Scope management is about creating the project scope. The scope of the project will determine what will be delivered during the project. The stakeholder requirements are the foundation of the project scope. There are many methods and tools available to collect requirements. While gathering requirements is important, the project manager also has an important role in balancing these requirements and resolving conflicting requirements.
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The PMP training course teaches that managing stakeholder requirements is critical to the success of a project. We will be discussing how to balance stakeholder needs and resolve conflicts.
How important is a good management of stakeholder needs for success?
It is important to manage stakeholder requirements because there will be multiple requirements from many stakeholders and many of them may compete with one another. A project stakeholder is defined as anyone who can benefit from the project outcome or may be distracted by it. This is according to the PMP exam training. There are two types: internal and external stakeholders. It is important to identify and understand the relative influence of stakeholders on a project. It is important to identify stakeholders and understand their relative influence on a project.
How can you balance stakeholder needs?
Let’s now look at the methods of balancing stakeholder needs one by one.
Be sure to include stakeholder requirements in the objectives
These requirements must be balanced in a project. Make sure they can be met by objectives. The objectives of a project are what will guide the project. Once the objectives have been met, it is time to fulfill the requirements.
Prioritize requirements
Many stakeholders will have different requirements. These requirements must be prioritized. Stakeholders with higher priority needs must be closely monitored. These can lead to project failure if they are not met.
Resolve conflicts among stakeholder requirements
Let’s say that a project’s high-level planning shows that it can be completed in 8 month with a $1,000,000 budget. The sponsor might request that the project be completed in six months. Due to the additional resources that will be required, this adds $200,000 to the project’s cost. This extra cost might be rejected by the sponsor, but they might insist on reducing project duration. This is a conflicting requirement that must be resolved.
Let the customer’s needs take precedence
If there are any conflicts with the needs of the customer, they will normally prevail. The customer is the end user of the product/outputs of the project. If these requirements conflict with customer requirements, the customer’s will usually prevail.
Ask for management support
Ask for management support if a conflict cannot been resolved. Sometimes, powerful stakeholders may have different requirements. For example, a Chief Marketing Officer might request that a project for marketing feature development in an IT company be completed within 6 months. The Chief Technical Officer may say they can complete the project within 9 months due to technical or resource constraints. You can seek the support of your management if you are unable to resolve this conflict between these powerful stakeholders.
How can you resolve competing stakeholder demands?
It is important to resolve conflicting stakeholder requirements quickly. Resolving a conflict in requirements will cause any side to be unhappy.