Communicating and Working with Stakeholders | Google Project Management Certificate
Summary
TLDRThe video script emphasizes the importance of team selection in project management, outlining the process of identifying roles, assessing skills, and considering team size and motivation. It introduces the concept of a RACI chart for defining responsibilities, and discusses stakeholder analysis, including categorizing and managing stakeholders effectively. The script also touches on the role of a project manager and the necessity of clear communication for project success.
Takeaways
- đ Choosing the right team members is crucial for project success, as they are the ones executing the tasks.
- đ A project manager should list roles needed for the team to complete the project tasks, assigning specific responsibilities to each role.
- đïž In construction projects, roles might include an architect, site manager, and construction workers, emphasizing the importance of matching roles with skills.
- đ„ Team size should be determined based on project scale, with communication and workload balance considered to avoid delays.
- đ§ Skills are important, but also teachable; a positive attitude and attention to detail can compensate for initial skill gaps.
- â° Availability and motivation of team members are key factors in their selection, as they impact the project's progress and outcome.
- đ€ Stakeholder analysis is essential to understand who is impacted by the project and their level of interest and influence.
- đ The power grid is a tool for categorizing stakeholders based on their interest and influence to determine their role in the project.
- đ A RACI chart is a valuable tool for defining roles and responsibilities within a project, ensuring clarity and efficiency.
- đ There should be only one person accountable (A) for each task to prevent confusion and ensure clear ownership.
- đĄ Effective communication with stakeholders, considering their level of interest and influence, is vital for project buy-in and success.
Q & A
Why is it important for a project manager to choose the right people for a team?
-Choosing the right people is crucial because they are the ones who will perform the work on the project. The right team members ensure the project's success by aligning their skills and efforts towards achieving the project's goals.
What is the first step a project manager should take when identifying people resources for a project?
-The first step is to make a list of roles needed on the team to complete each task. This list is based on the project needs and guides the decision-making process for team composition.
Can you explain the difference between a project sponsor and a project manager?
-A project sponsor is accountable for the project's success and ensures it delivers value to the business, often providing funding and leadership. The project manager, on the other hand, is responsible for planning, organizing, and overseeing the project's execution.
How does team size impact project communication and task completion?
-A larger team can make communication more difficult, increasing the likelihood of missed details. Conversely, a team that is too small might not have enough members to complete all tasks, potentially causing delays.
What factors should a project manager consider when deciding on the right person for each role?
-A project manager should consider the person's skills, availability, motivation, and how well they fit with the team's dynamics. Skills are important, but they can also be taught, so attitude and potential are also considered.
Why is it important to train a team member who lacks necessary skills?
-Training is essential to ensure that the team member can perform their tasks effectively and not cause project delays. It also helps in developing the team's overall capacity and adaptability.
What is the purpose of a stakeholder analysis in a project?
-Stakeholder analysis helps identify all parties affected by the project, understand their level of interest and influence, and determine the best way to involve them. It prevents surprises, builds partnerships, and ensures the right people are involved at the right time.
Can you describe the roles of customers and users in a project?
-Customers are the ones who purchase or will benefit from the project's outcome, defining its requirements. Users are the end-users of the product or service delivered by the project, who will interact with it on a daily basis.
What is a RACI chart and how does it help in project management?
-A RACI chart is a tool that defines roles and responsibilities within a project, using four categories: Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, and Informed. It helps prevent confusion by clearly assigning tasks and ensuring efficient work distribution.
How can a project manager ensure that all stakeholders are informed and involved according to their level of interest and influence?
-A project manager can use a power grid to assess the level of interest and influence of each stakeholder and then apply appropriate management techniques, such as closely partnering with key stakeholders, consulting with those with high influence, and keeping others informed or monitored.
What are some common issues that can arise from unclear roles and responsibilities in a project?
-Unclear roles can lead to unbalanced workloads, confusion about hierarchy and decision-making, overlapping work, and excessive communication, which can cause information overload and missed important details.
Outlines
đ Project Team Assembly and Resource Allocation
The paragraph discusses the critical process of assembling a project team and the considerations involved. It emphasizes the importance of project managers in identifying the right people with the necessary skills, availability, and motivation for various roles within a project. The text also highlights the potential challenges of team size, such as communication difficulties with large teams and the risk of having insufficient personnel for task completion with small teams. The paragraph suggests that while skills are essential, they can be taught, and attributes like a positive attitude and attention to detail are also valuable. It also touches on the reality that project managers may not always have full control over team member assignments, requiring them to work effectively with the given resources.
