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4 things to remember about stakeholder management

If you’re leading a big project, managing up is just as important as managing down. This article looks at 4 strategies for effective stakeholder management.

When it comes to successfully shepherding high-profile projects to completion, managing up is just as important as managing down. Whether you’re working on a product launch, advertising campaign, or major purchase, you’re probably going to need to get approval from a decision maker at some point before you can proceed with your plans.

In theory, this process should be fairly simple and straightforward. You have an idea to do something. You share a plan with your boss (or your boss’s boss). Your boss approves it. You and your team execute the plan while sharing progress along the way. And then you finish the thing you set out to do. Everyone is happy.

In reality, things don’t always play out that way. Sometimes it’s not clear who gets to decide on something. Or, if several people get to decide, they may not agree with each other.

If you’re the directly responsible individual on a project, getting the green light from decision makers can feel elusive and daunting. This doesn’t always have to be the case, though. Here are four things to remember about stakeholder management.

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Posted in 21st Century government, Engagement and tagged .