Stakeholder Support
1. Any person or group who will be affected by your IT project is a stakeholder (Watt, 2014). Stakeholders need to understand the importance of the project and how it will benefit themselves, their work and the organization they work for. To create change you will need to initiate engagement and collaboration with stakeholders (Al-Haddad & Kotnour, 2015) and support for IT projects is an important step to ensure your project will get to the closing stage. “Change efficacy is higher when people share a sense of confidence that collectively they can implement a complex organizational change” (Weimer, p. 2, 2009). Before you approach your stakeholders for their support of your project, make sure you know enough about the pros and cons of your project. Here are some useful articles preparing you to make your case for implementing a new communication tool in your organization:
The importance of stakeholder buy-in [Blog post]
HR digital disruption: The biggest wave of transformation in decades (Larkin, J., 2017)
2. Once you feel confident to approach your stakeholders for input, these informative blogs and websites share tips and secrets to foster successful stakeholder support (Cuddeford-Jones, 2011). We have included a link to a stakeholder analysis and engagement tool kit you may find useful.
3. Hearing the voices of your stakeholders is essential for a successful implementation. Crafting good questions and sending out surveys to those stakeholders who will be impacted by your project is a great way to gain those insights. Here are some tools to get you started.
References
Al-Haddad, S., & Kotnour, T. (2015). Integrating the organizational change literature: a model for successful change. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 28(2), 234-262. Retrieved from https://www-emeraldinsight-com.ezproxy.royalroads.ca/doi/full/10.1108/JOCM-11-2013-0215
Arif, A., S. & Nizamuddin, H. (2017). Online Tools to Improve Faculty Collaboration and Time Efficacy Inside and Outside the Classroom. Innovations in pharmacy. 8(4) 1-3. Retrieved from https://pubs.lib.umn.edu/index.php/innovations/article/download/542/536/
Cuddeford-Jones, M. (2011). COLLABORATION TOOLS: Having your say. New Media Age, , 18-20. Retrieved from https://ezproxy.royalroads.ca/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.royalroads.ca/docview/867702764?accountid=8056
Department of Health and Human Services (2018). Stakeholder engagement Tool kit. Victoria: Australia. Retrieved from https://www.betterevaluation.org/en/resources/toolkit/DHHS_stakeholder_engagement_toolkit
Kelly, R (May 2013, 21)Getting support for your IT project [blog post]. Retrieved from https://kellycrew.wordpress.com/2013/05/21/7-tips-to-get-internal-stakeholder-buy-in-for-a-new-it-project/
Larkin, J. (2017). Hr digital disruption: The biggest wave of transformation in decades. Strategic Hr Review, 16(2), 55-59. doi:10.1108/SHR-01-2017-0006
Lopes, I., Oliveira, A. & Costa, C., J. (2015).Tools for Online Collaboration: Do they contribute to Improve Teamwork? Mediterranean Journal of Sciences. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2015.v6n6s4p511
Manchester Metropolitan University (n.d). Stakeholder Analysis Tool Kit. Retrieved from https://www2.mmu.ac.uk/media/mmuacuk/content/documents/bit/Stakeholder-analysis-toolkit-v3.pdf
May, A. (2016, December 14). The importance of stakeholder buy-in [blog post]. Retrieved from https://www.dashe.com/blog/the-importance-of-stakeholder-buy-in
Survey Monkey (2019). Retrieved from https://www.surveymonkey.com/
Thompson, R. (n.d.) Winning support for your projects [blog post]. Retrieved from https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newPPM_07.htm
Watt, A. (2014). Project Management. Victoria, BC: BCcampus. Retrieved from https://opentextbc.ca/projectmanagement/
Weiner, B. J. (2009). A theory of organizational readiness for change. Implementation Science, 4(67). Retrieved from https://implementationscience.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1748-5908-4-67