10 top tips for effective user involvement
Learn the art of engaging users; read on for expert tips to enhance collaboration and project success.
One of the most important things to get right for a successful project is to engage effectively with the business or customer. Doing this takes a lot of skill and effort. Ironically, it can often feel like the less involvement from the end users the quicker the project will go!
In the agile space the need for clear and frequent interaction from all levels of the user community is vital.
Over the years I have come to realise that the top 10 tips for effective user engagement are the following:
- Are you clear on the benefits?
- Are they clear on the benefits?
- Embrace the differing views.
- Check that you have the right people.
- Get sponsorship and get if from high up.
- Proactively manage the involvement.
- Don’t’ let them lose touch.
- Understand the reasons for reluctance.
- Don’t’ thin they are a means to an end.
- Look, listen and learn.
Video
This video is presented by Keith Richards, the Founder of agileKRC and a leading Agile writer and practitioner. Keith was the Lead Author of AgilePM (Agile Project Management) qualifications and PRINCE2 Agile.
In the video Keith looks at how to get the best from your customer or business representatives and covers:
- Why is their involvement critical?
- How do we manage this involvement?
- How do we handle a community that do not see everything the same way and have different agendas?
- How do we handle major conflict situations?
- Why is there often resistance and reluctance to collaborate?
- What is the benefit for them?
This video is especially beneficial for project managers and project sponsors.
Download PDF
To see a PDF version of the presentation used in this video, click the button below.