Sure, the right answer is one (just you). I know, I know — the best projects are those that allow you to have complete control over everything, including the creative, the content, the idea, and the execution. I love working on my own personal projects too, but I’m curious about client work. Specifically, I want to know if it’s possible to pin down an ‘ideal number’ of client stakeholders for any given project.
Take, for instance, a conference call or in-person meeting: Is it better to have three client reps present? Is it best to have just one? Do numbers really matter or could you have 40 people with the right personalities?
Or consider a few other scenarios: What do you do about the hidden stakeholder who inevitably comes around at the last minute to voice his opinion on the project? Or a situation in which you’re working with a single project manager who’s responsible for translating your work to all the people in his/her organization? Can you ever be successful if you can’t talk directly to the decision-makers?
In my experience, I’ve found that working with two or three people with at least one top-level stakeholder works well, and ensures I get a sufficient amount of solid client feedback — so I’m not left wondering whether a hidden stakeholder is going to pop out of the woodwork and completely derail the project. Having one person on their end make the final decisions is critical, but having discussion take place on the client’s end is just as important so they take a sense of ownership in the project. You’ve got to make sure voices are heard and represented, but have them filtered into one client voice whenever possible.
There may be no hard and fast rule for ‘stakeholder numbers’, but there are definitely some more effective client stakeholder scenarios. What’s your ideal client stakeholder scenario?
As you know, we’ve talked about this a bit around the office. In my opinion, less is usually better. Of course you can’t account for those phantom stakeholders in the beginning, but it’s also better if they never show up right??
Having said that, what I think is more important is the kind of stakeholders you’re working with and the way they provide vision and feedback.
You could have 10 stakeholders and if they work well together, have strong leadership and have someone who is enabled to make a final decision, etc. it could work out fine.
Even in the case where you don’t have direct access to all the stakeholders, if you’re working with the right people—people who get the vision and understand your decisions and can communicate them accurately—it can be ok.
Also, don’t count out the design team as a stakeholder. When you, Tom, work on a project for one of our clients, you’re a very relevant stakeholder as well. Don’t forget that!
@Keith Oh, absolutely, I always think of myself as part of their team and take ownership as a stakeholder. I’ve never thought of it as an us vs. them them situation. I’m just looking to get feedback on what people think the best recipe for success on their end is.
With more voices in the pot, the process obviously becomes more of a ‘design by committee’ sort of thing - which is what we want to avoid right?
The kind of stakeholders Keith refers to in his comment are also what I’d usually call ‘key stakeholders’. For very large groups, I’d always suggest that the Sum Stakeholders elect ‘Key Stakeholders’ on their behalf.
So, if there are 4-5 ‘key stakeholders’ that seems to be a good amount (I think it really depends on the size of the project and the size of the design team tasked with making the project).