MANAGING DIFFICULT STAKEHOLDERS

 We have all experienced them haven’t we, the stakeholder who is always negative about every aspect of the project or those stakeholders who just fail to deliver their elements of the project plan? Equally, there are those stakeholders who are downright unpleasant or even hostile. Take a look at why stakeholders can sometimes appear difficult and what you can to: manage them more effectively and promote harmonious relationships.

WHY DO SOME STAKEHOLDERS APPEAR DIFFICULT?

 

Usually when we talk about stakeholders being difficult it is because they are not agreeing with us or they are not doing what we want them to do and so we think of them as being ‘difficult’. Stakeholders, however, may appear difficult for a variety of reasons e.g.:

1, The stakeholder may not have a sufficient understanding of the project or may be motivated towards a different agenda/goal.

2, There may have been insufficient action to engage the stakeholder and make them feel that they are a valued part of the project.

3, Or the stakeholder may have a different way of working which is at odds with the project team e.g. perhaps he is more pedantic or more of a risk taker.

 

We are only going to talk about the latter point here but if you would like to find out how to address the first two points, please see the full article ‘Managing Difficult Stakeholders’ which was recently published in PMWorld Journal: http://pmworldjournal.net/article/managing-difficult-stakeholders/

 

 IDENTIFYING AND ACCOMMODATING DIFFERENT WAYS OF WORKING

 Following his extensive research with management teams, (Belbin 1991) concluded that the compatibility of a team is crucial to its effectiveness. Many subsequent researchers have also reached this conclusion e.g. De Dreu et al (2003). Given that stakeholders are part of the wider project team, it stands to reason that increasing understanding and compatibility amongst team members is more likely to result in the delivery of a successful project. There are various team building methods that can be utilised to facilitate better team working amongst project teams/stakeholders e.g. The Myers Briggs Type Inventory (MBTI). The MBTI can be used to gain a better understanding of individual team member’s preferred ways of working and the strengths that they can contribute to the team. Once team members gain a better understanding of each other’s preferred ways of working, it promotes greater understanding and harmony amongst team members and helps to diffuse any conflict. 

 

The MBTI was developed by Katharine Briggs and Isabel Myers and uses a questionnaire to identify individual preferences. The outcome of the questionnaire is that everyone receives a four-letter type that best describes their preferences on the following scales:

 

  • Extraversion Vs Introversion (where people get their energy from and where they focus it, i.e. external or internal sources)
  • Sensing Vs Intuition (Preference for information and what they can perceive as opposed to imagination and theoretical concepts)
  • Thinking Vs Feeling (Basing decisions on logic as opposed to personal values/views of others)
  • Judging Vs Perceiving (Planning in a linear, inflexible way as opposed to a more agile approach)

 

 

Someone who had a high preference for ‘Extraversion’, ‘Intuition’, ‘Thinking’ and ‘judging’ would have the type ‘ENTJ. Each of the four letters ‘Types’ has certain characteristics associated with it e.g. a brief description for an ‘ENTJ’ would be as follows (Briggs Myers 2000):

 

ENTJ

“Frank, decisive, assumes leadership readily. Quickly see illogical and inefficient procedures and policies, develop and implement comprehensive systems to solve organisational problems. Enjoy long term planning and goal setting. Usually well informed, well read; enjoy expanding their knowledge and passing it onto others. Forceful in presenting their ideas.”

 

 Looking at the contrasting ends of the MBTI scales, it is easy to see how conflict may occur between people with very differing preferences and ways of working e.g. someone with a preference for ‘intuition’ and big picture ideas may become very frustrated when working with someone who has a preference for ‘Sensing’, who keeps asking for proof that an idea is going to work effectively. Equally, someone with a preference for ‘Judging’, who likes a strong, linear project plan is likely to become frustrated with someone who has a preference for ‘Perceiving’ who is happy to just have an end goal and not be too worried about the best way to get there.  Although there are other tools available, the MBTI can be very useful in giving stakeholders/ team members a better understanding of each other’s preferences which enables people to be more accommodating of each other’s differences and less judgemental.  This then promotes better relationships between Stakeholders/teams.

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