Blog 3 Stakeholders -- Stakeholder register

After the salience model (blog 2 Stakeholders) has been completed for the stakeholders in a content creation project it is useful to create a stakeholder register.  This spreadsheet is important as it can be referred too when a question arises about how to handle stakeholders within a project. In addition to containing information regarding the classification, it includes the specifics of how to communicate with the stakeholder.  

By communicating we mean for example: does one need to include them in all communications, only urgent ones, or only to provide general information?  It determines the level of information a particular person has access to from the project team’s perspective. 

If a stakeholder's classification is need to know only, and she is a consumer, it makes no sense to tell them about the server issues that are affecting the website.  However, if the servers are down and the stakeholder is intimately involved in the technology aspects of the project it may be prudent to keep her abreast of the situation as it evolves.  

Below is an image of a simple register, that I have modified to add the salience model.   

To download the excel template provided for free from Brighthubpm click here. By taking the time to fill out this spreadsheet you will save yourself a lot of headaches down the line when a situation arises regarding who needs to be communicated with during the course of the project.

 Reference

http:/www.brighthubpm.com/templates-forms/124740-collection-of-free-project-management-templates-and-forms

Blog 2 Stakeholder analysis tools - Salience Model for content strategists

Have you ever been in a situation where you were faced with multiple people on a project all requiring your attention at the same time.  What to do?!? 

Well as the savvy content creators that we are; we refer to our salience model that we developed in the initial phases of our project to guide our next move. In many content projects there are multiple stakeholders who are very concerned about their requirements; which they assume to be the most important. In the initial phase of the project analysis, meetings are conducted and stakeholders are assigned numbers according to their type. This aids managing the project later down the road.

1.    Dormant 2.    Discretionary 3.    Demanding 4.    Dominant 5.    Dangerous 6.    Dependent 7.    Definitive 8.    Non-stakeholder

Power refers to the stakeholder’s power relative to the project for instance the sponsor of the project controls the money so she has real power.  Urgency refers to immediacy of a need and the level of interest of the stakeholder.  Finally legitimacy is “the extent to which the stakeholder’s actions are correct or desirable based on his position within the organization”¹
 

Suppose for instance Jane who is a 3 and quite loud demands that her needs be met immediately; she is vying for our attention at the same time that Suzett (6) & Jo (5) need some work done. By referring to the chart we spent time creating we can easily navigate these choppy waters. 

The key person/s to keep happy are “definitive” stakeholders and they appear in the #7 position.  This person has legitimacy power and urgency and really should never be ignored if you want to succeed with your project and keep your job.   

One other tip is that if a # 8 position person appears in the project and he/she has legitimate concerns, power, or urgency you may want to review your classifications.  If they do not have legitimate concerns, power or urgency still be attentive, but don’t spend too much time there. 

In my final blog about stakeholder analysis I will discuss the stakeholder register.  Look for it next week.  Go forth and create! ~m

References

1.       http://www.models2use.com/management-model-stakeholder-salience-model.html

Mitchell, R. K.; Agle, B. R.; Wood, D. J. (1997). "Toward a Theory of Stakeholder Identification and Salience: Defining the Principle of Who and What Really Counts". Academy of Management Review (Academy of Management) 

Blog 1 Stakeholders - Stakeholder analysis for Content Strategists

When the word analysis is used some people balk. They run away in fear of wasting a lot of time with perceived preliminary research that they find tedious, time consuming and costly. Many people want to get in there and get that website out as soon as possible. When a content strategist says, "Wait, we need to know who the key stakeholders are so that we can tailor the project to address their needs," one may get a veiled glare and speculative grunt. They ponder, why do we need to spend time and money thinking about the stakeholders? 

Here is a simple question, is it better to do the job right the first time? In other words, what is the cost of rework when it is determined that a significant requirement of a major stakeholder has been overlooked? The initial phase of a project is often filled with excitement and an urge to get to the "real work." The "real work" begins in this phase; it is when most participants are open to talking. They express their hopes, fears, concerns and expectations of what the project is to be about and this critical information needs to be captured. It is at this time when you receive the most customer and sponsor input, it is invaluable to learn as much as possible from them; especially about key stakeholders and project requirements.

