Effective Project Stakeholder Management: Identification and Engagement

Posted on Jan 22, 2025 in Other subjects

Project Stakeholder Management

Project Stakeholder Management includes the processes required to identify the people, groups, or organizations that could impact or be impacted by the project, to analyze stakeholder expectations and their impact on the project, and to develop appropriate management strategies for effectively engaging stakeholders in project decisions and execution. Every project has stakeholders who are impacted by or can impact the project in a positive or negative way. Some of them may have a limited ability to influence the project’s work or outcomes; others may have significant influence on the project and its expected outcomes. The ability of the PM and team to correctly identify and engage all stakeholders in an appropriate way can mean the difference between project success and failure. Stakeholder satisfaction should be identified and managed as a project objective. The key to effective stakeholder engagement is a focus on continuous communication with all stakeholders, including team members, to understand their needs and expectations, address issues as they occur, manage conflicting interests, and foster appropriate stakeholder engagement in project decisions and activities. The process of identifying and engaging stakeholders for the benefit of the project is iterative.

Identify Stakeholder

IDENTIFY STAKEHOLDER is the process of identifying project stakeholders regularly and analyzing and documenting relevant information regarding their interests, involvement, interdependencies, influence, and potential impact on project success. This process frequently occurs for the first time in a project either prior to or at the same time the project charter is developed and approved. It is repeated as necessary but should be performed at the start of each phase and when a significant change in the project or the organization occurs.

Tools and Techniques

  • Expert Judgement
    • Understanding the politics and power structures in the organization.
    • Knowledge of the environment and culture of the organization and the wider environment.
    • Knowledge of the industry or type of project deliverable.
    • Knowledge of individual team member contributions and expertise.
  • Data Gathering
    • Questionnaires and surveys.
    • Brainstorming. Elicits input from groups such as team members or subject matter experts.
    • Brain writing. A refinement of brainstorming that allows individual participants time to consider the question(s) individually before the group creativity session is held.
  • Data Analysis
    • Stakeholder analysis. It results in a list of stakeholders and relevant information about them. Their stakes can include:
      • Rights. (Legal or moral rights).
      • Interest. A person or group can be affected by a decision related to the project.
      • Ownership. A person or group has a legal title to an asset or a property.
      • Knowledge. Specialist knowledge, which can benefit the project through more effective delivery of project objectives or organizational outcomes.
      • Contribution. Provision of funds or other resources, including human resources.
    • Document analysis. Assessing the available project documentation and lessons learned from previous projects to identify stakeholders and other supporting information.
  • Data Representation
    • Power/ interest grid, power/ influence grid, or impact/ influence grid. These classification models are useful for small projects with simple relationships between stakeholders.
    • Stakeholder cube. This model combines the grid elements into a three-dimensional model.
    • Salience model. Describes classes of stakeholders based on assessments of their power, urgency, and legitimacy. It’s useful for large complex communities of stakeholders.
    • Directions of influence. (Upward // Downward // Outward // Sideward).
    • Prioritization. It may be necessary for projects with a large number of stakeholders.
  • Meetings

    Meetings are used to develop an understanding of significant project stakeholders.

Plan Stakeholder Engagement

PLAN STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT is the process of developing approaches to involve project stakeholders based on their needs, expectations, interests, and potential impact on the project. It provides an actionable plan to interact effectively with stakeholders. An effective plan that recognizes the diverse information needs of the project’s stakeholders is developed early in the project life cycle and is reviewed and updated regularly as the stakeholder community changes.

Tools and Techniques

  • Data Representation
    • Mind mapping. It’s used to visually organize information about stakeholders and their own relationship and to the organization.
    • Stakeholder engagement assessment matrix. It supports comparison between the current engagement levels and the desired ones required for successful project delivery.
      • Unaware. Unaware of the project and potential impacts.
      • Resistant. Resistant to any changes that may occur as a result of the project. These stakeholders will be unsupportive of the work or outcomes of the project.
      • Neutral. Aware of the project, but neither supportive nor unsupportive.
      • Supportive. Aware of the project and supportive of the work and its outcomes.
      • Leading. Aware and actively engaged in ensuring that the project is a success.

Manage Stakeholder Engagement

MANAGE STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT is the process of communicating and working with stakeholders to meet their needs and expectations, address issues, and foster appropriate stakeholder involvement. It allows the project manager to increase support and minimize resistance from stakeholders.

Monitor Stakeholder Engagement

MONITOR STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT is the process of monitoring project stakeholder relationships and tailoring strategies for engaging stakeholders through modification of engagement strategies and plans.