Identifying Stakeholders: A Key to Project Success

Every project has stakeholders. We've heard that statement countless times, but in reality, it is a key critical factor for project success. Stakeholders are people, groups, and organizations that can influence your project and hold the key for your project success or failure. Joseph Phillips, project management author and consultant bluntly describes stakeholders as follows, "Stakeholders don't think about the integration of project, the challenges of balancing time, cost, scope, the hidden risks, and all the work that happens when no one else is around. Stakeholders are like the gawkers at the finish line of a marathon: they only want to see, and appreciate, the end of the race, not mile 15". A strong debatable statement, but in the end, it is the responsibility of the project manager to build consensus among stakeholders, address concerns and fears, and find a balance between project implementation challenges.

The Vancouver Japanese Language School & Japanese Hall engaged pm-volunteers.org™ (PM-V), to secure the services of Pietro Widmer, a seasoned and experienced project manager, to support the implementation of their Licensed Pre-school and Daycare Program project. PM-V provides non-profit organizations with a source of skilled, trained and experienced project management resources, enhancing their ability to deliver projects on time, on budget, on scope, while minimizing risk.

Pietro, a consultant with over 15 years of project and program management experience acquired in the aerospace industry, shared his views on identifying stakeholders on the VJLS-JH project. Right off the bat he says that from a project management perspective his initial approach on a new project is to meet with the organization's key people to ascertain who the decision makers are, who supports the project and who are opponents of the project. He makes the case that negative stakeholders must not be ignored, as they can be detrimental to the success of the project. Pietro's positive approach reflects his resolve to address and alleviate fears of negative stakeholders and turn them into champions of the project. The value of a stakeholders list, done correctly, must not be underestimated, as it is the basis for developing a stakeholder management strategy.

Stakeholder involvement is crucial in the planning process as it increases commitment to the project's objectives and processes; it may also decrease mistrust and weariness to become involved in the project. On the role of the project manager, Pietro describes it as someone in the middle, balancing all diverging needs of the different stakeholders. One of the fundamentals for him is, and I quote, "Project management is about people, right?" In the project management constellation, the project manager serves the project in its entirety to achieve the strategic objectives of the organization, an endeavor at the satisfaction of the customer.

Laura Saimoto is a Board member and a Director of the Vancouver Japanese Language School & Japanese Hall (VJLS-JH). She notes that, "Pietro clearly stated the tangible results that he helped to accomplish in the scope of the project description. As a very credible and sensible outside voice with no attachments, he was able to bring clarity and focus to a context of emotional resistance to change. To sum up, he helped us to work through the fear of change with tangible project management tools. VJLS-JH, and in particular, myself, as project chair, are indebted to Pietro and PM-V for their contribution to helping us achieve our goal of opening a licensed childcare facility".

Pietro's appreciation for involvement in the VJLS-JH project stems from his enjoyment to learn about new domains and to share and apply his project management experience. He says, "This project gave me the opportunity to expand my project management experience in the NFP environment and enabled me to learn more about the Japanese community in Vancouver."

In the final analysis, stakeholder identification is a critical success factor for project success.

by Hylton Ferreira for pm-volunteers.org™

Why do so many IT projects fail?

This is a question that has been written about and deliberated upon countless times over the past years. Project approaches for successful delivery are determined by, at least in part, the make-up and size of the organization, and required project deliverables.

Historically, project failure rates in the IT sector have been significant, as outlined in this article by Peter Gordon, which cites a well-researched and documented report by the Standish Group which included 80 000 IT projects over a 25 year period. The report documents reasons for project failure, including non-adherence to budgets, overdue schedules, poor quality, user involvement, lack of executive support and clear business objectives, resources, project management skills, or emotional immaturity. Many smaller, community based not-for-profit (NFP) organizations face increased exposure to these pitfalls with their IT projects due to constrained resources and the challenges of obtaining professional project management services to support their projects.

pm-volunteers.org™ (PM-V) is a leader in mobilizing skilled volunteer project management services for charitable community non-profit organizations. In recent years, several local NPOs in the Lower Mainland of BC have engaged volunteer project management professionals through PM-V to provide project advisory and implementation support for their critical IT projects. These organizations have recognized that working with a skilled project manager can positively impact the outcome of their IT projects, mitigating some of the major risks outlined in the Standish Group’s study. Myrna Holman, executive director for bc211, is testimony that perceptions do change as she refers to their new Information Management System Implementation project.

When I learned about PM-V I was a bit skeptical. Would this organization really be able to provide a volunteer project manager who was up to the task? We were very grateful when (project manager) Shawn Hawkins signed on. It’s really quite something to get such a commitment from a volunteer like Shawn who has years of project management experience to share with us. He has been instrumental in keeping us on track. He delivered a solid project plan and a risk register. Beyond project management he has been a mentor to many of us and he took the time to meet individually with our entire project team”.

Lessons Learned

Presenting his Lessons Learned on the bc211 project, seasoned project manager Shawn Hawkins highlighted the commitment of bc211’s executive director as a major driver that enabled project success. He analyzed the strategic plan, recommended a suitable project implementation timeline, and identified key stakeholder expectations at the initiation stage of the project.

