13.0 Project Stakeholder Management

Stakeholders are individuals and organizations that are actively involved in the project, may exert influence over the project and its results, or whose interests may be positively or negatively affected as a result of project execution or completion (Larson & Gray, 2014, p. 665).  Managing stakeholders includes processes required to identify and develop management strategies for effectively engaging stakeholders in project decisions and execution (PMI, 2013, p. 391), throughout the entire project life cycle.  As the project develops and deliverables are completed, stakeholders and the associated management techniques must evolve to remain in control. 

13.1 Identify Stakeholders

Identifying stakeholders should happen as soon as possible within the initiating process group.  Identifying stakeholders is a process of identifying people, groups, or organizations who could impact or be impacted by the project outcome.  Stakeholders have varied degrees of interest within any project and it is this degree of interest that makes it essential to grade them on their level of importance and potential impact.  Those stakeholders with the greatest levels of impact, during any given segment of the project lifecycle, require more management than say a stakeholder whose impact is not as great.  Through analysis techniques, each stakeholder is evaluated for their level of power and interest and is plotted on a power versus interest matrix.  The use of this matrix will help project management ensure the proper level of engagement is maintained.

Figure 3.  Sample Power versus Interest Matrix

As each deliverable is achieved and milestones are reached, stakeholder power versus interest should be re-evaluated and attention focused accordingly.  It's important to remember that stakeholder engagement is fluid and will need to change throughout the project lifecycle.

References

Larson, E. W. & Gray, C. F. (2014), Project Management, The Managerial Process (Sixth Ed.)  New York, NY., McGraw-Hill

Project Management Institute (PMI)(2013), A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide), Newtown Square, PA., Project Management Institute, Inc.

Figure 4.  Identify Stakeholders: Inputs, Tools and Techniques, and Outputs. Reprinted from "A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide), 5th Edition" by Project Management Institute, 2013, p. 393. Copyright 2013 by Project Management Institute, Inc. Reprinted without permission.

Artifacts:

1.  Dinglehopper Kitchen Remodel:  This project charter is a group assignment from PMGT 502 Effective Communication for Managing Projects WBS 9.1.  The communication plan and project charter, as an input to this process, contains a list of stakeholders which can be used during the stakeholder identification process.

2.  Stakeholder Analysis:  This project is an individual assignment from PMGT 502 Effective Communication for Managing Projects WBS 3.3.  The Identify Stakeholder process contains a discussion of techniques used to help identify stakeholders.

3.  Stakeholder Register: The stakeholder register is the only output for this process, and contains a list of identified stakeholders, their position, location, role, and contact information.  This supporting artifact is from PMGT 502 Effective Communication for Managing Projects 7.4.  The stakeholder register is a part of the project communication plan.  

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