How to Deal with Difficult Stakeholders
When leading a project, it is needed to take the leadership and provide guidance to both internal team and stakeholders on project navigation. An essential aspect of managing a project is to develop positive relationships with its stakeholders.
When handling projects, there can be stakeholders who only share critical remarks or contribute negative comments when they give their opinions. There can be stakeholders who do not like to share necessary business requirements related information as well.
Due to difficult stakeholders, the project can suffer quality issues and release of the implemented project can get delayed. So it is essential to keep stakeholders in good terms in order for the project success.
Following are some of the strategies that can be used to deal with most difficult stakeholders and ensure the projects moving forward.
- Accept their Authority
Once the primary and secondary stakeholders are clearly identified, it is best to watch them closely in order to clarify their influence and power over the project. It is necessary to acknowledge their authority and respect their position.
2. Understand their Negativity
When developing a compassionate relationship, it is a must to have empathy. It is important to understand stakeholders’ sudden resistance and what made them have doubts related to the proposed project solution. By keeping the communication lines open and giving them opportunity to explain their resistance will help to sort out the conflicts smoothly.
3. Ask for Advice and Listen
Communication is the best method to solve conflicts and understand stakeholder’s point of view. By asking for their advice relevant to critical facts and listening to the opinions they provide will help to identify their motivation and goals. It is a good strategy to make stakeholders feel like they are understood and their contribution matters.
4. Be Tactful and Honest
Sometimes stakeholders do not understand the reasons for enhancements in the proposed solution. And due to misunderstandings, stakeholders might be disagreeing with the proposed functionalities. When such situations occur, in order to share the proper idea across to the stakeholder, it is needed to be honest and tactful. But at the same time, it is essential to make them feel good and welcoming by appreciating their concerns and thanking them for their feedback.
5. Tailor the Communication
Not all stakeholders are the same. The communication methods that will work on some stakeholders might not work on others. It is important to have one on one discussions with stakeholders from time to time. It will lead to more clear and calm discussions as well as the stakeholders will feel validated and important. Managing stakeholders one on one will prevent their negative opinions from influencing others on the project.
6. Keep the project moving forward
Throughout the project, it is important to ensure stakeholders that they are being heard, valued and appreciated. Building relationships and understanding stakeholders’ motivation will take time an effort, but will make the project implementation easier in the long run. Projects are more likely to be successful when all the stakeholders and internal team members are on board and on the same page.