User involvement was critical to drive successful project delivery; therefore, meetings and informal information sessions were conducted on all levels to gain a clear understanding of the history of the project, to identify key staff for the project implementation process, and to initiate a risk screening process. All information gathered was filtered according to importance to reflect clarity in achieving the business objectives.

Project success requires a dedicated leadership equipped with project management expertise and experience in order to discern what project approach and tools to adopt to overcome particular challenges. For bc211, Shawn developed a high-level project plan aided by the latest project management software. This process allowed for the users of the new Information Management System to be involved in the project implementation and enhanced the sense of ownership among the users. Emphasis was put on training to allow for post-implementation continuity, supported by a Project Completion Report for future bc211 leaders. Shawn’s enthusiasm and commitment to the project reaped considerable rewards in the success of the project. He values his association with bc211 and PM-V and, more significantly, Shawn demonstrated the ability to empower people with knowledge, preparing them to face future project challenges. He says, “…the legacy will be not only a new IMS, but also a team versed in the project management discipline and committed to applying it across the board as their organization grows. On another level, I get to showcase the outrageously successful PM-V approach, connecting non-profit organizations with project managers who get the opportunity to broaden their professional experience and give back to their community. How great is that?”

A Successful Project Outcome

The successful implementation of bc211’s Information Management System can be attributed to extensive and thorough project planning work and a commitment from bc211‘s management team to ensure all measures were in place for a successful implementation. A project plan that included extensive training on the new system also played a pivotal part in ensuring the project’s success.

From the project manager’s perspective, Shawn stated that the value of a great project sponsor should never be under-estimated. He furthermore was of the opinion that flexible project management practices wins over inflexible approaches hands down. Communication is vital to achieve project success and must be practiced on multi-dimensional levels.

Many local non-profit organizations will continue to face challenges with their IT projects due to funding constraints and rising stakeholder needs and expectations.  Some of these organizations will, like bc211, choose to reach out to the project management community for assistance and support. When these connections happen and projects succeed, there is a rich legacy of benefits for the non-profit organization, the volunteer project manager and for the greater community.

About the Author

Enthused by the developments in project management and technology, Hylton keeps up to date, writes and shares articles on project management trends via numerous social media platforms and blogs. His passion for the project management profession comes from over fifteen years of managing projects in the Electricity and Telecommunication Industry’s in Namibia, responsible for improving customer satisfaction, stakeholder management, contracts, and quality assurance. He successfully managed the implementation of voice and data packaged telecommunication solutions to corporates and was instrumental in the expansion of the national rural electricity backbone network in Namibia. Hylton, a certified Project Management Professional (PMP), holds a senior position with the GIVE Group, an organization that benefits charities through real-estate sales.  He is also a certified WikiBuddy, engaged in development of free online education content for WikiEducator.

About pm-volunteers.org™

PM-V is a grassroots initiative which connects skilled professional project managers with not-for-profit organizations, building project management capacity in the not for profit sector while giving back to the community. To date, project management professionals have volunteered and given back over 5000 hours of service, supporting 80 community projects. Go to www.pm-volunteers.org for more information.

Article by Hylton Ferreira for Annex Consulting Group.

The Project Scope Statement is more than just a statement

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines a statement as “a single declaration or remark”. The project scope statement includes more detail than our proverbial understanding of a statement as a single remark.

The project scope statement identifies all of the project’s deliverables and defines the work required to create the deliverables. In other words, it creates a common understanding of what needs to be achieved by all stakeholders and creates a framework for proposed changes to be effected within the project boundaries, to eliminate nice to haves from creeping into the project.

Often, careful and thoughtful consideration in the composition of the project scope statement is neglected, resulting in detrimental results to project budget, schedule, quality, and customer expectations, as the project advances.

Considerations for a project scope statement:

Project Objectives - Quantifiable goals that defines the project’s appropriateness to the project customer and the overall success of the project. Objectives must be detailed, quantifiable, aggressive, realistic, and time-sensitive.

Product Scope description – Describes what deliverables the project is creating. The product scope description is a work in progress as it starts off vague and is updated as the project work develops.

Project Requirements – Sets the parameters under which the project will operate and determines the acceptability criteria against which the deliverables are measured. These parameters are established by the customer and the performing organization.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

Project Boundaries – Project boundaries establishes what is included in the project and what is excluded from it. Strict adherence to existing project boundaries leaves no room to engage in extra work that does not form part of the project scope.

Project Deliverables – These are all the things the project will create. But hang on, it does not only include the product it will create, but also all the documentation and documented experiences which can be used for future reference on similar projects.

Product Acceptance Criteria – It includes a list of requirements inclusive of the customer’s expectations that must be satisfied prior to acceptance of the completed product.

Project Constraints – Careful thought must to be put into identifying anything that will limit the project from successful completion. Constraints can include anything from a predetermined budget, available resources and materials, imposed dates, and contract conditions.

These are but some elements to consider for inclusion in the project scope description. From your perspective, do you think all of these are necessary?

Written by Hylton Ferreira.