How would you manage stakeholder expectations during a major IT change rollout in your organization?

It’s important to remember that each stakeholder sees your project differently. Some see it as an opportunity, some a nuisance, some a threat. Try to anticipate which by putting yourself in their individual shoes; understand their drivers, their needs and how they are being measured. Then start building these into your plans. People are more cooperative and more productive when they can see that you have considered their interests.

Carefully, each will have their own needs/requirements. Knowing this up front, and how they like to be kept informed and up to date is key. Contract up front, and STICK TO IT, don't get too bogged down with the tech that you forget your key stakeholders. They need to continue to manage their work day to day, and is constantly being interrupted with new changes. Changes which might impact the work you're doing too, they could equally be a good source of the truth for dependencies and risks which you can mitigate and avoid. Stakeholders are a key part of business readiness and embedding your change, so keep them close. Be authentic, honest, but most of all, keep it simple and say it straight.

Don’t be afraid to adjust your communication plan as needed. Like any plan, it is out of date the moment you publish it, so you must continue to evaluate the effectiveness of your communications and seeking ways to improve it. If you find fortnightly status meetings too fraught with issues, try increasing updates to weekly, for example. I have seen just this little change work wonders for managing relationships with a customer.

Quando nos comunicamos com o cliente sempre devemos extrair objetivo concreto do que ele quer como entrega, para que durante o desenvolvimento do projeto ninguém tenha duvidas do que vamos apresentar na hora da entrega seja um projeto finalizado ou de uma entrega de demanda.

In order to manage stakeholder expectations during IT change rollouts, emphasize transparency and realistic goal-setting. Clear communication about potential challenges and proactive steps to mitigate them fosters trust and understanding among stakeholders. Like, when upgrading their customer relationship management (CRM) system, a company informs stakeholders of potential downtime and temporary loss of certain functionalities during the transition. By setting achievable milestones and regularly updating stakeholders on progress, they ensure alignment with expectations. This approach minimizes frustration and maintains stakeholder support throughout the rollout process.

Engaging stakeholders through focus groups, workshops, or regular meetings builds a collaborative environment where their insights shape decisions. This approach not only fosters ownership and reduces resistance but also cultivates change advocates within the organization.

Any major change takes time to get adapted and is usually met with some form of resistance to start with. Having a plan that encompasses the entire change cycle - right from the initial communication to the workaround during downtime (if at all) to the onboarding on the new tool/process to the initial teething issues is crucial to the overall success of the rollout. Having a helpdoc with FAQs, being proactively on the lookout for all known bugs, and emphatically explaining the new processes/terms help in buying trust from all stakeholders and end users. It also paves the way for future downtime, even the unexpected ones, as it gets established that support will always be provided.