Whether it's lack of awareness, support, participation, or poor user stories, there are certain strategies that make handling these problems more manageable.
Using Design Thinking, be creative in how potential projects can be discussed and shared with stakeholders, while still capturing all the key pieces of information.
Fun at work can often feel forced, with team-building activities, but it can help to take the engagement paradigm that is Design Thinking, and bake it into your process.