How can you use persuasion to manage stakeholder expectations and prevent scope creep?

Let’s get the tools right.. Project scope should be first listed out along with the baseline budget. Next, any modification must be costed & the increase in budget along with time delay, in the CPM chart must be highlighted. Third, the overall aim needs to be scrutinised with the proposals which will establish whether the requirement of the stakeholder actually impacts the aim positively. These should then be brought out on the table & discussed with the stakeholder. When faced with data based facts, the stakeholder will realise the overall objective & acquiesce to the reasoning.

In procurement terms, persuasion when managing stakeholders involves effectively influencing and convincing key individuals or groups to align with and support specific procurement strategies, decisions, or initiatives. This may include persuading stakeholders to endorse a particular vendor, approve a procurement plan, or support changes in processes. Successful persuasion in procurement often requires clear communication, highlighting the benefits and value of the proposed actions, addressing concerns, and building consensus among stakeholders. It involves the art of presenting compelling arguments and rationale to gain buy-in and support for procurement-related endeavors.

In my experience, creating desire for change is all about explaining the benefits; what is negative now and will become positive, easier, better, more productive, improve the customer experience because of this change. If an impacted stakeholder can see & feel the benefit for them or someone they care for, then they will be onboard & encourage their peers.

I agree with many of the sentiments shared here, particularly the idea that effective persuasion involves active listening. I may have the intent to persuade someone that a particular idea or path is the right way to proceed, but I'll get a lot further if I enter the discussion with an open mind, and a willingness to be persuaded myself.

The key to 'persuasion' is a focus on clarity of communication when the initial plans are being drawn up. Often, some of the stakeholders are less than clear on their own expectations. Terms of reference and outcomes are laid down in terms that need more specificity. It is at that stage that the details need to be thrashed out and future scenarios discussed. Doing a premortem to determine what might happen if subsequent changes are made would be helpful. Once this has been achieved, any 'persuasion' that might be required would be relatively easy.

In 1979, there was a big epidemic of measles in India. We failed at persuading mothers to bring their children with secondary infections. We called a few of our community health volunteers who said that the community will not change as they believed it was a disease sent by their goddess. We explained to them the difference between the fever caused by measles and secondary infection. They got the point immediately. They said that from then on they will teach the community that the first fever is from their goddess. If a second fever comes then it is not from their goddess. We learnt that one should not directly oppose strong traditional beliefs and practices but gently persuade so that they understand and change their practice.

Persuasion essentially helps align the expectations of the stakeholders with project goals, ensuring everyone understands the project's direction and limitations. It aids in resolving conflicts by addressing the concerns, and promoting consensus. Articulating project goals, objectives, and limitations upfront to stakeholders helps set realistic expectations. Apart from Clear Communication, and Regular updates, Risk assessment along with Data driven analytics can be crucial that can persuade stakeholders to prioritise and stay within the agreed scope.

Persuasion in healthcare projects aligns stakeholder expectations with the project's trajectory, much like a conductor unifies an orchestra. It's crucial for clarity, maintaining project scope, and fostering stakeholder commitment, ensuring the project delivers on its promises without deviation. It's what helps you guide the project through the changing intricacies of healthcare demands.

All too often, the scope of change projects are insufficiently well-defined. Goals are unclear or hard to measure, jobs and tasks to be done are poorly defined, and responsibilities are ambiguous. The problem is (or ought to be) well understood within the professional project management community. But it is often poorly understood and executed within the sales community as a whole. The best salespeople recognise the importance of change management and stakeholder communications - it's what makes them so effective. But the broader sales community needs to recognise and acknowledge that they are change managers if they are to improve their performance.

Effective persuasion in managing stakeholder expectations and preventing scope creep involves clear communication and proactive negotiation. Take Apple's approach: they set precise product development goals and communicate these clearly to stakeholders, aligning expectations from the outset. Regular updates and feedback loops help manage any evolving expectations. Similarly, Amazon's focus on customer satisfaction is a guiding principle, ensuring project scope remains aligned with customer needs, thus avoiding unnecessary expansions.

