When Projects Change or End: Practical Steps to Manage Stakeholder Expectations

ETHOS Digital Issue 10, Mar 2023

In our conversations about prioritisation in the workplace, the focus is often on which projects or pieces of work to prioritise, and which to deprioritise, based on organisational aims and requirements. An important but often overlooked aspect of this process is the human perspective: how to manage the expectations of internal and external stakeholders.

Internal stakeholders include staff who are working on the project; bosses; project sponsors and project champions; and teams or departments affected by project outcomes. Some projects may also have external stakeholders: people and organisations served by the project or who may be affected by its outcomes.

When a project is deprioritised or dropped, there will inevitably be an emotional impact on the stakeholders involved, to varying degrees. Some staff may be happy that part of their time is now freed up while others may experience a sense of loss; they may also question the value of the work they have done in the past, or even their own value as employees. They may also feel angry about the time and effort they perceive to have been wasted on the work thus far. They may also be concerned about how their own performance will be appraised if the project they have been working on is stopped. Bosses, project sponsors and champions may be disappointed and push back on decisions about deprioritisation, especially if these are at odds with their own priorities; they may feel that their credibility, power base and performance are now at stake. External stakeholders who currently benefit or would have benefited from project outcomes may be inconvenienced and feel unvalued.

If such negative feelings are ignored, disgruntled or disengaged stakeholders may resist or even undermine deprioritisation efforts. If you find yourself having to manage different internal and external stakeholders when a project is deprioritised, here are some suggestions on how to proceed:

Managing Bosses, Project Sponsors, Project Champions

• Involve them early in discussions on prioritisation. Build alignment on the criteria for prioritisation and clarify their expectations.
• Avoid unhelpful behaviours such as second guessing the boss, trying to look good to supervisors, pandering to what the senior management team wants while disregarding ground reality. These behaviours may lead to suboptimal decisions.
• Seek their input on the possibilities for prioritisation by asking: What are we missing? What are you curious about? What do you want to ask us?
• Management experts Roger Martin and Jennifer Riel offer further tips on how to engage your stakeholders in this video.¹

Managing Staff

• Guide staff through the deprioritisation process. One model that is widely used for change management is ADKAR— Awareness of the need for change; Desire to participate in and support the change; Knowledge on how to change; Ability to implement skills and knowledge; Reinforcement to sustain the change.²
• Help staff understand why priorities are being re-evaluated, the criteria used, and why their project is being deprioritised.
• Acknowledge that some staff may experience negative emotions and allay their concerns.
• Be clear about what will happen to the project and when. For instance, does deprioritisation mean dropping the project completely, finding alternative resourcing for it, or reducing its scope and level of involvement? Is the deprioritisation supposed to start at once or is it planned for three months down the road?
• Where feasible, involve staff in the discussion on how or when the project will be deprioritised as this could give them a greater sense of control over the whole situation as well as offer a sense of closure.
• Explore how staff will be affected and help them move forward from the situation, e.g., focusing on other projects, developing new skills to take on new projects.
• Recognise efforts to deprioritise and emphasise the positive outcomes they bring.

Managing Internal or External Stakeholders Affected by the Project Outcomes

• Engage them early in conversations about the deprioritisation. Help them understand why priorities are being re-evaluated, the criteria used, and why their project is being deprioritised.
• Explore with them how they will be affected, and work with them to discuss a feasible process and timeline for implementing the deprioritisation. For instance, if a service that is currently being provided is to be discontinued in three months’ time, could we explore with them how they might be able to operate without the service? Alternatively, could we work with them to find other resourcing options or gradually decreasing our level of involvement while building up their internal capability to take over the piece of work?
• This research article ³ describes project change stakeholder communication practices in two different case contexts, and highlights how effective communication ensures stakeholder participation in the change management processes (see Box story for a summary).

In summary, any deprioritisation plan should include some consideration of how to manage the impact on various internal and external stakeholders. Deprioritisation is akin to a change process, and it is important to address not only the technical aspect of the situation but also people’s emotions and expectations. Otherwise, efforts at deprioritisation may be futile or even counterproductive.