You're managing conflicting priorities in an IA project. How do you ensure all stakeholder voices are heard?

In my experience, a good stakeholder map will setup the project for success. Identify key influencers, sponsors, project champions, business and technology enablers, key users, user communities and other people / roles that can support the project or are impacted by the project.

The first crucial step in managing priorities in an AI project is identifying all stakeholders. This includes end-users, developers, project managers, sponsors, and any other group that may be affected by the project. Personal Experience: In my role as Director of Innovation on various technology projects, I have learned the importance of conducting detailed stakeholder mapping at the project's inception. For example, in a recent augmented reality system implementation project, we identified over ten different stakeholder groups, which allowed us to understand their expectations and needs from the outset.

When working with stakeholders on any project, it starts at the beginning - laying a foundation for the project by establishing goals for the business and the people using your site or product. The priorities should relate to these goals. Priorities should also be established at the business level such that any individual's priorities take on secondary importance to those of the organization.

1. Conduct a stakeholder Mapping exercise to identify all the stakeholders 2. Invite them to a project kickoff meeting and document the expectations. 3. Define a communication plan with all stakeholders 4. As part of the communication plan do regular check-ins to showcase the progress and address all stakeholder's questions & concerns. this will make sure you have a continuous feedback loop 5. In case of conflicting priorities, consider the pros and cons of each available solution and make it transparent to the stakeholders. 6. Get agreement from stakeholders on next steps Regular assessment of changing business structures needs to be kept in check to understand if there is a change in stakeholders during the course of the project.

This section primarily addresses the process of gathering stakeholders' requirements and expectations which is NOT identify them. In my experience, it's impractical for any individual to have a comprehensive understanding of all stakeholders involved. Therefore, it's essential to begin with stakeholders you are already acquainted with. Start by identifying the teams they interact with, and through a process of elimination, determine if these groups should also be considered project stakeholders. If affirmative, engage these identified stakeholders to inquire about their respective interaction groups. After several iterations of this process, a comprehensive picture of all stakeholders involved can be established.

Once stakeholders are identified, it is essential to understand their needs and expectations. This can be achieved through interviews, surveys, and workshops. Personal Experience: Using Design Thinking methodologies, I have facilitated numerous workshops with stakeholders to delve into their needs and desires. In a project with a retail company, we organized co-creation sessions with store employees, which allowed us to design an AI solution that genuinely addressed their daily challenges and improved operational efficiency.

Estoy abrumado positivamente por la potencia que te brindan las plataforma de IA generativa. Es un dia a dia vertiginoso, pero sorperendente y apasionante.

Em qualquer projeto de colaboração, é crucial compreender as premissas e preocupações dos stakeholders. Isso envolve escutar cada pessoa e refletir sobre sua perspectiva à respeito do projeto. É necessário conhecer o histórico de cada um e avaliar se eles têm conhecimento e entendimento sobre o tema. Estabelecer prioridades, dividir áreas de responsabilidade e, ao mesmo tempo, integrá-las são passos essenciais. Alinhar os objetivos do projeto às necessidades de todos é vital para o êxito da colaboração

After identifying stakeholders, it's crucial to understand their needs and expectations. You can achieve this through interviews and one to one sessions with stake holders. For instance, when developing a new app, conducting user session and reveal useful information.

Stakeholder needs are equally important to user needs and often compete with them. Define user needs and the needs of all other stakeholders to be able to manage and lead a project to success.

En esta parte sería bueno tener definidos KPIs o OKRs ya que las funcionalidades y alcances deberían ayudarnos a llegar a los objetivos de negocio o de las partes interesadas. Tener claro los KPIs nos da la pauta para alinear esas necesidades de los clientes a las de los interesados y generar estrategias que nos ayuden a alcanzarlos, además de ayudarnos a clarificar temas de evaluación y el por qué hacemos lo que hacemos.

Prioritize objectives using the MoSCoW method (Must have, Should have, Could have, Won't have). This helps balance stakeholder needs within project scope, addressing critical elements first and managing expectations.

With needs clarified, the next step is to prioritize project objectives. This involves negotiating and balancing the different priorities of stakeholders to establish a clear set of goals and success criteria. Personal Experience: I have used techniques such as Customer Value Analysis and impact analysis to prioritize objectives in complex projects. During the development of an ERP system, I worked closely with department heads to align business priorities with technological capabilities, ensuring that the most critical functionalities were developed first.

Once needs are clear, the next step is to prioritize project objectives. This means different stakeholders will provide different objectives and one has to prioritize the ones that align with the business needs. For example, in a UX design project, balancing user experience improvements with technical feasibility helps establish achievable and impactful objectives.

Before starting with working on the project it is essential to define what the outcome of the project shall be (objectives) and how to measure it (KPIs, OKRs, etc.). Agile methodologies provide a huge number of methods like affinity diagramming and other structuring and prioritisation methods to focus on the right objectives.

Absolutely! Collaboration is one of the important keys to survive in the current ever evolving technological landscape. When multiple stakeholders are needed in any project, then the priority from "Ops" perspective will be to set up the - 1. Defined roles & responsibility, 2. Identified areas of expertise to contribute 3. Set expected outcome, 4. Common space to work closely [ together & in isolation both ] 5. Set rules for ethical communications [ As respect is mutual & not hierarchical ] 6. Focus on one team & one output !!!

Create an immersive, engaging collaboration experience (e.g. a workshop) that encourages communication and ideation. Including structured brainstorming activities that engages all participants.

If people don't talk projects fail. Manage communication and transparency in the project to keep people informed and keep the dialog to drive decisions and tasks towards a successful project.

Facilitate collaboration by encouraging open communication and creating a shared space for ideas and feedback. Use regular meetings and collaborative tools to maintain dialogue, fostering mutual understanding and consensus.

No processo colaborativo é importante ressaltar a importância da união de diferentes formas de pensar, possibilitando gerar melhores soluções e uma experiência ainda mais rica.

IA is like any HCI process an iterative process. Working on the IA is core to a good usability and a good user experience. Involve all stakeholders including users!

Iterate and validate the IA process by presenting prototypes or wireframes to stakeholders for feedback. Continuously align with stakeholder priorities and adjust as needed. Validate with real users to confirm assumptions and optimize the IA.

A prototipagem e validação rápida por IA permitirá um ciclo de desenvolvimento mais rápido. Entretanto, na validação é importante considerar o risco de manter a reprodução de preconceitos existentes nos dados de treinamento, levando a experiências discriminatórias.

To manage conflicting priorities in an IA project and ensure all stakeholders are heard, start by gathering input from everyone through meetings and surveys. Use clear methods to prioritize tasks, explaining why certain decisions are made. Keep communication open and transparent, and regularly update stakeholders on progress. If conflicts arise, focus on the overall project goals and encourage compromise.

In a future IA project with conflicting priorities, you set up clear communication channels, hold regular check-ins, and use surveys and workshops for feedback. Transparent decision-making ensures all voices are heard, keeping the project on track.

Manage expectations by transparently communicating constraints like timelines, budget, and technical limitations. Clear communication helps prevent misunderstandings and sets realistic expectations, fostering stakeholder collaboration and acceptance of compromises.