Stakeholder Management

Overview

Engage stakeholders effectively throughout the project

Steps

Step 1: Identify stakeholders

Create comprehensive list of everyone affected by or affecting the project:

Brainstorm stakeholder categories: Internal:
- Executive sponsors and leadership
- Project team members
- Functional managers providing resources
- Other project managers with dependencies
- Affected departments/business units
- IT, Legal, Finance, HR as appropriate
- Internal users of deliverables External:
- Customers and end users
- Vendors and suppliers
- Partners and contractors
- Regulatory bodies
- Industry groups
Use multiple techniques to identify:
- Review organizational charts
- Ask “who else should know about this?”
- Check similar past projects
- Ask each stakeholder who else matters
- Review approval and decision processes
For each stakeholder, capture:
- Name (or group name for large groups)
- Title/Role
- Organization/Department
- Contact information
- Relationship to project
Avoid common omissions:
- People affected by change but not involved in creating it
- Support and operations teams
- Procurement and legal
- Customer-facing staff
- Those who failed past similar projects

Step 2: Analyze stakeholders

Understand each stakeholder’s position and needs:

For each stakeholder, assess: Interest:
- What do they care about regarding this project?
- How will the project affect them personally?
- What’s their motivation?
- What do they need from the project? Influence/Power:
- What’s their authority over the project?
- Can they provide or withhold resources?
- Do they control key decisions?
- What’s their organizational influence? Attitude:
- Are they a supporter, neutral, or resistor?
- What’s their history with similar initiatives?
- What concerns might they have?
- What would change their attitude?
Create power/interest grid: High Power, High Interest: Manage closely (key players) High Power, Low Interest: Keep satisfied Low Power, High Interest: Keep informed Low Power, Low Interest: Monitor
Identify stakeholder relationships:
- Who influences whom?
- What alliances exist?
- What conflicts exist?
- Who are the informal influencers?
Document expectations:
- What does each stakeholder expect from the project?
- What do they expect from the project team?
- What are their success criteria?
- How will they judge the project?

Step 3: Build RACI matrix

Define clear responsibilities for decisions and deliverables:

Identify items needing RACI:
- Major decisions (scope changes, budget, timeline)
- Key deliverables
- Important activities
- Approval gates
For each item, assign roles: R - Responsible: Who does the work? A - Accountable: Who has final authority? (only one person) C - Consulted: Who must be consulted before decision? (two-way) I - Informed: Who must be told after decision? (one-way)
RACI rules:
- Every item must have exactly one A
- Every item must have at least one R
- Minimize C’s to avoid decision paralysis
- Don’t overload individuals with too many R’s
Validate the matrix:
- Review with key stakeholders
- Check for gaps (items with no A or R)
- Check for overload (too many R’s for one person)
- Ensure A’s have appropriate authority
Common items for project RACI:
- Scope change approval
- Budget decisions
- Risk acceptance
- Quality sign-off
- Resource allocation
- Timeline changes
- Vendor selection
- Go/no-go decisions

Step 4: Develop communication plan

Define how each stakeholder will receive information:

For each stakeholder or stakeholder group, determine: What information they need:
- Status updates
- Decisions requiring input
- Risk and issue alerts
- Milestone achievements
- Changes affecting them How often:
- Weekly, bi-weekly, monthly
- As-needed for urgent items
- Based on project phase intensity What format:
- Email updates
- Meetings (1:1, group, all-hands)
- Reports/dashboards
- Presentations
- Informal conversations Who delivers:
- Project manager
- Sponsor
- Team lead
- Subject matter expert
Create communication schedule:
- Regular recurring communications
- Milestone-based communications
- Trigger-based communications
Design key communication artifacts:
- Status report template
- Executive summary format
- Risk/issue escalation format
- Meeting agendas
Define escalation paths:
- When to escalate
- To whom
- Expected response time
Plan for difficult communications:
- How to deliver bad news
- How to manage expectations
- How to handle disagreements

Step 5: Develop engagement strategies

Create specific approaches for managing key stakeholders:

For each high-priority stakeholder, develop strategy: Current state:
- Current attitude (supporter/neutral/resistor)
- Current engagement level
- Key concerns or interests Desired state:
- What attitude and engagement do we need?
- What support specifically do we need from them? Strategy to bridge gap:
- Actions to build relationship
- How to address their concerns
- What value can we provide them?
- Who can influence them positively?
Strategies for different stakeholder types: Supporters:
- Keep engaged and informed
- Leverage their influence
- Ask them to advocate
- Thank them publicly Neutrals:
- Understand their concerns
- Demonstrate value to them
- Address their needs
- Regular check-ins Resistors:
- Understand root cause of resistance
- Address legitimate concerns
- Find common ground
- Use influencers they trust
- Document agreements
Relationship-building actions:
- Regular 1:1 meetings with key stakeholders
- Involve them in appropriate decisions
- Seek their input and expertise
- Keep promises, build trust
- Give credit and recognition

Step 6: Manage expectations

Align stakeholder expectations with project reality:

Surface all expectations:
- Review documented expectations from analysis
- Probe for unstated expectations
- Check for conflicts between stakeholders
- Identify unrealistic expectations
Address misaligned expectations:
- Compare expectations to project charter
- Identify gaps clearly
- Discuss with stakeholders early
- Negotiate realistic alternatives
- Document agreements
Set expectations proactively:
- Be clear about what will and won’t be delivered
- Explain constraints and tradeoffs
- Describe decision-making process
- Clarify their role and involvement
- Under-promise, over-deliver
Manage ongoing expectations:
- Regular reality checks
- Early warning of potential issues
- Re-baseline when changes occur
- Celebrate wins, acknowledge setbacks honestly

Step 7: Execute and monitor

Implement stakeholder management and adjust as needed:

Execute communication plan:
- Deliver scheduled communications
- Use appropriate templates
- Track what was communicated to whom
Execute engagement strategies:
- Hold planned stakeholder meetings
- Take relationship-building actions
- Address concerns as they arise
Track stakeholder issues:
- Maintain stakeholder issues log
- Track concerns raised
- Document actions taken
- Monitor resolution
Monitor stakeholder sentiment:
- Watch for changes in attitude
- Note escalating concerns
- Identify new supporters or resistors
- Track engagement levels
Adjust approach as needed:
- Update stakeholder analysis quarterly
- Revise strategies when attitudes change
- Add new stakeholders as identified
- Modify communication based on feedback

When to Use

At project initiation to identify and analyze stakeholders
When planning communication and engagement strategies
When stakeholder relationships need improvement
When new stakeholders join the project
When stakeholder concerns are escalating
At key project milestones to update stakeholder analysis
When navigating organizational politics affecting the project
When resistance to the project emerges

Verification

All stakeholders are identified and documented
Power/interest analysis complete for key stakeholders
RACI matrix covers major decisions and deliverables
Communication plan is realistic and being followed
Key stakeholder concerns are tracked and addressed
Stakeholder sentiment is monitored regularly
Engagement strategies are in place for high-priority stakeholders

Input: $ARGUMENTS

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