1 – Ask questions. Don’t rely on secondhand information or assumptions. Instead, contact each stakeholder (if possible), and let them tell you about their reservations directly. Once you have accurate and current information, you can begin to address the concerns that are preventing them from giving you their full support.

2 – Provide objective data. You need to be persuasive to win stakeholders over to your side, but don’t compromise your data to do so. Always show your stakeholders complete, current, and relevant information. Benchmarking data obtained from outside sources—often available through industry or regional organizations—can be a powerful tool to help demonstrate your project’s real-world potential. If you find that you can’t respond to stakeholder questions by defending the project on its merits, it’s time to reconsider whether it’s worth pursuing.

3 – Highlight tangible benefits. Show your undecided stakeholders all the positive impacts your project will bring. Benefits such as short- and long-term cost savings, reduced resource consumption, increased market share, and advantages over the competition are all important points to consider.

4 – Show how things will look if your project doesn’t go forward. What will be affected? The continuation of less-than-efficient processes, inability to maximize cost saving opportunities, loss of key customers or business partners, diminished market position, and hampering of growth plans should be among the issues you address.

5 – Make a deadline. Sometimes decisions are delayed simply because they can be. You don’t want to hurry a decision unnecessarily, but if the window for low material prices or contractor availability is a concern, let your stakeholders know the deadline up front.

PMAlliance uses a team of highly experienced and certified professionals to provide project management consulting, project management training and project office development services.

1 – Maintain regular communications. Schedule frequent online meetings or conference calls, and aggressively push the project management team to stick to the schedule. Missing or postponing meetings should be a last resort, as mobile phones and widespread online access make participation feasible in the majority of circumstances.

2 – Prioritize team communications. You won’t have the opportunity to chat about an issue at the water cooler or in the hallway, so respond to incoming communications—and send outbound messages—as soon as is practicable.

3 – If possible, maintain a central repository for electronic documents. This allows everyone to keep in step with the project’s needs and flow, while also strengthening feelings of accountability to fellow team members.

4 – Remember time zone differences between team members, and encourage individuals to manage their work hours accordingly. Members will likely need to support activities such as phone calls and online meetings in the early morning/late evening hours, and a reasonable degree of schedule flexibility will keep them from getting burned out.

4 – Recognize individual achievements and contributions. Giving a teammate a public pat on the back is one way to foster a strong team-centered environment, even if it’s done electronically. Don’t allow a lack of visibility to minimize the accomplishments of your team and its members—be sure to include stakeholders and project management consulting champions on the distribution list for any kudos.

PMAlliance uses a team of highly experienced and certified professionals to provide project management consulting, project management training and project office development services.