Tag Archives: Joel Gerschman

A recent edition of The Project Manager includes an article on stakeholder management, with some insights from key industry figures, including our own Joel Gerschman, associated consultant at CMA. What did Joel have to say?

“The most effective project managers act deliberately and with confidence. To do this, it helps to have a systematic framework for working through the issues.

It’s important to realise, for example, that there are three broad approaches to managing stakeholder issues:

• Interests: Looking for collaborative solutions to satisfy each party’s needs;
• Rights: Reference to legal, policy or other standards to inform appropriate outcomes; and
• Power: Escalation to more forceful means to deal with issues.

The most effective and successful projects make a commitment to adopt an interests-based approach, or ‘interests first’ culture. That is, they attempt to understand what’s motivating or driving each party, and then design creative options to meet all parties’ needs.”

Read the full article here:“Cultivating an Interest”
Joel Gerschman, in The Project Manager, February/March 2010.