You're overseeing a program with demanding stakeholders. How can you ensure their long-term support?

Ensuring long-term support from demanding stakeholders involves several key strategies like Maintain regular, transparent communication to keep stakeholders informed about progress, challenges, and milestones. This builds trust and reduces uncertainties. Set realistic expectations from the outset and manage them consistently throughout the program. Address any concerns promptly and adjust plans as necessary. Consistently meet or exceed project milestones and deliverables. Demonstrate the value and benefits of the program to stakeholders. Develop strong, positive relationships with stakeholders. Understand their needs, priorities, and concerns to align the program objectives accordingly. Actively involve stakeholders in decision-making flow

Avoid overthinking it! You need mainly 2 things from your stakeholders: 1. Interest in the outcome 2. Trust in you ad 1: Make it clear what's in it for them and why they need to support you. ad 2: Be absolutely realistic on risks, issues etc. and hide nothing in areas where their support is critical. And of course, keep repeating these points every time you communicate and update!

Communicate often but informative. Remember they don’t know what they don’t know. So give them the opportunity to know enough to be true advocates and promoters of information sharing.

Getting senior stakeholder buy-in and engagement at the onset of a project is the most critical part of a project’s success. Without this it is often an uphill battle!

Engaging early with stakeholders is a cornerstone of successful program management, especially when dealing with demanding stakeholders. Initiate dialogue with stakeholders at the earliest stages of the program. By including them in preliminary discussions, you show transparency and commitment. This early engagement helps build trust, making stakeholders feel valued and heard from the start. Developing strong, positive relationships with stakeholders early on sets the stage for long-term collaboration. These relationships are invaluable for gaining ongoing support and navigating future challenges together. Engaging stakeholders early is not just a strategy—it’s a commitment to collaboration, transparency, and shared success.

True transformational change aligns people, process, and tools to work together toward business goals. Technologies evolve and change. With SaaS, constraints and limitations are the reality, but so is innovation and faster speed to market. So it is important to avoid overemphasizing the technology pillar and short term outcomes and encourage your stakeholders to think like investors. Play the long game. Focus on the business capability unlock, not just the specific tooling to get you there. Your company wont have the same needs in five or ten years that it has today. So don’t make 10 year plans with 10 year promises. Focus on quarterly achievements and check in regularly with your stakeholders.

Long-term business goals are designed to look three to five years into the future. Any well-run business will have clear and defined long term goals that set the direction of the company and short term objectives that drive those long term goals.

This is Key. Align and manage expectations well, communicate often and do your best to look ahead for obstacles. Hard to please stakeholders typically don’t like surprises and appreciate when you have and communicate contingency plans. Set reasonable expectations and deliver and you will end up with a loyal customer.

You need to make sure all the stakeholders have the same understanding of the program. You should not stifle any opinions , but you can’t allow true outliers to hijack the end goal. The loudest stakeholders should not have a greater voice than the meek. They should all be considered equally.

Clearly define and communicate the goals, objectives, and outcomes of the program. Ensure that stakeholders understand what to expect and what their roles and responsibilities are.

Given the global nature of my programs, I work with demanding stakeholders across multiple locations around the world. To ensure their long-term support, I prioritize establishing clear communication channels to facilitate regular, transparent dialogue. By setting realistic expectations from the outset, I ensure all stakeholders have a clear understanding of timelines, deliverables, and resource constraints. Furthermore, I provide consistent updates on our progress and milestones, keeping everyone informed and engaged. Additionally, I manage risks proactively by identifying potential issues early and communicating effective mitigation strategies, thereby maintaining stakeholder confidence and fostering a collaborative environment.

Long-term planning, as the name suggests, means setting goals that will take a longer time to come to fruition. These goals might take between five to ten years to be met. The timeframe will vary from one business and individual to another, as well as the type of goal.

