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Writer's pictureJulien Hautier

Project ownership: how to make it stronger?

"This project lacks ownership!" This is a sentence that we often hear in #internationaldevelopment. So why do we hear this so often? And what can we do to engage our stakeholders a step further?



1️⃣ The design process. We all know that this is not a best practice but the reality is that very often project design is done under pressure. There is limited time to design the project (often for wrong reasons) and it affects the quality of the process. There is limited space for consultations and confrontation of the project hypotheses with the main stakeholders' perspective or reality.



2️⃣ No genuine interest for ownership. Due to a lack of experience and wrong assumptions, some programme managers overlook the need to create ownership from the start. They believe that it is important but usually underestimate what it takes to create ownership. Or sometimes, they think that it will somehow happen during the project implementation.



3️⃣ The "aid traffic jam". In some countries, limited institutional capacity means that only a limited number of public officials are managing the dialogue and project implementation with international partners. As a result, many different partners try to engage with the same few persons who end up going from one project to the next one, without having the time to go in-depth within each one.



So what can be done about it ? And how Skills4Devcould support your staff in implementing a step-by-step approach to building stronger project's ownership with your key stakeholders?



👉 Adopt a rigorous and consistent approach. Ownership does not happen by chance. It requires a well-thought and sustained approach, and clear action plan. Engaging key stakeholders requires a clear action plan: i) during the design stage, ii) during the launching stage, iii) during implementation, iv) in the monitoring activities.



👉 Identify the key stakeholders and their interests, including the ones who might have divergent interests. In my last management position, one of the first things I asked to my team members was to draw a map of their main stakeholders, estimate the level of their interest and potential influence on the project (either positive or negative). This allows you to define priorities and design a strategic approach to building ownership.



👉 Permanently re-assess the level of alignment. Indeed, we usually assume that what has been said before or what is written in the project document has been well integrated by our stakeholders. Building ownership requires building a common vision and a common narrative. This does not happen in one shot only, it implies regular iterations and dialogue. Last but not least, do not forget internal stakeholders (your colleagues and supervisors)! We usually tend to overestimate their knowledge of the project's intention and current status and internal stakeholders are often instrumental in reaching our goals!



What about you? What is your approach to building stronger ownership?



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