In my current line of work we create custom test equipment for the use by other maintainers. What we do directly affects other stakeholders by reducing maintenance times and improving quality of troubleshooting. Within my team, for the first time ever are we all collaborating on the same project to produce something amazing. However with collaboration comes the occasional conflict.
While we have been able to handle conflicts internally, after this week I am becoming more and more a strong believer that we need to get other stakeholders involved. I’ve always had the mindset of what would the customer want, but I’ve never actually involved them just yet. A part of this week’s blog assignment is to identify some ways stakeholder involvement can help make us make better decisions:
1) What does the customer want? Right now we’re assuming we know what the customer wants without actually talking with them. Considering we work in the same building, we really aught to.
2) They can provide insight into something we don’t know. None of us have actually done what our customers are doing; we only know it in theory and concepts. By talking with them, perhaps they can point something out that we are blinded too.
3) Are we heading in the right direction? Even if we know what they want, are we doing it right? Are we taking the correct path with the process?
4) Do our bosses think were doing the right thing? Its not just about creating products. What we really need to consider is are we developing products that create the most bang for the buck?
5) Neutral party for conflicts. During internal conflicts, an outside stakeholder can provide neutral conflict mediation.
Again, this is something that we STILL have to do, as everything is internal right now. Our bosses did say they wanted us all to work on this project together, but that was about the full extent of their input. There isn’t anything yet to reflect back on, as this is an ongoing progress.
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