Building Project Success Factors Through Stakeholder Service Delivery

Author: Jim Buxsel

May 2009

Consider that the majority of projects never fully meet their criteria for success.    Perhaps no more deceptively simple but tragic commentary exists in information technology.  While industry literature cites a plethora of reasons as to why, a consistent theme throughout is that your project will be statistically prone to failure.  However, as project managers, we can often shift these odds towards a more positive outcome by actively maintaining a focus on stakeholder service delivery.     

Like it or not, project managers are actually in the customer service business.  While performing in this role, our objective is to guide a process within constraints imposed by interested parties that facilitates a unique deliverable.  Taken a step further then, one might classify this as a stakeholder service business since anyone with a vested interest in a project could potentially hold influence; and they need not be customers.  Therefore, to discount or ignore the expectations of one or more stakeholder representations may introduce negative risk and could possibly jeopardize the intended outcome.

In this light, one could competently argue that managing projects is actually about managing people, and that the project is simply a by-product of human work processes orchestrated in such a way to culminate into a particular good or service.  In other words, stakeholders can create success or failure within a project.  

So what are some stakeholder-related processes that a project manager can use to help improve chances for success?

1. Formally identify all stakeholders, including roles and expectations for each group.  Fully document and incorporate this information into a continually maintained project plan as roles change or as new stakeholders are identified.  Outlining every stakeholder group can be a daunting task; but having this comprehensive data to use a reference point is a crucial and proactive ingredient in your risk management plan.  Especially for larger initiatives, it may make sense to break groups into primary and secondary stakeholder categories, which can have implications on communication frequency, delivery mechanism, and content.
2. Provide project communication at regular intervals and in consistent formats, wherever possible.  Routinely remind stakeholders of objectives and provide recurring reporting on the schedule, quality, and risk factors.  However, do not feel compelled to limit yourself to only one form of communication; rather use combinations where most effective and appropriate for your audience.  If presented with a choice between under-communication and over-communication, in most cases it is wise to choose the latter although in this scenario pay attention to the risk of diluting your message.
3. Seek stakeholder input and sign-off during all phases of your project.  As an example, do not wait until your project is nearly done to gather user feedback about a deliverable.  Rather, involve key stakeholder representation in the planning and execution stages to help refine scope and ensure your project remains on track with defined objectives.  All requirements from the respective stakeholder groups should be documented, noting both alignment and variance.  Organizing this information in such a way can help indicate whether further decision-making is needed to meet objectives or if the project can accept the accompanying risk by choosing one direction over another.  In addition, formal acceptance at particular phases can provide team milestones and facilitate management reporting opportunities.
4. Perform closure procedures.  By definition, a project is temporary so formally closing it allows for an assessment of stakeholder objectives and deliverable outcomes.  It also offers a means for documentation archival and lessons learned exercises, which can add stakeholder value by providing operational resources and enhancing future initiatives.

Of course, the list above is by no means all encompassing and, for that matter, addressing stakeholder considerations will not alone guarantee success.  Rather, implementing tools to manage expectations and focusing on a formal, quality service philosophy throughout the entire project life cycle can be incorporated into a comprehensive portfolio for contending with overall risk.  Doing so will offer an opportunity to improve the odds for your project and it may enhance an intrinsic people component, which in many ways is the very essence of project management.