MSP Themes: Leadership and Stakeholder Management

user Andy Trainer

date 25 Nov 2010

MSP Themes: Leadership and Stakeholder Management

Leadership is part of how stakeholders are engaged. Programme managers need to think of stakeholder engagement not just as a system of tasks and managing things, but also as a way of achieving influence and positive outcomes through effective management of relationships.

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Programme success relies on co-operative contributions and support from all involved. Some will support and others oppose, some will benefit and see opportunity, others will see threat, and some will be indifferent. The key to success is to understand and address all views. A continuing and two-way approach to communications is essential between the programme and its stakeholders to secure commitment and maintain momentum.

The diagram below shows the steps involved in stakeholder engagement:

Benefits are the measurable improvements resulting from an outcome which are perceived as being an advantage by a stakeholder. The objectives of benefits realisation are to:

Identify benefits as early as possible.
Identify the approach to benefits management
Plan benefits realization
Deliver benefits realization
Review benefits realization

The benefits realisation management drives the other Governance Themes as demonstrated in the diagram below:

Benefits management is the activity of identifying, optimising and tracking the expected benefits through to their realisation. It is a core activity and a continuous management process running throughout the programme.