Meeting Stakeholder Objectives
We have looked at various reasons for project management software and why an organization may look into implementing it. For example, we looked at the problem of too many projects, the need to manage multiple people's efforts, and centralizing project information. How about meeting stakeholder objectives? That is certainly a major part of project management. How does project management software fit into that?
What exactly is a stakeholder? That vast repository of wisdom, Wikipedia, defines a stakeholder as "a person, group, organization, or system who affects or can be affected by an organization's actions." A "project stakeholder" is defined as "a person, group or organization with an interest in a project." That could mean a sponsor (an executive, customer, supplier, agency, etc. that is sponsoring / funding the project), upper management, a project manager, and others. Whoever has a "stake" in the project.
In order to perform good project management, you need to both manage and meet stakeholder expectations. The result of the project should match their expectations for what will be delivered at the end of the project.
Why would an organization look at project management software to help them with that? Certainly project management software cannot in and of itself meet stakeholder objectives, but it is a tool that is in the Project Manager's arsenal to facilitate meeting objectives. Here are some ways that organizations use it for this purpose:
-Providing a mechanism for stakeholders to check on the status of the project (such as task and schedule completion).
-Providing a collaborative platform to interact and view interactions, such as via a blog.
-Sending proactive reports, such as cost, schedule, and issue data.
In addition, project management software can help the Project Manager and other managers ensure that a) the project team understands the stakeholder expectations (perhaps by having a project description or attaching a key project document), and b) the project team is currently on the right path to meeting those objectives.
How you utilize project management software depends on your particular needs, objectives, and culture, but meeting stakeholder objectives is one way to demonstrate the value of a good tool.
What exactly is a stakeholder? That vast repository of wisdom, Wikipedia, defines a stakeholder as "a person, group, organization, or system who affects or can be affected by an organization's actions." A "project stakeholder" is defined as "a person, group or organization with an interest in a project." That could mean a sponsor (an executive, customer, supplier, agency, etc. that is sponsoring / funding the project), upper management, a project manager, and others. Whoever has a "stake" in the project.
In order to perform good project management, you need to both manage and meet stakeholder expectations. The result of the project should match their expectations for what will be delivered at the end of the project.
Why would an organization look at project management software to help them with that? Certainly project management software cannot in and of itself meet stakeholder objectives, but it is a tool that is in the Project Manager's arsenal to facilitate meeting objectives. Here are some ways that organizations use it for this purpose:
-Providing a mechanism for stakeholders to check on the status of the project (such as task and schedule completion).
-Providing a collaborative platform to interact and view interactions, such as via a blog.
-Sending proactive reports, such as cost, schedule, and issue data.
In addition, project management software can help the Project Manager and other managers ensure that a) the project team understands the stakeholder expectations (perhaps by having a project description or attaching a key project document), and b) the project team is currently on the right path to meeting those objectives.
How you utilize project management software depends on your particular needs, objectives, and culture, but meeting stakeholder objectives is one way to demonstrate the value of a good tool.
Project managers can understand the difficulty level of managing various projects together and that’s the reason why Project Management Software becomes more important for a successful outcome.
Posted by: Tom Pepper | 04/22/2010 at 02:25 AM
As i found this post really well its all about the meeting of stakeholder. Project manager can easily understand the difficulty of managing the projects. In order to perform good Project Management Software you need to manage stakeholder expectations.
Posted by: Ramona | 05/03/2010 at 05:26 AM
That is a very very good point. Not many think of that I believe. But they definately should.:)
Posted by: crm system | 07/29/2011 at 06:28 PM