Don't put off stakeholder management.

Working in a corporate world that allows the easy forwarding of e-mails there are few communications that don't get spread wider than originally intended. We all see e-mails that weren't originally written for us and these can often give a perspective that we hadn't truly appreciated.

An e-mail was forwarded to me this week that gave a clear indication that a stakeholder, with whom I needed to positively engage, was not happy about the state of the project. It was also reasonably clear to me that the fact I had positioned myself within the project was having the unsettling affect I had anticipated. That's the rub.

I had known that wanting to get involved in an existing project could make people feel uncomfortable. What I hadn't considered was a plan for that ingress. If I had thought through my intentions I might have got closer to the stakeholder before making it known that I wished to play a key role in the project.

In essence I think the learning point is to consider the effects of your actions on those they will impact at all levels of the organisation. Once considered form a plan of action. Keeping people on-side is the key to success and it can be as simple as a quick face to face conversation to maintian that positive communication or explain your motivation.

Above all; don't put it off!