How Organizational Change Impacts Projects

Heraclitus wrote, “There is nothing permanent except change.” This is especially true in business today where change is a continuous process and is needed to remain competitive. However, even though change is common practice in most organizations, for many, change is by no means a smooth process. Change can interrupt the flow of business and cause pain for stakeholders of the business. The problem is amplified for project managers and project teams who are not only the leaders of change within the organization, but are also impacted by change. Organizations that are able to recognize the impact of organization change on projects and implement strategies to reduce the impact will streamline the process and ease the pain of change for all involved.

Stakeholder Management in Construction Projects

Many believe effective stakeholder management is one of the most important aspects of successful project management. In an article written by Jergeas, Williamson, Skulmoski, & Thomas (2000), they surveyed three companies who manage construction projects in the oil and gas industry.

In the article the authors discuss the confusion around identifying stakeholders and compare some industry definitions of stakeholders. They provide a high-level outline of the process they underwent to deliver the survey and compile the results. Ultimately they were able to consolidate the responses from the three companies and compile a succinct list of some of the problems that project managers create by ineffective stakeholder management. In addition, they provide some tactics for effective stakeholder management. Although the company sampling is too small to compile a complete list, the information received from the sampling provides an excellent start to identifying the issues and associated with managing stakeholders.

Principles of Stakeholder Management

In the article entitled “Principles of Stakeholder Management”, the authors summarize a document intended to provide general business managers with guidelines to help them interact with business stakeholders. In the article, stakeholders are referred to as “constituencies that are affected (favorably or adversely) by the operation of the corporation” (Clarkson, Donaldson, Preston, & Brooks). In business, for a corporation to continue to grow and flourish, it must learn to balance its own interests with the interests of its stakeholders; in doing so they will meet the needs of the society (Clarkson et al.). Although the article was intended for general business management, project managers can adopt the same principles. By applying these principles, project managers will build a solid foundation for managing stakeholder relationships within their projects.

5 Tips for Improving Project Communications

Project managers have several responsibilities, one of which is the need to communicate effectively. As project managers meet with teams, communication skills become increasingly important. The following tips will help project managers communicate more effectively when meeting with project team members.

1. Clearly Define Meeting Objectives

The first step for improving a project manager's communication with teams is to define clear meeting objectives. Are you trying to solve a problem, make a decision, brainstorm a new idea, or provide a project update? The objective for the meeting should determine the setting and tone for the meeting (Nine ways to make your meeting more effective, 2003).