When it comes to managing a project, one of the most important aspects is understanding the needs and expectations of the stakeholders involved. These stakeholders can include clients, team members, vendors, and other parties with an interest in the project’s success. As a project manager, it is essential to ask the right questions to ensure that all stakeholders are aligned and that the project is on track to meet its goals. This article at Project Management by Hannah Donato shares some mandatory questions that a project manager should ask project stakeholders to ensure success.
Engaging Project Stakeholders for Success
At the core of effective project management lies the ability to communicate with finesse. To ensure all parties are aligned, it is crucial to establish a culture that prioritizes a constant exchange of information between yourself, stakeholders, and team members. As much as project managers may strive to be omniscient, the reality is that they cannot possess all the answers. Asking the right questions will require leadership skills, patience, tact, and humility. But done right, it can have a massive effect in fostering a healthy culture that will pave the way to project management success.
Ask the Right Questions to Your Project Stakeholders
Project managers play a crucial role in ensuring project success. To achieve this, it is important for project managers to ask the right questions to their team members throughout different phases of the project. Here are some important questions project managers should ask their team members:
Project Initiation Phase:
- Who is the client, and what are we trying to help them achieve?
- What internal and external factors affect our client’s problem?
Project Planning Phase:
- Do we have existing skill sets and resources that can help us with this project?
- What parts of the plan and estimates are we confident and not confident about?
- What is your comfort level with our planned workflow and communication channels?
- What are the worst-case scenarios we might have to anticipate and prepare for?
Project Execution Phase:
- Did you encounter anything unexpected you would like to share with the team?
- How are you feeling?
- What are your recent wins?
Project Monitoring & Control Phase:
- Are we on track?
- What support or additional resources do we need?
- How will the new requests affect the success, scope, and timeline of the project?
Project Phase:
- What did we do well? What did we not do well? What can we improve?
- How did our project contribute to our client’s goals?
To read the original article, click on https://project-management.com/mandatory-questions-a-project-manager-should-ask-the-team/
