How do you identify and engage potential senior stakeholder champions and advocates for your project?

1 Identify potential champions and advocates

A champion is someone who actively supports and promotes your project, while an advocate is someone who speaks favorably of your project to others. Both can help you gain buy-in, resources, and visibility for your project. To identify potential champions and advocates, you need to analyze your stakeholder map and look for those who have a positive attitude, a strategic vision, a strong network, and a relevant role or expertise. You can also ask for referrals from other stakeholders or sponsors, or conduct interviews or surveys to gauge their interest and expectations.

2 Engage potential champions and advocates

Once you have identified potential champions and advocates, you need to engage them and build trust and rapport. This can be done by inviting them to join your project steering committee or advisory group, where they can provide guidance and feedback. Share your project vision, goals, benefits, and risks with them and align them with their own interests and values. Ask for their input, advice, or support on key issues or decisions, and show appreciation and recognition. Keep them informed with regular updates, reports, or presentations on your project progress, achievements, and challenges. Also solicit their feedback and suggestions on how to improve your project performance, quality, or outcomes.

3 Communicate risks and opportunities

Communication is a critical element of senior stakeholder management, especially when it comes to risks and opportunities. Risks are unpredictable events or conditions that could have a negative effect on your project, while opportunities are unpredictable events or conditions that could have a positive effect. It is essential to communicate both risks and opportunities to your senior stakeholders in a clear, concise, and timely manner, using the right channels and tools. To do so, you should first identify and prioritize the relevant, significant, or urgent risks and opportunities according to their probability and impact. Then analyze the root causes, consequences, and implications of each risk and opportunity, as well as identify the possible responses or actions. Additionally, create a risk and opportunity register or dashboard to document and track the status, ownership, and progress of each risk and opportunity. Finally, communicate the risk and opportunity register or dashboard to your senior stakeholders with visual aids to highlight key information and trends. Make sure to discuss the register with them too, explaining the rationale, assumptions, and evidence behind each risk and opportunity as well as seeking their feedback, input, or approval on proposed responses or actions.

5 Build relationships and networks

The final element of senior stakeholder communication is building relationships and networks. To become an effective project manager, it is important to form connections and interactions with your senior stakeholders, as well as join groups or communities that they are part of or have influence over. Establishing rapport and trust, showing interest and curiosity, finding common ground and shared values, leveraging expertise, experience, or connections, and expanding your network and visibility are all key components of building relationships and networks that will enhance credibility, reputation, and influence. This can be done by being respectful, honest, reliable, and responsive; learning about backgrounds, roles, goals, challenges, and preferences; identifying areas of agreement, collaboration or synergy; asking for guidance, referrals or introductions; and attending or hosting events, meetings or forums where you can meet other senior stakeholders or influencers.