How do you build and maintain trust and rapport with your stakeholders?

In large, complex organisations you may be new to, identifying all stakeholders can be a challenge. Adopt the technique of asking every stakeholder you encounter who they think are other stakeholders, and then repeatedly following up each link with the same question. This will uncover stakeholders you may never have considered have an interest in your project.

Strong stakeholder relationships hinge on trust and rapport. To build this, prioritize open communication, consistent action, and understanding their needs. Be honest, respectful, and empathetic, both in words and actions. Actively seek and act on feedback to show you value their perspective and want to constantly improve.

This first area is a little confusing because there are key differences between a program and project, this presents more like a project activity. Also this may make more sense when starting a new program, but typically this already has a sponsor and or executive owner which is why a program manager is needed to handle the A to Z. This first area should be listed by the executive/sponsor and expand from there as the program grows and or otherwise needed.

Managing a programme or portfolio is hard enough, do yourself a favour, day one map out your stakeholders, plenty of tools available to visualise this important document, just one step that will set your programme up for success. It should be one of the first things you do.

One of the Best ways of identifying your stakeholders is to ask if you're unsure if you have Newly joined an organisation. Once you have identified your stakeholders start by understanding the stakeholder and their concerns by dedicating one-on-one time to discussing their views on the project. Ask how you can be more helpful to them and thus contribute more to the project, team and company on the whole. There might be external stakeholders as well and to identify them it may be a little different than identifying internal ones. Have clear and straightforward conversation and ask questions if unsure about something. It's always better to ask than to be unsure.

#1 - Item right here. If done correctly, should be understood by anyone well and can manage situations were there is "biteback" or issues generated by other teams or individuals.

It may be an assumption to readers here, however, I'm going to state it outright: Stakeholders should be aware and even participate in how the successful delivery of the goals/outcomes will be measured.

One of my favourites, whether you are running an agile programme or water does not matter. Having the key delivery documents in place outlining the programme/business goals will only again set you up for success & you should be referring back to these documents when you deliver a milestone. For example running fortnight sprints, the success or failure of this business outcome can depend on the clear goals set at the beginning of the sprint. Focuses your team on their roles to deliver the business goals.

One thing I've found helpful is to get signoff on whatever gets created for stakeholder management. Validate goals and expectations with stakeholders first, then ask them to signoff on it. Signoff can be formal (actually signing the document, virtual or "wet" ink) or informal (a thumbs up reaction or verbal approval). Formal signoff is best.

It's useful once you've created this documentation to refer back to it consistently throughout the course of the project/program/initiative. Even when you do complete the exercise to create this it helps to reinforce the message and communicate clarity for all stakeholders

This is an absolute must in successful program management. Unless you build the trust among your stakeholders and they see a real value in investing in your program, it would not take-off or remain like any other project but not a program or portfolio. Transparency and correct timely and frequent reporting is a must.

Honesty is key here. Stakeholders as their name implies have a lot involved in the success or failure of a given program/project, and therefore tend to appreciate honest statuses vs "everything is fine". Better know the true status to avoid setting expectations that will be disappointed later on. This also applies when dealing with clients. Often clients wonder if statuses are true or manipulated to look good because a provider wants to get the payments. Removing this doubt by being up front from the start helps build trust and clients more often than not will be happy to give you the time or extra money you need when they followed along the why.

I often view this as one of those "simple but not easy" elements. Simple, in that the instructions are clear, but not easy in that it is very easy to overlook this, miss this, or not take enough care and attention to it. In addition to making consistent communication a priority, I've also found it's helpful to define channels and formats that you'll use to provide consistent updates and information

Programme management 101 text book, if your not setup correctly this could bring the programme to its knees. How you communicate is just as important as how you deal with conflict, don’t neglect it. Rule number 1 be transparent with stakeholders, as long as your are honest & upfront no matter how bad it gets, in the end you will get support. I’ve been here before, you should are looking for a good outcome for the stakeholder or sponsor. Don’t forget to report on success, doesn’t need to be anything fancy to communicate this message, stakeholders just want to see progress. Quite often this can be forgotten about, a happy team is a productive team ??♂?

