Tuesday Brief: Successful tool implementation isn't about forcing teams to adapt to new software - it's about creating the right foundation for adoption success. From stakeholder engagement strategies that actually work to expert insights on scaling Jira across organizations, this week we explore practical approaches that reduce friction and increase buy-in.
July 29, 2025
In This Issue:
Featured Article: Stakeholder Engagement - 9 Key Roles and 8 Proven Strategies for IT Project Success
Live Event Tomorrow (7/30): Jira Essentials: A Beginner's Guide
PM Best Practices: The Implementation Success Framework
Featured Article: Stakeholder Engagement - 9 Key Roles and 8 Proven Strategies for IT Project Success
You cannot control stakeholders, but you can control their level of engagement. This fundamental principle from Ronald B. Smith, MBA, PMP, reveals why so many projects struggle with stakeholder management—they focus on controlling people instead of creating the right conditions for collaboration.
Effective stakeholder engagement requires identifying all people or entities affected by your project, then classifying them according to their interest and power. This strategic approach includes early identification during project initiation, clear expectation setting, regular engagement through multiple channels, and proactive conflict management before issues escalate.
Resource Article: Navigating Jira Implementation: Expert Insights from Atlassian Veterans
When organizations adopt Jira for project management, they face the challenge of aligning traditional PM concepts with Jira's framework. Atlassian experts J. Caldwell and Vlad Petrescu, with their combined 25+ years of experience supporting Fortune 500 companies, share critical insights for successful implementation.
Essential implementation principles:
Start accessible: Jira's free-forever tier supports up to 10 users with full functionality
Focus on content, not labels: A "story" means different things to different teams—adapt terminology to your context
Plan for scale: Organizations with 500-1,000 users hit complexity thresholds requiring structured approaches
Balance customization: Sometimes adapting to Jira's conventions proves more efficient than fighting them
The experts recommend a practical scaling framework: Epics (3-month team deliverables), Initiatives (1-year organizational goals), and Strategic Themes (3-year multi-team efforts). This hierarchy ensures alignment across organizational levels while maintaining flexibility for individual teams.
Live Event Tomorrow (7/30): Jira Essentials A Beginner's Guide
New to Jira or need a solid refresher? Join Vlad Petrescu for this hands-on introduction designed specifically for professionals who want to manage projects more effectively using Atlassian's powerful platform.
This practical session covers the fundamentals you need to confidently navigate Jira, from understanding projects and issues to configuring workflows that reflect your actual processes.
What You'll Master:
Core Jira structure: projects, issues, and workflows
Creating, assigning, and tracking tasks, bugs, and stories
Using boards, filters, and dashboards for better visibility
Best practices for managing backlogs, sprints, and releases
🗓️ Wednesday, July 30 🕛 12:00pm - 1:00pm EDT 📍 Live on Zoom 🏅 1 PMI PDU: Business Acumen
MPUG host live events with leading experts on Wednesdays from 12:00pm - 1:00pm ET! MPUG members get access to live events where you get direct access to industry leaders, actionable insights, hands-on training, and opportunities to earn PDU's.
PM Best Practices: The Implementation Success Framework
Before implementing any new tool, establish process clarity by documenting your current workflows first. Understanding how your team actually works today makes it much easier to map those processes to new tools like Jira, significantly reducing adoption friction and increasing the likelihood that your team will embrace rather than resist the change.
