Chapter guide
After listing who cares about and influences the project, ask who controls resources, makes decisions and gains extra work. Understand incentives and past working relationships too. People absent from the meeting may bear the greatest consequences.
Listen carefully to objections. They may reveal insufficient review staffing, conflicting performance targets, unclear permissions or earlier broken promises. Understand the cause before choosing a response.
Record how each role participates, what evidence they need and which decisions they make. Even if total benefits are positive, check whether costs have shifted unfairly onto a few people.
Discussion question
Could a user’s refusal have a reasonable cause you have not yet understood?
Related exercise
Follow the related lesson below and try its exercise. Use the linked template to record your judgment, evidence and open questions, then revise with the checklist. With a partner, check which parts of each other’s work need clarification.