successful project management - Commonwealth of Learning

• infrequent communication with sponsors.
Do you agree with this?
Yes
No
If yes, suggest any two other causes you are familiar with from managing a distance
education project in an area of interest to you.
There are three ideas you can follow in order to engage stakeholders more
meaningfully.
Setting clear project objectives
Ensure involvement of stakeholders when formulating objectives. These must be
realistic and achievable. Experience has shown that engaging them at this early
stage will help ensure success. They will definitely take keener interest if the
objectives improve their personal interest.
Agree on the deliverables
All projects need a clear set of deliverables aimed at achieving the project goals and
objectives. These should be communicated clearly to the stakeholders and efforts
made to ensure that there is a clear understanding regarding the quality and
composition of each deliverable. In order to achieve this, prototypes and samples
can be prepared to avoid misunderstandings or disappointment later.
Communicating information
Once the project is on course, the two groups that need to be kept informed of
progress are your project team and the stakeholders. Two most effective ways of
doing that are progress reports sent via the electronic mail, and regular meetings.
?? Activity
1. How is the ability to manage stakeholders linked with the work you do with
the project team?
2. To what extent can inefficient management of stakeholders affect your
project schedule?
3. What advantages and disadvantages would you associate with
communicating information to stakeholders by e-mail?
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