Leading Project Teams and Stakeholders Training Course: Influence, Negotiation and Conflict

Programme Summary

Leading project teams and stakeholders, covering influence, negotiation and conflict resolution, is the subject of this five-day training course for project managers, PMO leads and functional leads at a managerial level, ending in a leadership and influence plan for one live project. Projects stall less often from technical faults than from unclear authority, unmanaged stakeholders and disputes left to grow. The programme moves from principles and role clarity, through diagnosis of team and stakeholder dynamics, to design of influence, negotiation and conflict routines, then to a worked plan. Mars Training Centre UK delivers this programme in leading project teams and stakeholders.

The Business Case

When project leaders rely on position alone, decisions are slow, sponsors hear about trouble late and suppliers escalate disputes that a short conversation could have settled. Leaders who agree how they will influence, negotiate and resolve conflict can show how a difficult decision was reached and who was involved in it.

• Decision Delay: Falls as stakeholder positions and decision routes are mapped early.
• Rework from Misalignment: Reduces as team roles and expectations are agreed in writing.
• Escalated Disputes: Decline as conflicts are handled by a set sequence before they reach the sponsor.

Principles and Evidence Base

• PMI Talent Triangle, power skills area: It frames the leadership, communication and influence skills practised in Sessions 1 and 3.
• ISO 21502, guidance on project management: It shapes the roles, team and stakeholder responsibilities clarified in Session 1.
• Interest-based negotiation principles: They guide the negotiation preparation sheet and role-play designed in Session 3.

Intended Participants

• Project managers who direct cross-functional teams without line authority over every member.
• PMO leads who support sponsors and set expectations for project leadership.
• Functional leads who supply people to projects and negotiate priorities with project managers.
• Programme managers who coordinate several project leaders and their stakeholders.

The programme serves construction, energy, public sector and technology organisations.

Learning Outcomes

1. Participants will be able to evaluate their own project leadership approach against defined power skills.
2. Participants will be able to diagnose stakeholder positions, team friction and decision bottlenecks in a live project.
3. Participants will be able to construct a stakeholder engagement plan with influence tactics for each group.
4. Participants will be able to prepare a negotiation with clear interests, limits and options.
5. Participants will be able to design a conflict resolution sequence for team and supplier disputes.
6. Participants will be able to justify a leadership and influence plan and its indicators to a project sponsor.

Programme Structure

Day 1: Leading Project Teams and Stakeholders: Principles and Role Clarity

What does leading a project team require when formal authority is limited?

• Power Skills Self-Review
• Project Role and Authority Map
• Team Charter and Working Agreement
• Leadership Style Comparison Table
• Sponsor Expectations Brief

Day 2: Diagnosing Team and Stakeholder Dynamics

Where do positions, motives and friction hold back decisions in this project?

• Stakeholder Position and Influence Grid
• Team Friction Observation Log
• Decision Bottleneck Analysis
• Communication Gap Review
• Trust and Credibility Check

Day 3: Designing Influence, Negotiation and Conflict Routines

Which routines turn an understanding of people into agreed action?

• Stakeholder Engagement Plan
• Influence Approach Cards
• Negotiation Preparation Sheet
• Conflict Resolution Sequence
• Difficult Conversation Script

Day 4: Practising Meetings, Escalation and Team Alignment

How are these routines tested in the situations that project leaders face?

• Negotiation Role-Play with Observer Notes
• Sponsor Escalation Briefing Format
• Team Meeting Facilitation Plan
• Supplier Dispute Case Exercise
• Feedback and Recognition Routine

Day 5: Applying Leading Project Teams and Stakeholders to One Project

Is the leadership and influence plan ready for a project sponsor to review?

• Applying the Session 2 Stakeholder Grid to the Chosen Project
• Testing the Session 3 Conflict Sequence on a Live Dispute
• Checking the Session 4 Escalation Format Against Real Issues
• Setting Leadership Indicators for the Project
• Completing the Leadership and Influence Plan

Methodology

The programme uses simulation and structured exercises built on anonymised project situations from construction, energy and public sector settings. Participants work in small teams as project manager, sponsor and supplier, rehearse each routine with observer feedback, and apply it to one live project they bring to the course.

• Suggested activity: Mapping the stakeholders of a sample project and agreeing one influence step for each.
• Suggested activity: Preparing and playing a negotiation with a supplier over a late delivery.
• Suggested activity: Rehearsing a difficult conversation with a team member and recording what worked.

Capstone Output

Each participant completes a leadership and influence plan for one live project. It holds a team charter, a stakeholder engagement plan, a negotiation preparation sheet, a conflict resolution sequence and leadership indicators. The plan is used to brief a project sponsor and to guide the next three team and stakeholder meetings.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is leading project teams and stakeholders suitable for managers with limited project experience?

Yes. Leading project teams and stakeholders is set at managerial level and assumes you already work on projects, not that you hold a formal qualification. Methods are practised through cases and role-play.

Which models does leading project teams and stakeholders rest on in this training?

Leading project teams and stakeholders rests on the power skills area of the PMI Talent Triangle, the roles described in ISO 21502 and interest-based negotiation principles.

How is the plan from leading project teams and stakeholders used at work?

You use the leadership and influence plan to brief a project sponsor, run stakeholder meetings and handle the next disagreement with a set sequence.

How does leading project teams and stakeholders differ from a programme on project scheduling?

Leading project teams and stakeholders centres on people, influence and disputes, while a scheduling programme centres on logic, durations and critical path methods.