Dealing with a senior stakeholder's shifting priorities. How can you effectively manage the chaos?

Effectively handle the complexity of a senior stakeholder's shifting priorities by maintaining open and proactive communication, routinely updating them on project progress and prospective changes, and cooperatively re-aligning project goals and timeframes as needed. In addition, use a flexible and adaptive project management approach, such as Agile, to accept changes while maintaining continuous progress and stakeholder satisfaction.

Flexibility is key and becoming increasingly more important as priorities and goals change and become clearer, however it is also a very easy trap to fall into. Being open and adopting change is one thing but falling into practices where change occurs every few weeks can result in stalling delivery. Be mindful of the true end goal which is only achieved through effective communication, build plans that have natural small chunks or start and end cycles, whether that be agile sprints or any other method. The real key is pipeline, manage that and know what’s coming and when; from there it is usually possible to foresee a lot of change before it suddenly arrives. This again has its roots in communication; the real key to anything.

You have to remain flexible and open to change – listen to what the new priorities are, and the reasons behind them. Understand if the original priorities need to be scrapped all together or, shifted to a new timeline. Track the changes and the key requirements – be able to analyse what you are asked to do – the risks, issues and consequences. Have a conversation about these things in your one to one (or in the way you do with your stakeholders) “I was thinking that….”, “what are your views on….”. Continue to track the issues and responses – and know when to raise them again next. Work hard at your current task, communicate and go with the flow.

The key is regular an open communication with senior stakeholders; keeping them informed and delivering messages with confidence and composure. I’ve often found, with active communication and a “no surprises” approach, there is less of a requirement to pivot suddenly and pursue a radically different approach. That said, these things do happen from time to time, and in this situations keeping a level head, understanding and laser focusing on the required deliverables is important.

In my experience a anyone in that situatiuon must have the mindset of free flowing water - Agile and adaptive to remain flexible and adjust to changing project scope. "Its good to talk" - Having proactive, frequent and regular communication with stakeholder makes it easier to understand the reasons for the shifting priorities. Easier said then done, but its vital to a have a contingency plans and always keep the team in the loop.

Talk to them. A lot. Understand their perspective. Review your programmes objectives and use your experience/judgement to chart a course. Protect your team as much as possible to minimise impact. It may be possible to achieve the overall objective in another way.

Having an open dialogue with your senior stakeholder is important. It’s not only about hearing the reasons that the stakeholder has changed priorities, it is also about ensuring the stakeholder understands the implications of their changes. If you clearly lay out, implications in terms of time, money, and quality, they then have the option of adjusting that change.

In a complex ERP integration project, I faced resistance from a key stakeholder who demanded significant changes mid-project. By leveraging frequent communication and demonstrating the benefits of maintaining the project's original scope, I convinced the stakeholder of the risks of deviation. Through collaborative problem-solving and clear documentation of decisions, we maintained project focus and successfully delivered on time. This experience underscored the importance of proactive stakeholder engagement, transparent communication, and the strategic alignment of project goals to manage expectations effectively and ensure project success amid evolving stakeholder priorities.

Open dialogue includes making sure stakeholders understand the impacts a change in priorities will have on schedule and costs. Any change, to include descoping, comes with associated costs. A detailed impact analysis will go far in managing expectations and help the change in direction smoother.

Communication is the key, more importantly what you communicate How any change impacts What will be done quicker and more slowly How this affects progress against the strategic plan

Things change, priorities change and we're not always privy to the why and the what. To manage these fluctuations: keep track! By holding teams accountable on agreed deliverables, the chances that things might change decrease. Did something change? Understand the WHY behind it to anticipate future changes and possible upcoming priority shifts.

In any environment change is a constant. Change control is the key here! What and why we have changed and how we will re set our deliverables and programme We may not always be able to communicate the full picture or even understand the change request but noting the shift and re baselining priority deliverables at least reassures the team that work completed is not lost, merely placed on hold to reflect the changing operating environment- hopefully to be brought back on line later!

Let’s not forget we also need to manage senior stakeholder expectations! A constructive question as to why priorities are shifting and the communication as to any impact is vital!

Here are key steps to manage the chaos of shifting priorities from a senior stakeholder: Whenever priorities change, at least one of these levers will be impacted: [1] Scope [2] Timeline [3] Cost [4] Resources It’s critical to overcommunicate the impact on these levers to the stakeholders, clearly linking the effects to the change in priorities. Instead of saying "no" to a change, highlight the value it might bring and show the impact on the levers. Present alternate options for mitigating risks and let stakeholders decide based on the options shared.

Empower and encourage. Be confident in your team, but make sure you check in frequently. Be there to support not just with the workload, but any signs of stress or folks feeling out of their comfort zone. It's good to push your team, but you need to be there to support them too.