Interpersonal Skills for Portfolio, Program, and Project Managers

Building and Managing Relationships with Stakeholders

5

Maintaining effective and positive relationships with stakeholders at all levels is essential for success in portfolio, program, and project management. These relationships can either positively or negatively affect the program or project. In a study of management of large capital projects in the United Kingdom, Baker (1962) points out, “You cannot get large projects carried out without persuading large numbers of extremely different sorts of people to understand the importance of what is being done and to work together” (p. 328). This assertion supports later research (de Abreu and Conrath 1993) showing that defining stakeholders’ expectations based on their perception of the project‧s ...