get permitted and construct a tower near an airport.  A few months later, the tower had to come down. 

It turns out that it blocked a lady’s view of a tree that she watched birds in.  Additionally, she was the Mayor’s nanny when he was a child.  She picked up a phone, called the Mayor, and the tower came down.

This is the nature of stakeholders.  Unlike stockholders who paid to be part of the party, stakeholders only have to think they are part of your project and have some form of influence.  This is one of the things that makes stakeholder analysis and management so difficult.  It is easy for someone to slip through the cracks.  Who would have thought of a grandmother watching birds in a tree when it came to putting up a tower? 

Most of us have heard of stakeholder management and maybe even a stakeholder management plan.  This is especially so if you have sat for the PMP exam.  However, when it comes to doing the work, many seldom ever do a stakeholder management plan for a project.

This is often the case.  We know what we should do, but we seldom do it.  Maybe it is from bad habits and maybe it is just laziness or maybe we are afraid of actually doing the work that is required.

The other possibility is that since stakeholder management is, generally speaking, soft skills, we don’t see the importance in it.  Now, believe me, I know what this is like.  I have never been accused of having monstrous soft skills, but over the years I have learned the value of trying to look at the politics of something while completing international projects.

So, while I understand that this isn’t really the fun work and can be tedious, it does often need to be done.  Anytime there are politics involved and multiple countries and cultures, stakeholder management will come into play.  This will happen whether you plan for it or not.  It is better to be prepared.

As the saying goes, proper planning prevents piss poor performance.  These little stakeholder demons can raise their heads at any time and you need to be like a sniper looking through the trees to see where they can jump out from.  As with being a sniper, it is better to see them before they see you so that you can take the proper actions to survive the encounter.

Your path to business success.