A definition of a stakeholder is a person, group or organization that will influence or may be affected by the project. Therefore, stakeholder analysis can be time consuming especially on larger projects. However, the benefits are immense. You will learn who is important to keep in the loop to support the project and who will ease issues. On the flip side you will determine who is negatively impacted and opposed to the project. 

It is essential to create a matrix that defines who-is-who and what influence they exert upon the project. A power/interest or influence grid is a visual representation of the stakeholders and their influence on a project (Mitchell, Agle et al. 1997).

There are many other ways to classify stakeholders and I will describe more in upcoming blogs. But, by way of introduction, this diagram eloquently describes the process. Therefore if you do nothing else, place the stakeholders in such a grid. You will save yourself a lot of time down the road. This will guide your approach when situations arise and will inform you of the possible impacts stakeholders may have on your content creation project.

References
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stakeholder_analysis
(Mitchell, Agle et al. 1997)

Mendelow's Power-interest grid (Aubrey L. Mendelow, Kent State University, Ohio 1991)

Project Charters why do content strategist need one??

The Charter & why Content Strategist need one…

Within the initiation phase of a content development project a charter is created.  A charter is vital to successful projects because it details the key information described below.  Additionally it contains the signatures of crucial stakeholders, which indicates that agreement was obtained and that the concerned parties are on board with the project.  This information is used to build the project management plan and is referred to whenever questions about the approach, general direction or approval come up as the project progresses. It can prevent misunderstandings and assists when confusion arises. Therefore, it is fundamental in the content creation project process.

The charter of a project contains:

1.      A general description of the project

1.1.    Title of project / working title of the project

1.2.    Project Manager (person responsible for the project work)

1.3.    Project Sponsor (person/group responsible for resources for the project)

1.4.    Client (person/group who project is being built for)

2.      Overview of the project

The background to the project, answers questions:

2.1.    How is the project identified, includes the name of the project and any acronym associated with it.

2.2.    How and why was the project been initiated?

2.3.    Purpose and the Business need? Timing (deadlines) and the expected outcomes

2.4.    Scope? Very high level, what will be accomplished (feature and functionality to be delivered)

2.5.    What are the Objectives?

2.6.    Sponsorship and ownership (owner of the project and sponsor, includes defining the stake holders)

2.7.    References? Any documents used to research the project and those that are important to its success.

2.8.    Terms? Dictionary of terminology for people who will be reading about the project at a later date

3.      Approach section

Identifies how the project will be undertaken, a team structure and high level project pla

3.1.    Quality and Key deliverables; how good does it need to be, when does it need to be done, and how do we measure if it is good enough?

3.2.    Organization and Responsibility. Team & roles identification (at minimum project manager, executive committee and business leader)

3.3.    Oversight, reporting & review.  Who is in charge of approving project work and what requires approval?

3.4.    Dependencies or constraints.  Are there any constraints for example: regulatory, budgets, or stakeholders that influence the project?

3.5.    Support.  Where is support going to come from and what are the activities are related to this?

3.6.    Resources and facilities? Where will the work be done and who will provide the resources?

3.7.    Risks? What is the plan to manage and mitigate risk and what are the risks?

3.8.    Process options?  What process will be used PMP,  SCRUM, Agile etc?

3.9.    Process stages after the process has been chosen how will the stages be implemented? What will be the lifecycle implementation?

3.10.   Control = How will project status be communicated to stakeholders? Includes change control, issue management and scope control.

3.11.   Quality Assurance = How and when will quality reviews be conducted?

3.12.   Schedule = High level milestones that will be used to create a schedule of activities

3.13.   Estimate = How much will this cost?

4.       Approval section

4.1.    Defines key stakeholders and contains their signatures for the project work

5.       Appendices

5.1.    Includes any document relevant to the charter such as business case, budget schedule etc., should be attached to the charter.  

References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_charter
http://www.brighthubpm.com/project-planning/5159-project-charter-example-for-every-project-manager/