Andrew…Part Two

Andrew and I met for that second cup of coffee yesterday. You probably remember that he is Project Director for a major initiative with a ‘first-time’ Sponsor? The situation hadn’t improved. Requirements definition is being seriously hampered by an internal support group putting Andrew’s project low on their priorities. He’d sent meeting requests to his Sponsor, so far without success.

I suggested he do some groundwork! The critical step is some stakeholder analysis. This step in a project often doesn’t get as much airtime as the standard Gantt chart and similar ‘technical’ project management tools, yet it is probably more crucial in terms of project success. Talk to others around your Sponsor. How do they get to talk with her? Does she ‘do’ coffee? Is first thing in the morning a good time to meet for coffee? Is later in the day better? Does she like to get away from the desk for a quick lunch break?

And dig deeper. Is she a detailed person? Does she like heaps of facts? Does she prefer pictures? Does she read documents in depth or prefer explanations? All of this will help you plan for your first discussions.

And go to those meetings with an agenda in mind – what are the top three items you want to discuss – not too many points, and not too few!

There’s some ‘homework’, Andrew. Next cup of coffee we can talk through the points for the first meeting.

John