In order for any project to be successful you need buy in from all the stakeholders the Project Team, the Project Manager, the Clients, Senior Management and any one else that could contribute to the success of the project. The person responsible for all of these buy in is of course the Project Manager. Once we know which stakeholders are not completely committed to the project the PM needs to work on gaining their buy in.
The first thing a Project Manager should do is build a sense of teamwork with all of the stakeholders. This will make all of the stakeholders feel that they are an important part of the team. The best way to build a sense of teamwork is to constantly communicate with all of the stakeholders on the status of the project so they know what is happening at all times. I do this by holding weekly all hands meetings on all of my projects along with any other meetings I need for a specialized group of stakeholders (Executive Review, meeting with DBAs or developers, or a meeting with a business stakeholder).
Another way to obtain stakeholder buy in is to ask them to sign various documents. One example would be asking a business stakeholder to sign off on the requirements to show they agree with what is in the requirements in terms of what needs to be delivered. Another example would be getting the the project team to sign off on the requirements so they know what they have to deliver on the project.
The final way to get stakeholder buy in is to build excitement on the project. During the course of the project is can be easy to loose site of why the team is working on the project. The project team is mired in the details and issues of creating the deliverable and sometimes this can lead to a less than enthusiastic response from the team on the project. It is important to remind everyone why we are working on this solution and the benefits to what the solution will deliver.