đ Understanding Project Roles and Stakeholders
This section delves into the roles and responsibilities within a project, starting with the project sponsor, who ensures the project delivers value and may provide funding. It then describes the roles of team members, customers, users, and stakeholders, distinguishing between primary and secondary stakeholders based on their direct or indirect interest in the project's success. The paragraph uses the example of Office Green, a commercial plant company, to illustrate how these roles apply in a real-world scenario, including the project manager's role in overseeing the project and the various departmental contributions to the project's success.
đ€ Stakeholder Analysis and Management Techniques
The paragraph introduces the concept of stakeholder analysis, a method to visually represent and manage the interests and influences of all parties involved in a project. It outlines the steps for conducting a stakeholder analysis, including listing stakeholders, assessing their level of interest and influence, and determining their ability to participate. The text explains the use of a power grid to categorize stakeholders based on these factors and suggests different management techniques for various groups of stakeholders, such as key players, influencers, interested parties, and those with lower influence and interest.
đșïž Stakeholder Engagement and Communication Strategies
This section focuses on engaging stakeholders effectively by using a power grid to identify their level of importance and the appropriate communication strategy for each. It discusses the importance of keeping stakeholders informed based on their level of interest and influence, forming a steering committee with high influence and interest stakeholders, and tailoring communication frequency and content to the needs of different stakeholders. The paragraph also provides tips on achieving stakeholder buy-in and maintaining constant communication with highly influential stakeholders, while avoiding information overload for others.
đ Utilizing RACI Charts for Clear Role Definition
The final paragraph introduces the RACI chart as a tool for defining roles and responsibilities within a project to ensure efficiency. It explains the four participation types in a RACI chart: Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, and Informed, and provides guidance on how to create a RACI chart by listing project roles and tasks, then assigning the appropriate RACI designation for each task. The paragraph also addresses potential issues that can arise from unclear roles, such as unbalanced workloads, unclear hierarchies, overlapping work, and excessive communication, and suggests that proactive RACI analysis can prevent or resolve these issues.
Mindmap
Keywords
đĄProject Manager
đĄTeam Size
đĄSkills
đĄAvailability
đĄMotivation
đĄStakeholders
đĄRACI Chart
đĄSMART Goal
đĄCommunication
đĄStakeholder Analysis
đĄProject Sponsor
đĄAccountability
Highlights
Project managers must carefully consider team composition to ensure project success.
Identifying the right people for a project team is a crucial task for project managers.
Project managers should make a list of roles needed to complete each task within the project lifecycle.
Each role in a project has specific accountabilities, similar to the project manager's overall responsibilities.
The size of the project team can vary greatly and must be determined based on project requirements.
Larger teams can face communication challenges, while smaller teams may lack the resources to complete tasks.
Skills are an important factor in selecting team members, but they can also be taught.
Project managers must consider each team member's availability and motivation level.
In some cases, team members may be assigned by other managers, requiring project managers to adapt.
Stakeholder analysis is essential for understanding the roles and interests of all project participants.
A power grid can be used to visually represent and prioritize stakeholders based on their influence and interest.
Managing stakeholders effectively involves different techniques based on their level of influence and interest.
A RACI chart is a valuable tool for defining roles and responsibilities within a project team.
The RACI chart includes four types of participation: Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, and Informed.
Creating a RACI chart helps prevent role confusion and ensures clear ownership and direction for team members.
Unbalanced workloads, unclear hierarchies, and overlapping work can cause confusion within a project team.
Excessive communication can lead to information overload and missed important details.
A proactive RACI analysis can prevent or resolve issues related to role confusion and communication.
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Transcripts
JUANNE: In order to decide who does what on a project,
we have to consider and outline our needs.
Choosing the right people for a team
is a big task and one every project
manager should take seriously.
After all, these are the people who do the work on the project,
so we want to make sure we have the right people lined up.
When identifying people resources,
we need to carefully consider the project needs
and use that info to guide our decision making.
First, a project manager will make a list of roles
that they'll need on their team to complete each task.
In the same way that a project manager
is accountable for the overall initiation, planning,
execution, and completion of a project,
the person in each role is accountable for specific tasks
within the project lifecycle.
For example, a home construction project team
might include roles on their lists
like an architect, a site manager,
and multiple construction workers.
Once the tasks are clearly laid out,
the project manager decides how many people
they'll need on their team.
This can vary greatly depending on the project's size.
For small projects, the team may only need three or four people
to complete the deliverables on time, and for larger projects,
a team might include dozens.
At Google, we sometimes have hundreds of Googlers
working on the same project.
Getting the team size right is important for a bunch
of reasons.
For example, when there's a lot of people on a project,
communication sometimes becomes difficult.
