In this engaging podcast episode, hosts Merv Jersak and Tim Jerome further extend their discussion about the identification, assessment, and engagement of stakeholders that they introduced in the previous episode. They discuss the significance of communication, emotional awareness, and perception. They provide insights into effective communication strategies, the importance of early engagement with key stakeholders, and the role of emotional intelligence in identifying and addressing stakeholders' needs. They emphasize the necessity of understanding and managing stakeholder expectations throughout the project, highlighting the value of tailored communication and the impact of stakeholders' fears and motivations on project outcomes. With anecdotes and expert advice, this episode explores the nuanced art of balancing technical and behavioral components in project management for successful stakeholder engagement and project execution.

Main Take-Aways

Each component of stakeholder management is critical for the advancement and success of your project:

• Identification of stakeholders involves mastering communication, emotional awareness, and studied perception
• Assessment of stakeholders requires a keen sense of understanding human behavior
• Engagement of stakeholders at the appropriate levels of involvement includes the same activities as noted for identification plus assessment, plus continued strategizing on how best to influence stakeholder participation

Show Notes

Today’s Project Managers Coffee Chat: A Deeper Dive Into the Identifying, Assessing, and Engaging of Our Stakeholders

00:28 Introducing an understanding of the human factors of leading stakeholder teams.

01:10 A deeper look at the challenges in identifying stakeholder for our projects: communication, emotional awareness, perception.

02:01 Unpacking the challenges of communication and building those important stakeholder relationships.

04:13 The art of employing emotional awareness in identifying our stakeholders: developing an awareness of stakeholder interactions, using the Project Charter, having effective project kickoffs.

08:46 Navigating the complexities of stakeholder assessment, and the challenges of working with human behavior. A key question when assessing stakeholders and project responsibility: “Who has the most to lose?”.

14:24 Mastering stakeholder engagement strategies involves ongoing assessment along with influencing the engagement, blending the technical and behavioral components of managing the project and the stakeholder teams, and employing the optimal communication channels.