Along with procedures, technology, plan, you must also have an effective IT stakeholder management for a successful project. You have fixes for the first three, but when it comes to people, you cannot be so sure. In this article at ITSM.tools, Stephan Watts talks about 4 easy ways to effective IT stakeholder management.
4 Rules of Stakeholder Management
IT stakeholder management is tough as it involves interacting with people with different objectives, mentality, and preferences. Following are the 4 easy ways for effective IT stakeholder management:
- Categorization: To get a better grip over your IT stakeholder management, categorize the stakeholders. One type of stakeholders will be affected by the IT project. The other is instrumental in making your project a success. Some stakeholders fall in both categories. They can also be inside or outside of your IT department or company.
- The RACI Chart: RACI means Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, and Informed. This helps to specify the stakeholder roles and responsibilities. The responsible type is directly influencing the fate of the project. Your IT team members and employees developing the project are in this category. Accountable are the senior management, executives, etc. who have the final say. Consulted are the stakeholders whose ideas and opinions matter. Informed stakeholders just need to know what is going on in the project.
- Identify and Tag the Stakeholders: Anyone involved in your project can be a stakeholder—from the team member to an HR consultant. Set up a meeting where all the stakeholders should participate. Designate the roles each stakeholder must do and categorize them. While DevOps team members are responsible, your sponsor can be informed.
- Communication Setup: The most important part of your IT stakeholder management is the communication setup. It depends on three things—the stakeholder type, the communication channels each stakeholder prefers, and information type you need sharing.
The End Note:
Type-Based Management: For accountable stakeholders, establish direct contacts like in-person meetings and phone calls. For responsible stakeholders, approach them as a team. While you can involve consulted stakeholders based on their preferred communication channels, informed stakeholders only need high-value project updates.
Stakeholder Buy-In: Getting stakeholder support is the goal of this IT stakeholder management. So, show them how this project is aligning with the company strategy.
Updates: Majority of the project stakeholders meet at the beginning of the project and then at the wee end of the project. This is not ideal. You must keep all the stakeholders updated to keep them engaged. The informed and consulted will appreciate a monthly, if not a weekly, update. Since your stakeholders are from different background, update your project status in a simple language. State your actionable items clearly and the stakeholder responsible for it.
Communicating Right: There are several communication channels available now. Emails, text messages, video calls, workshops, meetings, reports, etc. Customize the available communication channels for effective IT stakeholder management.
To view the original article in full, visit the following link: https://itsm.tools/2018/08/02/5-steps-for-better-it-stakeholder-management-and-communications/
