In a valley between two hill villages there's a place where the river widens and becomes still. A banyan tree provides shade and a focus for the women who come and go - girls collecting water, women doing laundry. Sujata, a community health worker, will often drop by when visiting a nearby project to sit and listen to the news and stories.

Beneath the tree it’s always busy. The women share stories, give each other advice. A small informal market has popped up, and women buy or trade produce with each other. Marriages have even been arranged here.

“You can please some of the people all of the time, you can please all of the people some of the time, but you can’t please all of the people all of the time” - according to the American Poet John Lydgate.

He Obviously Never Did Stakeholder Management.

I'm not sure who originally said this - Einstein, Plato, or John Lennon - someone on my Facebook anyway.

But it's a statement I throw at my training participants on Day 1 whenever we are doing Project Planning or RBM. And it's this:

A Problem Is Not The Absence Of A Solution, It's An Existing Negative State

OK - maybe you're not the manager - but you do manage things.

You may oversee community volunteers and mobilisers, or manage community expectations. You may lead a team. You might just manage information. And, then again, you might be the one who oversees the whole project, and has to keep donors sweet.

But Do You Manage Reactively Or Responsively?

"Who's Responsible For This Mess?"

I think we all heard that as children.

I doubt we often heard our parents say, "Who's responsible for this tidiness?"

Which is why a lot of people - managers and project teams - don't actually like responsibility. It's much easier - and much safer - to follow the plan, stick to the budget, and tick all the boxes. And if the project outcome isn't achieved, at least it's all tidy.

But What Is Responsibility Anyway?

Let's talk about stakeholders.
 
After all, they are the most important part of any project. As development workers we are service providers, and our most important stakeholders are the end users of our services - the target communities we serve, whoever they may be - mothers, IDPs, girl children ...

It's a tough environment out there.

Funding is in many areas declining, and donors are expecting more value-for-money. It's a results-focused environment, and every development dollar has to count.

So, How Do We Identify Projects That Donors Will Support?

Successful projects are focused on solving problems - and getting positive, measurable results for stakeholders.

Unfortunately, Many Organisations Seem To Be Focused On Activities Rather Than Positive Change.

EVER WONDERED HOW A RESULTS-BASED PROJECT DIFFERS FROM ONE FOCUSED JUST ON IMPLEMENTATION?

A couple of years ago I had back-to-back assignments on two continents. And it was interesting to see the huge difference between a project that focused on results and prioritised M&E, and one that focused on implementation.

The Irony Was That Both Projects Were Doing The Same Things.