9 Managing stakeholder collaboration

You should consider how to manage each stakeholder group so that the project remains on track and stakeholders receive appropriate communications on time. It’s important to engage with your stakeholders so that you can maximise their engagement and benefit from their insights.

You should refer to your stakeholder list throughout the duration of the project, making amendments as appropriate. Key stakeholders are likely to include the following groups:

• Project sponsors such as a Head of School or Service, or Director of Student Education.
• Educators who will author content and contribute to the creation of learning tasks and activities.
• Colleagues who may use the finished course as part of their teaching.
• Students who may act as co-creators and/or reviewers and facilitators.
• Others supporting the course after launch, such as facilitators.
• Internal teams supporting your initiative (e.g. the team responsible for digital education, marketing, communications, etc.).
• Hosting platform services, such as FutureLearn and Coursera.

Development of the course will need to be run as a project, with dedicated resources and timelines. Having the capacity to contribute to meeting deadlines is important. Course design and development proceeds best when it is well planned and where sufficient space and time has been created for effective and full academic participation.