That makes it more likely for someone
to miss important details.
But if your team is too small, there
might not be enough people to finish all the tasks.
Once you know how many people you need on your team,
you have to think about who does what.
To decide on the right person for each role,
a project manager needs to think carefully about skills.
Makes sense, right?
If you're managing the construction of a house,
you want to know that the construction workers who
are building the frame or installing the drywall
have the skills needed to do it properly.
It's on the project manager to ensure
that everyone on the team has the right skills to do the job.
But it's also important to remember
that skills can be taught.
If someone doesn't have a certain skill initially,
they might still be a great fit for the team.
Maybe this person brings a positive attitude and attention
to detail, perfectly good reasons
to have them on your team.
Just keep in mind that, if a teammate doesn't
have the necessary skills, it's important
that they are trained in time, so not to cause project delays.
When choosing teammates, a project manager
also has to factor in each person's availability
and whether they'll feel motivated to complete
their assigned tasks.
For example, you might know a fantastic site manager who'd
make a great asset to the team.
But if they're already staffed on another big project,
they might not have the time to commit to yours.
Or even if they do have the time,
they may not feel like this project will give them
the visibility they need for a promotion.
Motivation is a key ingredient to great work,
so it's a good idea to pick people who
are excited to get involved.
But, of course, we don't always get to choose our resources.
Sometimes, another manager or team lead
might just assign people to roles.
When this happens, it's the project manager's challenge
to deliver the best work with what we're given.
Let's check in on our project at Office Green, where we're
rolling out a new service.
As a project manager, it's up to you
to decide who you need on your team.
You have to ask yourself questions
on things like staff experience, availability,
the workspace, team member workload on other projects,
and more.
For example, who on the team has office landscaping experience?
Who's local to the city where the launch will happen?
Who can be fully dedicated to this project for the next eight
weeks?
There's no exact formula for putting together
the right team, which makes it a little tricky.
Every situation is different and calls
for a different set of skills, experience, and perspectives.
It can be helpful to look deeper into each task on the project.
Always ask yourself these key questions.
How many people do I need on my team each step of the way?
Which team members do I need and when?
Are those experts already busy on other projects?
Who makes the final decisions on project resources?
[MUSIC PLAYING]
To feel confident in your team, you
need to know each person's role from the start.
Clearly laying out the responsibilities for each role
helps everyone know what project tasks they're accountable for.
Odds are you can't complete this project on your own,
even if you're the best project manager of all time, which
we know you will be.
Before we jump into the specific roles on a project,
we want to call out that some roles aren't fixed.
Sometimes team members need to adapt and take
on more than one role at a time.
This usually happens if the company is small
or resources are limited.
For example, at a small firm you might be the project manager,
designer, and marketer.
Whether they're fixed or not, we always
have these project roles--
project sponsors, team members, customers or users,
stakeholders, and, of course, the project manager.
Let's learn more about each of them.
A project sponsor is the person who's
accountable for the project and who
ensures the project delivers the agreed
upon value to the business.
They play a vital leadership role throughout the process.
Sometimes they fund the project.
The sponsor will probably communicate directly
with managers and key stakeholders.
Team members are the heart of the operation.
They are the people doing the day to day work
and making the project happen.
The customers are the people who will get some sort of value
from a successfully landed project.
Since the project aims to deliver something
useful to the customers, the customer's needs
usually define the project's requirements.
You can think of them as the buyers of the project.
In some situations, we have both customers and users
for a project, and we need to differentiate between the two.
Simply put, users are the people that ultimately use the product
that your project will produce.
To make the distinction nice and clear for you, think of it
this way.
A software company has created a type of software
that allows teams to communicate with each other
in an instant message application.
The software is purchased by corporation ABC.
They are the customer.
But the users are everyone within corporation ABC
that will be using the instant message application every day.
Stakeholders are anyone involved in the project, those
who have a vested interest in the project's success.
Primary stakeholders are people who
expect to benefit directly from the project's completion,
while secondary stakeholders play an intermediary role
and are directly impacted by the project.
Secondary stakeholders may be contractors or members
of a partner organization, but both primary and secondary
stakeholders help project managers define project goals
and outcomes.
And finally, we can't forget the project manager,
the person who plans, organizes, and oversees the whole project.
That's you.
Let's now plug these roles into our Office Green project.
Recall that Office Green is a commercial plant company that
does interior landscaping and plant
design for offices and other commercial businesses.
We're launching our new plant service.
So if you recall, our SMART goal--
which must be Specific, Measurable, Attainable,
Relevant, and Time Bound--
is to roll out a new service to provide
office plants to top clients by the end of the year.
