Managing Stakeholders--1. Assess the Environment

This dictum implies that prudent project managers must realistically determine what the operating environment is likely to resemble for running the project. Is the project relatively low-key and likely to excite little attention, or is it potentially highly significant? For example, a large computer manufacturer recently undertook to develop a new line of mini computers and storage units that had the potential to lead to great profits or serious losses. In that environment, they took great care to first determine the need for such a product line by going directly to the consumer population and engaging in market research. Likewise, one of the reasons the Ford Taurus was so popular was Ford's willingness to create project teams that included consumers in order to more accurately assess their needs prior to project development.

From a political perspective, one important component of assessing the environment is to ask some central questions:

1. Is this project politically sensitive, i.e., will it threaten the organization's status quo or the power balance of any important stakeholder group?
2. What steps can our firm begin to take to alleviate these groups concerns?

Prudent project management demands that organizations do not accept, as an article of faith, the belief that all internal stakeholders equally perceive the project as important for the organization, nor should we assume that all external stakeholders hold the same positive or, at worst, benign attitudes to the project's introduction.