Follow and report built plan Identify proactively risks and communicate those clearly to all stakeholders and leadership preferably providing some approaches to mitigation Once mitigation agreed, immediately add it to the plan and monitor reporting progress constantly.

To build trust: listen, listen, listen. Don’t tell. Understand the pain points experienced by your stakeholders and the problem you need to solve To keep it: add value To test if you have a strong relationship and therefore have gained trust: you must be comfortable having “difficult” conversations

The value of building Trust with stakeholders, customers, team members and partners cannot be understated and is of paramount importance, to successfully address projects issues which are materialized risks, either known or unknown. Trust helps enhance creativity and teambuilding within the project team to resolve problems which may seem unsurmountable at first.Trust takes a long time to develop and can only be built by the Project Manager exhibiting honesty, integrity and transparency, which may not always elicit immediate positive reactions, but pay real dividends in the long run. While the building of trust takes significant effort and time, it is best fostered in learning organizations and practically non-existent in toxic environments!

You will build trust with stakeholders by:- -Being accountable -Working with integrity -Consistently delivering -Demonstrating competence -Open communication -Working with integrity -Exercising Duty of Candour This list is not exhaustive but has worked successfully for me as a foundation.

Building trust with stakeholders includes managing expectations. A stakeholder should never be 'surprised' with 'bad news' if at all avoidable. That means knowing what is 'bad news' to each stakeholder, as it may differ depending on their expectations.

Be honest, don't sugar coat bad news, deliver what you say you will, keep your promises. Ask them what their goals are and how you can help them achieve those goals. Become part of their success.

Don't get too Machiavellian in trying to manage the inevitable conflicts within the Program and stay positive. Go back to your Stakeholder Matrix and look at how the root cause of the conflict has unbalanced or affected your stated goals and objectives. Think about what can motivate a resolution and negotiate a resolution to the conflict before it affects the work streams.

One of the key things a PM does is drive alignment amongst stakeholders. This is not to say they bring everyone to an existing opinion but that they find new solutions that everyone agrees to. I find this to be the most creative and challenging work I do as a PM.

Conflict can arise at anytime, only when you have the appropriate programme controls in place will you be able to manage conflict effectively. This will avoid issues catching fire & getting out of control. Look for resolution, don’t hide any issues from key stakeholders, this will only bite you back down the line. Be positive about how you intend to resolve the issue & always keep your stakeholders informed.

One of my favorite things to do is after a big cross-functional project finishes is to write thank you notes to the team members and key stakeholders that are involved, highlighting the specific things they did that made a positive contribution to the team. Its a small gesture but often goes a long way

People naturally want to receive credit for their efforts. By finding ways to reward hard work we increase that employee's likelihood to contribute to the organization in a meaningful way again, while simultaneously providing motivation for others. Teammates of that employee will want to put forth more effort to be recognized as well. But remember the celebration should be warranted! There is no quicker way to demotivate hard workers than to recognize lackluster or low quality work.

The first and foremost thing is to have one on ones with the key stakeholders and SMEs. The main thing to do here is to listen, listen and listen. Understand the problem, process and vision. Post that reiterate what you learnt in front of a focus group session. Incorporate the feedback and publish the objectives and goals. Once the project kicks off, communicate progress and speak boldly about the challenges. Seek opinions and incorporate them in solution design. And most importantly never stop listening

Responsibility lies with you. Take it on like a mantle. Let everyone (stakeholders) know that the buck starts and stops with you. You build trust by being transparent in actions as well as communication. Let them know that they are safe with you leading the project/program because you are listening to all stakeholders while balancing the conflicting desires of each within the resources provided and contractual requirements.

Leadership through Stewardship is a multifaceted skill set that provides an ideal way for program managers to gain and maintain stakeholder trust and rapport. It encompasses asking one vital question, “How can I help?” or “How can I be of assistance?” and taking immediate action to provide for and serve others. When people know and sense that a program manager is genuinely interested in them and wants to relieve their pain points, the barriers to building trust are lowered. And the pathways to establishing fine rapport are far easier and more enjoyable within an organisation.

Demonstrate responsibility and reliability. You should meet your commitments, deliver on your promises, and follow through on your responsibilities. You should also show that you are capable of managing and delivering your project successfully. Responsibility and reliability will help you to build trust and confidence.