One of the most challenging aspects of engaging and managing project stakeholder

Question

One of the most challenging aspects of engaging and managing project stakeholders is addressing conflict. It is not uncommon for there to be competing objectives among individual or groups of stakeholders. A worst-case scenario is when project stakeholder expectations conflict with the mission, goals, objectives, policies, or procedures of the greater organization.

QUESTION

Provide an example of competing objectives among project stakeholders.

Which interpersonal skill do you think would be most effective to resolve the issue? Why?

Explanation / Answer

Conflicting objectives are common in project management. Consider an example of a heavy equipment installation. The management of the project management company (i.e. the manufacturer of the equipment) will have an interest primarily in the overall cost and schedule of the project. While the customer (i.e. the facility where the installation is going on) will be interested in the comprehensiveness or quality of the installation. The management will put pressure on the project manager to complete the project at the earliest and get the payment clear from the customer while the customer will try to extend the duration by ensuring that the equipment runs and delivers expected output before the payment can be processed and cleared.

The project manager uses soft skills to balance the conflicting and competing goals of the project stakeholders in order to achieve a consensus which means that the stakeholders support the project decisions and actions even when there is not 100 percent agreement. Research reveals that the top 2 percent of project managers distinguish themselves by demonstrating superior relationship and communication skills while displaying a positive attitude in mitigating the risk from the conflicting interests. The ability to communicate refers to developing finely tuned skills using multiple methods, creating, maintaining, and adhering to communications plans and schedules, communicating predictably and consistently, seeking to understand the project communication needs, making communications concise, clear, complete, simple, relevant, and tailored, incorporating different feedback channels, and managing crucial positive and negative news effectively. In addition to the communication skill, relationship and networking skill are also important which enables the project managers to develop informal networks with the relevant subject matter experts - useful during the resolution of conflicts among the stakeholders' needs.

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