While consistent communication is a must, we mustn't forget that communication is an art that calls for a strategy. Here's why you need a strategy: 1. One size doesn't fit all: The way people get influenced & persuaded vary from person to person. So building your communication strategy & channels based on the personality and preference of the stakeholders, help to build value and relationships 2. The efficacy of stakeholder communication depends on the trust you build: Consistent communication and no accountability will deteriorate the efficacy of those communications. The trust you build when you are accountable for your action items & strategically follow up on their actions, will help you gain engagement and support from the stakeholders

Effective Communication is key to the success of every program. Not just communicating updates, risks, progress, plans, budget utilization etc, but more importantly, creating and fostering a culture of candid communication between all the stakeholders. Very often, there will be friction between the different stakeholders on strategic programs - it is important that every voice be heard, and frequent alignment exercises be held to ensure overall long term success. Of course, communicating what constitutes success is as critical as executing and managing the program.

Maintain open and transparent communication throughout the duration of the program. Regular updates, progress reports, and addressing concerns promptly help in building trust and keeping stakeholders informed.

An effective long-term. management plan should: • Reflect appropriate planning process. • Document baseline conditions. • Provide measurable & realistic goals, objectives.

Understand the difference between what is being delivered and the expection of what the delivered program will achieve ( the outcome)

Consistently demonstrate the value and benefits of the program through tangible results and outcomes. Show how the program aligns with organizational goals and contributes to overall success.

Be mindful of the program goals and objectives. You can think about value add and exceeding expectations AFTER you have delivered what you were charged to deliver. Don’t let being a hero blind you to just being successful.

Understanding stakeholders' unique interests is critical from the start. A project should be open for discussion, risks, and opportunities with all those it will impact. Understand what each stakeholder group values, which may be favourable or bad. Consultation with stakeholders during the design phase is critical, as is ongoing engagement throughout the implementation process. Be open to suggestions and honest about the project's limitations. Ultimately, this helps to build confidence.

Proactively identify and manage risks that could impact the program or stakeholders. Addressing risks early minimizes potential disruptions and instills confidence in stakeholders.

It’s always been a priority of mine to build and foster relationships with my customers and stakeholders early-on in a program. Make time to meet each stakeholder, get to know them, and listen to their needs, priorities and concerns. This goes a long way toward establishing trust and mutual respect. Build on these relationships over time with consistent communication, responsiveness, and delivering on early commitments. These early investments always pay off, especially when the program runs into challenges. Customers and stakeholders with whom you’ve developed trust and rapport are usually far more receptive to difficult news or a request for help. They’re also more likely to celebrate big wins!

You will have to hear the stakeholders and understand their pain points. Start building trust by delivering on asks while also having honest conversations about how these asks align with the overall business outcomes and value generation for the organization.

It is very important that a program manager foster great relationships with stakeholders. Every project, and every program will hit a snag. That’s when the relationships matter. Very often, I used to tell my team members to learn to kiss frogs. Because we never know which frog will turn out to be our prince. People like working with people they like. But sometimes, our best allies may be the tough no-nonsense executives that are rough around the edges. They could be the frogs that in fact are the princes we need for our fortunes to turn.

Build strong relationships with stakeholders based on trust, respect, and understanding. Invest time in understanding their priorities, concerns, and preferences. Personalized approaches can strengthen these relationships significantly.

Clear Communication: Regularly communicate project progress, challenges, and achievements clearly and transparently. Align with Objectives: Continuously align project outcomes with stakeholder goals and priorities. Manage Expectations: Set realistic expectations early and manage them proactively throughout the project lifecycle. Demonstrate Value: Consistently showcase the value and impact of the program through data-driven metrics and success stories. Engage Stakeholders: Involve stakeholders in key decision-making processes and seek their input to foster ownership and commitment. Address Concerns Promptly: Actively listen to stakeholder feedback and address concerns promptly to build trust and confidence.

To manage demanding stakeholders effectively, set clear boundaries to define the program's scope and avoid scope creep. Regularly gather and prioritize feedback to address stakeholder concerns promptly. Demonstrate accountability by reporting progress and addressing issues transparently. Be adaptable to changing circumstances or stakeholder needs. Stress the importance of recognizing and celebrating milestones and successes to make your team feel appreciated and maintain engagement and morale. Develop a plan for resolving conflicts quickly and effectively to keep the program on track. Finally, continuous improvement should be encouraged by regularly reviewing processes and outcomes to identify areas for enhancement.