Tag: Project Stakeholder Management
Managing Stakeholders at 1,000 Feet — The Untold Story of the Eiffel Tower Project
1. Paris, 1887 — A City Divided by Iron and Ego When Gustave Eiffel proposed building a 300-meter iron tower for the 1889 World’s Fair, Paris was the cultural capital of the world — elegant, artistic, and proud of its stone monuments. The idea of a steel skeleton rising above the skyline horrified the elite.…
🌍 The Canal That United Oceans and Stakeholders Alike – The Panama Canal and the Art of Project Stakeholder Management
1. A Dream Too Big to Belong to One Nation In the late 19th century, connecting the Atlantic and Pacific wasn’t just an engineering dream — it was a geopolitical obsession.Every great power wanted control of that maritime shortcut. When the French began the project in 1880, optimism ran high. Ferdinand de Lesseps, the mastermind…
🚂 Tracks of Tension: Stakeholder Management Lessons from the Railway Age
1. The Railway Era – A Perfect Case Study of Stakeholder Complexity The 19th-century railway boom was more than an engineering revolution — it was a social and political battleground. Railways promised speed, connectivity, and economic growth, but they also disrupted land ownership, labor structures, and traditional commerce. This made them an ideal example of…
📜 From Textile Mills to Tech Hubs: A Historical Journey into Project Stakeholder Management
1. Introduction – The Forgotten Players of Progress When we talk about the Industrial Revolution, we imagine steam engines, cotton mills, coal mines, and railroads. But behind the machinery stood the invisible but decisive force of stakeholders. Investors, workers, governments, and communities — all shaped the trajectory of industrial projects. This historical lens gives us…
Weaving the Web: A Stakeholder Symphony in ERP Chaos
Stakeholder management feels like conducting a symphony where each player has their own sheet music—harmonize, or it’s dissonance. In 2024, I conducted just such a piece for a logistics giant’s ERP rollout. Departments clashed like off-key violins: Finance wanted audits, Ops demanded uptime, IT pushed tech stacks. It could’ve been a cacophony, but by weaving…
🤝 Project Stakeholder Management: From Status Updates to Strategic Alliances
▶️ Introduction – Why People Trump Process You can have the most robust Gantt chart, perfect scope statement, and top-tier tools—and still fail.Why? Because the people who fund, influence, use, or resist your project hold the real power.Stakeholder management is no longer a side-task. It’s the core of project leadership. 1️⃣ Stakeholder Practices of the…
Myth-Busting Project Stakeholder Management: Beyond the Smiles
Project Stakeholder Management isn’t about making everyone happy. It’s about understanding influence, prioritizing effectively, and creating a system of engagement that supports strategic outcomes—not just social harmony. MYTH #1: The Goal Is to Keep Everyone Happy This is the most common misconception. Project managers often think if everyone’s content, the project is progressing well. But…
Project Stakeholder Management: From Handholding to Strategic Co-Creation
Stakeholders are not problems to be managed—they’re partners in creation. 1. Persona Mapping: Know Thy Stakeholder Modern projects treat stakeholders like product users, creating detailed personas that capture business drivers, communication preferences, and influence levels. A finance sponsor might obsess over ROI timelines; an end-user advocate focuses on usability; an IT architect worries about integration…
Debunking the Myth: Project Stakeholder Management Is Just About Keeping the Client Happy
The Client-Centric Trap “Keep the client happy, and you’re golden!” It’s a tempting mantra in project management, but it’s also a trap. Focusing solely on the client can alienate other critical stakeholders—your team, sponsors, regulators—and derail your project faster than you’d think. I’ve seen it happen—today, we’re busting the myth that stakeholder management is just…
Debunking the Myth: Project Stakeholder Management Is Just Keeping the Boss Happy
The VIP Trap Ever heard the phrase, “Keep the stakeholders happy”? It’s project management gospel, but too often, it gets twisted into “Keep the *boss* happy.” This myth—that stakeholder management is just about pleasing the top dogs—can sink your project faster than a bad scope. As a seasoned PM, I’ve seen the fallout when you…
