Over the years, I have worked in many project implementation. One of the funniest moment that I can look back and laugh is the wrong buy in of key users. It is not surprising that users are inserted in projects for their titles. Being new to these type of projects, you cannot chase them out until it is too late.
Watch the Signs
The first signs of such users are roles and accountability they played in projects. It is common to find no action items tagged to these users. They usually contribute with opinions like “influencer”. Usually, these users are vocal participants and unlikely to “chair” any meetings. They relish on conflicts and enjoy asking status of anything they can think of. If you encounter these signs in your users, do not invest efforts to buy in their “flavors”.
Be Focused
If your projects have such users, it is wise to avoid confrontations with them. This is because these users thrive with such situations. Lots of noise and unnecessary requests will increase once these users gain a foothold in your projects. Therefore, you must stay true and be focused for your project. A project timeline required focus fo reach its objective.
If you have buy in the wrong users, do not be discouraged. This is because we need go gain experiences to handle such cases. There are user signs you can look for and this will help you stay focus complete for project.
Danny Kwok 