For me, it involves: ??1. Active Listening: Practice listening to understand other's points of view. ??2. Good Communication: Clearly articulate your thoughts, always focusing on benefits. ??3. Empathy: Understand others’ needs and feelings to provide relevant solutions. ??4. Knowledge: Expertise in your subject earns respect and strengthens your persuasion. ??5. Building Relationships: Trust and rapport increase your influence. ??6. Influence: Learn tactics from persuasion psychology. ??7. Feedback: Seek responses to gauge the impact of your persuasion and adjust tactics as necessary. ??8. Continuous Learning: Read books, attend workshops, and watch talks to learn new strategies. For instance, borrow techniques from sales and marketing.

I would suggest We need to be able to effectively communicate to the stakeholder that involves 1. Putting Forward clear Data points on how it can be done later in a phased manner. a. Risk Analysis: Clearly call out the risks b. End user expectations and incorporate them as a solution and how it can benefit the stakeholder and organization as a whole to carefully plan the feature putting first end customer needs and in an efficient manner without affecting the budget. 2. Trust and confidence building with stakeholder is an important factor.Here we should be able to work hand in hand with stakeholder providing solutions and consultations which would be beneficial to both .

- Analyzing previous experience - identifying improvement areas of previous actions - practicing probable actions and review periodically

Persuasion skills are learned and always honed. Continually listen and watch others. Even if it is uncomfortable, accept opportunities that would allow for practice and then seek constructive feedback. Have a cadre of good mentors. Be willing to listen and learn. No one person knows everything. And most importantly be willing to fail or just even be imperfect.

Practice and maintain your brand with this. As a program manager, keeping relationships healthy is essential. Even after various scopes of work are completed, maintain those relationships, continue to build trust and continue to deliver. There will be more efforts where you likely will work with those stakeholder again and maintaining that connection makes life so much easier. By building these relationships and establishing/maintaining trust you get to learn your stakeholders better and come to an understanding on how you work and how they like to work. All about those handshakes :)

1. Try to avoid employing overly assertive strategies, exaggerating benefits, overlooking empathy, and relying excessively on emotional appeals. 2. Adopting aggressive tactics can disrupt the team dynamics, while for collaboration, work with empathy. Overselling always lead to unrealistic expectations, however logical reasoning will easily complement the emotional appeal. 3. Confirmation bias should be addressed, overconfidence needs to be guarded, and don't ignore stakeholders' viewpoints. 4.Adapting alternate strategies based on the situation, staying mindful of biases, and prioritizing ethical communication will ease the persuasion process.

Recognize that business decisions should be made by business stakeholders—not program or project managers serving and enabling the business. It’s the job of the program manager to use persuasion and other tools to facilitate, support and enable well informed decision making by engaged business owners. For business decisions, business sponsors should be the ones primarily doing the persuading—not the program manager.

In my opinion, there are a few common mistakes which people make while persuading the stakeholders: 1. Not accommodating cultural differences: Knowledge of cultural issues is probably the last on the list when it comes to persuasion. One must first ‘wear their shoes’ to understand their perspective. 2. Lack of stakeholder analysis: One must identify key stakeholders to know the ‘whom/how to engage’ matrix. 3. Poor communication: Not using ,clear,lucid language leads to confusion. 4. Ignoring stakeholder input: This is akin to crossing the rubicon line. Must be avoided at all costs. 5. Trying One-size-fits-all: No two situations can be the same. Tailoring the technique is required for a successful persuasion.

First, remember that all projects are completed with and by people. Each person we interact with will have their own deadlines, professional goals, & personal struggles; it is our common human experience. We can further improve our persuasion skill by identifying why each stakeholder is investing in our project and what hesitations they have; then promote the value and mitigate the risks to them. Also, keep in mind that your requirements are not usually others'. Because of that, we must avoid the temptation to use the tired method of, "because so-and-so said so," and the like. Lastly, we should always try to use the two-step method of 1) negotiating and building consensus one-on-one and then 2) codifying the plan or next step in the group.

In my experience it's important to practice active listening. Stakeholders want to feel that they have really been heard and that there remains an opportunity to influence what is planned.