There's a lot to do when launching a new service.
Plants need to be ordered and delivered every few days,
new clients will need to be familiarized
with Office Green and its procedures,
and there will be ongoing updates to the website and app.
For Office Green's launch, our project sponsor
is the director of product.
They approve the project's budget
and ensure that everything stays aligned to the vision, which
in this case is that inexpensive and easy to maintain
live plants are provided in order to improve the employee
work environments.
The team's made up of people from across departments,
and they're all working together to support the project.
For example, the marketing department
has assigned some people to the team,
because they'll need to tell customers
about this new service.
On this project, the landscape designer
is also the website designer.
This is an example of where a team member plays
more than one role.
And you, you're the project manager.
You're the one managing the information, people,
and schedule to carry this project
to a successful landing.
Our customers for this project are
buyers at offices who might be interested in Office Green
services, such as office managers or procurement teams.
However, the users are the employees
who work at the offices, because they're
the ones who enjoy the plants.
And finally, all of these people are project stakeholders.
Secondary stakeholders won't play active roles
throughout all phases of the project,
but still need to be informed as they are a component of what
the project needs to succeed.
For example, these include Office Green's investors
who are helping to fund the new service launch,
and the Office Green receptionists
who will answer a lot of customer questions
about the new service once it's launched.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Primary stakeholders are people who will benefit directly
from the project's success, while secondary stakeholders
are indirectly impacted by the project's success.
Having all these different people involved on a project
can get confusing, and that's where stakeholder analysis
comes in handy.
This is a visual representation of all the stakeholders.
It helps you avoid surprises, build necessary partnerships,
and ensure you're involving the right people at the right time.
When done well, your stakeholder analysis
helps you see all the opportunities for success
and the potential risks.
It illustrates which stakeholders
are taking on which responsibilities,
and it can help you include the right people
in important conversations, which
is key to getting the support you
need throughout the project.
There are three key steps to kicking off
a stakeholder analysis.
First, make a list of all the stakeholders
that the project impacts.
Then determine the level of interest and influence
for each stakeholder.
And finally, assess their ability to participate and find
ways to involve them.
In the second step, we talk about influence and interests.
What do those terms mean here?
Influence measures how much power a stakeholder has
and how much the stakeholder's actions affect the project
outcome.
In our Office Green example, the director
of product who first initiated the project
and oversees new products and services
has a huge amount of influence, while the vendor providing
the greenery has less influence.
Interest is pretty much what it sounds like.
How much are the needs of the stakeholder
affected by project operations and outcomes?
For example, Office Green's human resources department
might not have as much interest in the product launch
as the sales department does.
The power grid is a super useful two by two
grid used for conducting a stakeholder analysis.
We use the power grid to assign each stakeholder's level
of importance to the project, measuring their interest
and influence.
The position of the stakeholder on the grid
usually determines their active role in the project.
The higher the interest and influence, the more important
the stakeholder is to the project's success.
Without their support, it's unlikely
that the project will successfully land.
These people are our key stakeholders.
Now that you have a better idea of each stakeholder's position
on the team, you can plan how to best manage everyone.
There are four different techniques
you can use for managing stakeholders.
The first group of stakeholders are the key players
or key stakeholders.
You find these people in the top right corner of the grid.
To best manage key stakeholders, you
want to closely partner with them
to reach the desired outcomes.
Of course, not everyone's a key stakeholder.
But each role, even the non-key stakeholder,
gets a spot on the grid.
You find stakeholders with higher influence
but lower interest in the top left corner of the grid.
To manage these stakeholders, you want to consult with them
and meet their needs.
Their opinions and input are important to the project.
The director of product has high influence,
but may not be vested into day to day activities,
and therefore will have a lower interest.
Stakeholders with lower influence but high interests
are in the right bottom corner of the grid.
For these stakeholders, you want to show consideration for them
by keeping them up to date on the project.
It's unlikely they'll need a say what's going on,
but keeping them informed is important.
For example, the customer success team
may have lower influence but high interest,
since they'll work directly with clients on the new product.
Last up, we have stakeholders with low influence
and low interest.
You'll find these in the bottom left corner.
They're the least important of the stakeholders,
but this doesn't mean that they don't matter.
It might just be that, for this particular project,
they aren't as integral.
So for this project, you mainly want to monitor them,
keeping them in the know.
Creating a grid like this is an effective way
to track who should be communicated with and when.
This grid here is an example of how
that might play out, depending on the project
and the stakeholders.
You may also want to create a steering committee made up
of high influence and high interest stakeholders.
