I am quite new to project management and only just turning to formal methodologies. The projects i have run have involved small number of stakeholders and have been product lead.
I understand methologies and wondered if anyone could help with additional considerations I should think about in terms of a project likely to come my way early in the new year. This will be a project directly involving customer management, so potentially huge amounts of stakeholders. At each of the stages are there extra things to think about when say its a project like setting up a call centre with direct customer management?
Thank you to anyone who can help and reassure me that this is a project I want to aim for!
Project Management in Customer Management environment
Hi,
I am a little perplexed by the nature of your inquiry.
One thing I can add, a large quantity of stakeholders could be a big problem. Stakeholders tend to have different requirements and this leads to conflict. You need to narrow down who has influence and also interest in your project, then understand their needs, set expectations & communicate with them. This especially applies to the sponsoring organisations stakeholders (senior management for instance).
I am a little perplexed by the nature of your inquiry.
One thing I can add, a large quantity of stakeholders could be a big problem. Stakeholders tend to have different requirements and this leads to conflict. You need to narrow down who has influence and also interest in your project, then understand their needs, set expectations & communicate with them. This especially applies to the sponsoring organisations stakeholders (senior management for instance).
-
barneyrubble
- New Member
- Posts: 2
- Joined: Tue 26 Nov 2013 9:43 pm
Very sorry if not too clear, only getting the very briefest of info sort of second hand at the moment and I know what they will ask me when they bring the project to me..how would I adapt what I know about project methodology to customer management.
I agree with Kit, you'll need good Stakeholder Management. Pay particular attention to project scope and getting good user requirements. Will a Business Analyst do your requirements gathering, or will you do it yourself?
With a lot of stakeholders, keeping scope under control will be one of your greatest challenges. A good change control process is essential, something to think about now. There is a tendency for stakeholders to keep asking for changes right up to go-live. You must control this and help them understand there is a date after which changes cannot be accepted. This is where the fabled 'phase 2' comes in. Often I've promised to complete changes after go-live in a second phase. Quite often 'phase 2' has not happened, and what seemed important to stakeholders in the run up to launch seems less so after.
I always say, project management is mostly about communication, so keep communicating with your stakeholders.
It's worth reading this article by Omar Muhammad & Abid Mustafa, Managing Stakeholders: Going Beyond Conventional Wisdom
Hope this helps and good luck with your project.
Duncan
With a lot of stakeholders, keeping scope under control will be one of your greatest challenges. A good change control process is essential, something to think about now. There is a tendency for stakeholders to keep asking for changes right up to go-live. You must control this and help them understand there is a date after which changes cannot be accepted. This is where the fabled 'phase 2' comes in. Often I've promised to complete changes after go-live in a second phase. Quite often 'phase 2' has not happened, and what seemed important to stakeholders in the run up to launch seems less so after.
I always say, project management is mostly about communication, so keep communicating with your stakeholders.
It's worth reading this article by Omar Muhammad & Abid Mustafa, Managing Stakeholders: Going Beyond Conventional Wisdom
Hope this helps and good luck with your project.
Duncan