When embarking on a Change Project, it’s crucial for the project team to carefully consider the perspectives of three key categories of stakeholders: Commercial Managers, Users, and Specialists. These groups have unique viewpoints that will inform and shape the overarching vision for the project, each carrying distinctive priorities and perspectives. To fully comprehend their roles, we’ll delve into their specific interests and expectations:
- Commercial Managers: Constituting this group are individuals who oversee the financial and business dimensions of the project. They attach significant importance to commercial outcomes such as profitability, return on investment, and cost efficiency. Their perspective of success is intimately linked to these outcomes. These stakeholders have a keen interest in how the project or change initiative is in sync with the broader business strategy and how it contributes to achieving the organization’s commercial objectives.
- Users: This demographic includes those who will be directly engaging with or affected by the product, service, or change that’s being implemented. The User’s perspective of success hinges on the degree to which the outcome aligns with their needs and anticipations. They might be deeply concerned with aspects like the usability, functionality, and reliability of a new product or system, or how a modification in process or policy impacts their day-to-day operations.
- Specialists: These individuals are the subject matter experts who infuse their specialized knowledge or skills into the project. This category can include technical experts, process consultants, or other professionals whose expertise is indispensable for the project’s success. From their standpoint, success may be evaluated based on the quality of the technical or specialist outcomes of the project, including elements such as the incorporation of best practices, compliance with industry standards, or the innovation applied in their area of expertise.
To amalgamate these three groups into a shared vision demands a certain degree of negotiation and compromise. Each stakeholder should be consulted to clarify their expectations from the project. This dialogue could transpire at a project steering group or an equivalent forum. Subsequent to assimilating all the different requirements, it becomes imperative to prioritize them, identify any contradictory expectations, and cultivate a cohesive vision that represents the shared interests of all stakeholders. By doing so, you ensure that the project benefits from a diversified and unified perspective, ultimately maximizing its chances of success.