These people will be the most senior decision making
body on any project.
They have the authority to make changes to budget
and approve updates to timeline or scope.
The project manager isn't a member of the committee,
but they're responsible for bringing the right project
information to the steering committee
so that decisions can be quickly made.
How you engage your stakeholders from this point on
depends on your particular situation.
There are different ways to involve each stakeholder,
and you have to be strategic to get helpful and relevant input
from the right people at the right time.
You want to meet with some stakeholders every single day,
and others you just send periodic updates to.
Stakeholder buy-in is the process
of involving these people in decision making
to hopefully reach a broader consensus on the organization's
future.
To get stakeholders to buy in on the project,
you'll have to pay particular attention to your high impact
stakeholders and make sure they feel looped in.
You want to explain to them how the project will help them
achieve their goals, and you'll want to have their support
later on if any issues come up.
Here are some important things to keep
in mind when communicating with stakeholders.
If you have one main stakeholder,
that stakeholder is likely to be highly influential
and needs constant communication.
But if you are on a larger project
with numerous stakeholders, they won't be quite as involved
in the day to day tasks.
For stakeholders who need time to make decisions
about the project, overcommunicate early on.
For example, hold frequent meetings
and send daily end of day progress emails.
This way, they have enough time to weigh the options
and make decisions.
Think about the level of project details each stakeholder needs.
You don't want to spend time diving
deep with stakeholders that just need a project summary.
For example, the facilities team that delivers the product
doesn't need daily updates on vendor pricing or website
issues.
On the flip side, do spend time updating key members that
need frequent updates.
The sales team will need to know pricing and availability
changes, so a weekly check in might make sense here.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
In the last video, we saw how a stakeholder analysis shows us
how to best work with stakeholders
and when to communicate with all the different people involved
in the project.
In this video, we're going to check out another handy tool
called a RACI chart.
A RACI chart helps to define roles and responsibilities
for individuals or teams to ensure
work gets done efficiently.
It creates clear roles and gives direction for each team member.
There are four types of participation
included in a RACI chart.
These are Responsible, Accountable, Consulted,
and Informed.
Let's take a look at each.
Responsible refers to those doing the work
to complete the task.
Accountable refers to those making sure the work gets done.
Consulted includes those giving feedback, like subject matter
experts or decision makers.
And lastly we have informed, which
includes those just needing to know the final decisions
or that a task is complete.
Here's an image of how this breaks down in a chart form.
When creating your RACI chart, you'll
need to write down each task or deliverable for your project,
and then assign it the appropriate role
for each stakeholder.
To do this, first, think about who's involved in the project.
Write the roles or people's name in a row
across the top of your chart.
Pro tip, use roles rather than names
if some people might take on more than one role.
Next, write down the tasks or deliverables
in a column on the left.
Try not to get too specific here.
You want the chart to be simple and easy to read.
After that, go through each task and deliverable
and ask, who's responsible for doing this?
Who's accountable if it doesn't get done?
Who will have strong opinions to add, and therefore
should be consulted about how this gets done?
And who needs to be informed of the progress or decisions made
about this?
Assign the letters R, A, C, and I based on your answers.
For example, as a project manager
on Office Green's new service launch, one of your tasks
is to create different price points for different packages
and delivery frequencies.
The head of finance will be accountable,
because the project needs to stay in budget and make money.
But it's the financial analyst who's responsible
if they're the person doing the work in determining
optimal pricing.
The director of product will be consulted on the matter,
as they oversee the product offerings.
And finally, team members, like those on the sales team,
need to be informed of the final pricing.
It's possible there are several roles that
fall into the informed and consulted categories.
One thing that will always remain constant
is there will never be more than one person designated
as accountable.
This prevents confusion, because having one person accountable
clearly defines ownership.
However, the same person that is accountable
may also be responsible.
There are several other factors that can cause role confusion.
For example, there might be unbalanced workloads,
which means some people might be doing more work or less work
than others on the team.
Or there could be an unclear hierarchy, when people aren't
sure who to seek help from if a task doesn't get done,
or unclear ownership of decisions
where people aren't sure who makes
the final call on a project.
Another issue could be overlapping work.
This is when teams or individuals feel that they're
responsible for the same work.
When this happens, things can get confusing fast,
and the same goes for excessive communication.
While communication is usually a good thing,
too much communication can actually
make things more complicated.
It can cause information overload, where people don't
know what to pay attention to, so they
miss something important.
Wow, there's a lot of things that might cause confusion.
But all these issues can be resolved or even prevented
with a RACI analysis.
Be proactive and do this work upfront,
and you'll help ensure the success of your project.
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