Below is a collection of the key knowledge addressed in Domain III Stakeholder Engagement and the 9 tasks related to the domain:
Stakeholder management
definition of stakeholders: anyone who has an impact on /will be impacted by the project (e.g. sponsor, vendors, final customers, community, etc.)
the project team is considered stakeholders in traditional project management (according to PMBOK Guide) but not in Agile projects stakeholder management processes:
identify all the stakeholders periodically (in particular the key stakeholders who will have a big impact on project success) communicate with selected stakeholders for requirements and needs gathering
enhance stakeholder involvement by active communication and information sharing
the type and level of details of the information should be
appropriate for the type of stakeholders
show project progress (just detailed enough) with demos/presentations
as the project evolves, the interests of key stakeholders must be managed actively
discuss updated estimates and projections timely and openly (even in case of bad news) to facilitate future planning
keep a good relationship with all stakeholders by disseminating necessary information and collecting feedback from them
may need to educate stakeholders about the processes and benefits of
Agile project management to solicit their support
stakeholders may be invited to review and plan meetings to update them about the project progresses
Knowledge sharing
knowledge sharing/transfer is a key component of Agile project management
knowledge should be shared across the team, customer, community, and organization
Active listening – there are 3 levels of listening skills:
Internal Listening (thinking about how things will affect me)
Focused Listening (trying to understand what are the speaker is trying to say)
Global Listening (keep track of not only what has been said but also the different signs and gestures the speaker employs to convey the full message)
Participatory decision models
encourage and facilitate stakeholders involved in the decision-making process through simple techniques such as
simple voting
thumbs up / down / sideways
Jim Highsmith’s Decision Spectrum – pick a value among a spectrum of feelings ranging from “in favor”, “OK with reservation” to “veto”
fist-of-five voting – vote with 1 to 5 fingers to express the degree of agreement (i.e. 1 – support, 5 – object completely)
the simple technique will also every stakeholder to voice out their
opinion to reach a consensus on the issue
Definition of Done (DoD)
Done means the feature is 100% complete according to pre-agreed conditions (e.g. including from analysis, design, coding to user acceptance testing and delivery & documentation) and ready for production (shippable)
Done for a feature: feature/backlog item completed Done for a sprint: work for a sprint completed
Done for a release: features shippable
the definition of done (a.k.a. success criteria) must be agreed upon collectively with key stakeholders before carrying out the project works the definition of done will align the expectations of the stakeholders and project team to reduce the risk of wasted work
the definition of done includes acceptance criterion and acceptable risks
Workshop
workshops can be a great way to encourage active participation of all stakeholders
better make use of low-tech high-touch tools like whiteboard or post-its to show ideas
Conflict resolution
There are 5 stages of conflict - in the order of light to severe:
A Problem to solve – a problem occurs or is presented
Disagreement – everyone tries to protect their interests
Contest – people begin taking sides (a you-vs-me situation)
Crusade – people in conflict will make over-generalization in judgment, not just about the problem but also about the persons
World War – the problem is now unresolvable, either one side will survive
It is advisable to try to resolve conflicts early in the stage to reach a consensus with effective conflict resolution strategies:
Confronting – open dialogue (everyone can voice out their opinions) leading to problem resolution to create a win-win situation Collaboration – working together to reach a mutually agreed solution
Project charter
The project charter is a must-have for Agile project management to help
creating a common understanding of the project objectives, mission, and success criteria
It is the 1st documentation created for the Agile project to help kick off the project formally
The project charter will be progressively elaborated as the project evolves can be detailed or barely sufficient (for most cases as at the project begin, it is usually little known that what the final product will be)
Barely Sufficient Project Charter: usually include at least 3 elements:
Vision: the purpose of the Agile project - answering the "why" of the project
Mission: describes what will be achieved or done - answering the "what" of the project
Success Criteria: describe how the project will be considered a success or reach an end
Detailed Project Charter:
Background, objectives, vision (why) and mission (what), stakeholders of the project
Preliminary direction, scope High-level budget, timeline High-level risk, and constraints Communication plan
Success criteria
Agile charters address more about the “How” instead of “What” of the project - such that the Project Charter will not impose unnecessary boundaries for the project to evolve.
Can be in the form of an elevator statement adopting the format of For – (target customers).
who – (need to do what), the – (product/service) is a – (product category) that – (key benefits).
Unlike – (competitive products), we – (primary differentiation)
Social media-based communication
social media are a great way to collect ideas, requirements, and feedback from the community
convenient instantly two-way communication.
The following domains will be published later on with separated articles, STAY TUNED!