When you are evaluating effectiveness of your persuasion, very first thing you may find is what keywords they are talking about. Beyond this when you see stakeholders are reciprocating your ideas, discussions and validations in the conversations, then it may be said that your thoughts and ideas are successfully accepted.

The measure of effectiveness will be truly seen by one's success in winning an argument or point of view. In some cases, the two parties may elect to agree to disagree, and then its time to move on. But if the facts have been agreed to, and the analytics is precise, then the only thing that can inhibit the persuasion is emotion, and with that you have to learn to let go and let natural and logical consequences be the teacher.

?? Mastering persuasion in project management is an ongoing journey! Set clear objectives ??, track outcomes ??, and seek stakeholder feedback ??? to refine your skills. Utilize key performance indicators (KPIs) like stakeholder engagement levels, successful agreement instances, and observable shifts in behavior. ?? Remember, it's not just about convincing but building lasting partnerships. ??

For myself, I have learned to measure persuasion by amount of engagement I am receiving from others. Do people come to me asking for help, guidance, and support. Am I being chosen to help with more/new efforts? These have been good indicators that I have built trust with these stakeholders and that they enjoy working with me. It has worked for me thus far, I know it’s not an exact form of measurement - but - it works :)

Persuasion can be measured by- 1. TAT 2. No of conflicts resolved But it’s also important what solution we are bringing to solve these challenges and quality of consensus we create. It has to have a long term positive impact

On a practical basis one thing I always coach my clients on when they’re formulating persuasive business cases or bid presentations: Change the question you ask yourself. Most of us begin with this question when creating a persuasive message: What do I want to tell my audience? It’s not that you won’t get there at some point. It’s just not the best question to start with. But what is? Start with this question instead: What does my audience want to know from me? This subtle shift in perspective makes you more persuasive because you’re starting with what has the most impact for your audience. Once you have their attention (and you will if you start with that) now they’re ready to listen to what you have to say!

In my experience, mastering persuasion is your secret weapon but it isn’t just about sweet talk. Start by laying foundation of trust and understanding. Practice active listening to truly grasp stakeholder concerns; it’s not just about hearing but understanding. Then, weave your project journey into compelling stories. Make stakeholders feel part of a narrative, aligning their vision with project goals. It’s a powerful tool that can set clear boundaries and communicate project scope effectively. It is important to make sure your stakeholder understands the limitations.

Persuasion is key to managing stakeholders, period. To avoid scope creep, I recommend first making sure your company has the right program governance and change management strategy in place; if not, you’ll need to establish that yourself at least within the scope of your program (don't overcomplicate). Once established, focus on a couple of high impact strategies to keep it simple for everyone: - Educate stakeholders on the impact of scope changes and use data and past experiences to illustrate consequences - Emphasize alignment with overall business goals – is the new scope (original scope+add-on) still aligned? - Acknowledge change is a natural part of a program but set clear boundaries and ensure changes serve project goals Viel Glück!

Measuring the effectiveness of your persuasion is like checking the temperature in a room. Start by setting clear goals for what you want to achieve with your persuasion. Observe the responses and actions of those you're trying to persuade. Are they nodding along, asking questions, showing interest? That's a good sign. After your chat, check if they take the actions you discussed or if their viewpoint shifts closer to what you were aiming for. Feedback is also golden. Ask them how they felt about the conversation. Were they comfortable, did they feel heard, did they understand your points? feedback helps you fine-tune your approach. it as a continuous learning process where you're always tweaking and improving your persuasion thermostat.

One thing that has worked for me in persuading stakeholders to adopt my point of view or align with overall program objectives is having the right and relevant data. Right data is about having accurate data you can vouch for, and data relevancy is about having the data that the stakeholder you are trying to persuade cares about. It is especially useful when dealing with a stakeholder you have not dealt with before, and you are still trying to establish rapport and trust with the stakeholders. Having data turns abstract ideas into concrete evidence, making arguments more convincing and aligning stakeholders around a common, objective understanding, cutting through biases and opinions.