Stakeholder management and teamwork

A key element in a complex build is ensuring that the stakeholders are engaged, aware of updates, and actively playing a role in the project development. Project stakeholders are the people and teams who have a part to play in the process, and include project sponsors (ie, business owners or division leaders,) legacy staff and fresh participants.

My strategy is to keep the final audience in mind during the pre-launch phases. I maintain respect and empathy for the target audience.

• A cohesive team
• Stakeholder agreement
• Scheduling and deadlines
• Consultation and approval
• User Acceptance Testing and post-launch revision

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Forming a cohesive team

It is crucial to establish relationships and build understanding with key players to build enthusiasm for collaboration and cooperation.

I enjoy meeting and introducing new team members and utilising each person’s skills and strengths.

It is crucial that management and subordinate staff are consulted during the initialisation phase. This ensures that the project is scoped accurately and quoted correctly, and participants have faith that the project will be successful.

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Stakeholder agreement

Balancing the stakeholder demands can be complex.

In previous roles, I have had to use negotiation and mediation to resolve issues when the parties do not agree, or ask for priority or exclusivity.

I have experience in mediating the issues and managing expectations and priorities – with escalation to the project sponsor when necessary.

This is often an issue in government work when corporate restructure or change management processes play a key role in the outcome of the project.

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Schedules and deadlines

A comprehensive plan includes deliverables from various teams, which can include:

• Content production
• Subediting
• Technical development by IT staff
• Scheduling for known future content
• Managerial review and approval
• Legal review and approval
• Financial review
• Integration with related systems
• User acceptance testing
• Maintenance, revision and adjustment to the scope

In previous roles I have acted as a “ring-master” to bring the teams together to ensure complementary workflow and appropriate delivery timeframes.

I frequently work directly with team members to deliver the required outcome to schedule.

In times of unavoidable delay, my strategic planning, agility and expertise in time management will allow me to cover the key objectives first and update the production schedule with suitable alternatives.

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Content approval

New processes and content require appropriate revision and approval. This includes:

• Review by a subject matter expert (particularly for complex technical work that is condensed and abridged for the general public)
• Review and approval by the relevant manager or CEO
• Legal review by a solicitor, for tenders, contracts and certain types of publications.

I am skilled at outsourcing this content and working with these parties to ensure timely publication, and asking the right questions to make sure the outcome delivers the correct message.

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User acceptance testing and post-launch revision

The final step in the production process – and probably the most important – is the deployment to the end users.

I consult with the audiences to ensure that the project is working as designed. This allows junior staff or customers to provide feedback regarding the appropriateness of the solution and suggestions for improvement.

I have experience in analysing communication success with customers and website visitors using random A/B testing (across multiple streams of content) and then processing the results with sales analysis and Google Analytics. This can assist with various areas of the business, such as forecasting purchases and website information architecture revision.

It is important to maintain an open approach to the players in a digital project – with patience, empathy and a comprehensive understanding of the audience requirements.

 
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Content production and management
Project management
Qualifications, certifications and specific skills