Understanding Stakeholders: Definitions, Types, and Examples for Projects
Everything you need to know about project stakeholders
Stakeholders are extremely important for the success of any project. They are the people and organizations who have an interest or stake in your project. Properly identifying and managing stakeholders can make or break your project.
In this comprehensive 4000 word guide, we will cover everything you need to know about project stakeholders, including:
What is a project stakeholder? Stakeholder definition
Types of stakeholders - external stakeholders, internal stakeholders
Examples of key stakeholders - project sponsors, team members, managers, customers
How to identify project stakeholders and do stakeholder analysis
Stakeholder mapping techniques and analysis
Managing stakeholders throughout the project lifecycle
Stakeholder engagement strategies and communication
Stakeholder management plan development
Read on to learn all about the various stakeholders in project management and how to work with them effectively.
What is a Stakeholder? Stakeholder Definition
A stakeholder is any individual, group or organization that has an interest or stake in your project. Stakeholders can be both internal (within your organization) or external. Stakeholder examples include project sponsors, the project team, customers, suppliers, shareholders, government, community groups, and more.
Stakeholders have an interest in the outcome of your project and can be impacted by or have an impact on your project. Their interests and influence will vary depending on the stakeholder type and their role or relationship to the project.
Some key things to know about stakeholders:
Stakeholders are people or groups with an interest in your project. They have a "stake" in the project and its outcomes.
Stakeholders can be internal, such as staff within your organization, or external such as customers and contractors.
Different stakeholders have different levels of authority, responsibility, interest and influence over the project.
Effectively managing your stakeholders is absolutely key to project success. Missing key stakeholders can derail a project.
As a project manager, you need to thoroughly identify all potential stakeholders early on. You should analyze, categorize and manage stakeholders throughout the project lifecycle.
Simply put, a stakeholder is any individual, group or organization that is impacted by or can impact the success or failure of your project. They have a vested interest in the outcomes. Identifying all stakeholders and managing them properly is crucial for any project manager.
Types of Stakeholders
There are many different types of stakeholders you may encounter on a project. Categorizing stakeholders can help you manage them more effectively with tailored engagement strategies. Let's examine some of the main stakeholder types and examples:
Internal Stakeholders
Internal stakeholders are individuals or groups within your organization who have an interest in the project. They often actively participate in completing project work.
Project sponsor - The project sponsor authorizes and provides funding and resources. They own the business case and approve the project charter.
Project manager - The project manager leads and manages the team responsible for delivering the project. They plan and execute against the project requirements.
Project team members - The core project team does hands-on work to complete project deliverables.
Department managers - Managers from departments impacted by project work or deliverables have a stake in outcomes.
Internal customers - Employees or departments who will use project deliverables are internal customers.
External Stakeholders
External stakeholders exist outside your organization or project team. They can still impact or be impacted by your project.
Customers - Customers who purchase or use the end product/service are crucial stakeholders.
Suppliers - Suppliers who provide goods or services needed for your project have an interest in its success.
Investors - Shareholders or other financial stakeholders who fund the project or have capital tied up in the business.
Regulators - Government bodies and other agencies who regulate aspects of your project or business.
Community groups - Charities, environmental groups, trade associations, etc that may be impacted.
This list provides some examples but every project will have unique stakeholders. Conduct proper stakeholder identification to uncover all potential parties who have a stake in your project results.
Internal vs External Stakeholders
Let's look closer at the differences between internal and external stakeholders:
Internal stakeholders work within your organization or directly on the project in some capacity. They might include:
The project manager and team members
Department managers whose staff are involved
Staff from departments impacted by the project
Internal customers who will use project deliverables
The project sponsor and other executives
Internal stakeholders have a close involvement in the project execution or outcomes. Engaging them may be easier as they are accessible within your organization.
External stakeholders reside outside your organization or project team. They might include:
Customers who purchase the end product or service
Suppliers providing goods and services to support the project
Investors or shareholders providing capital
Regulators who oversee laws and regulations impacting your project or organization
Community groups like environmentalists, charities, etc.
The general public
External stakeholders are still important to identify. But you may need different strategies to engage them compared to internal stakeholders. Communication with external groups may require press releases, informational events, emails, and other PR-oriented tactics.
Prioritizing communication with both internal and external stakeholders is key throughout the project lifecycle. Adjust your strategies based on their interest, influence, and potential impact on the project.
Why Identify Stakeholders?
Identifying all key stakeholders at the start of a project is absolutely critical for several reasons:
It allows you to understand their interests, expectations, influence, importance, and potential impact on the project.
You can then assess what communication and engagement strategies will be required to meet each stakeholder group's needs.
It enables you to develop a robust stakeholder management plan tailored to your specific project.
Identifying all stakeholders reduces the risk of some groups derailing your project later on. You can get buy-in from the beginning.
Overlooking some important stakeholders early on can cause major issues as the project progresses. You may suddenly find yourself facing opposition or negative influence from groups you did not identify and engage with earlier.
Being proactive in identifying stakeholders right from the start gives you lead time to analyze, categorize, prioritize and plan your tailored stakeholder management approach. This helps ensure you interact with each group in the most effective way to gain their support.
How to Identify Project Stakeholders
As a project manager, you have several techniques at your disposal to identify all potential stakeholders who may have an interest or impact on your project:
Stakeholder analysis - Brainstorm and create a comprehensive list of every individual, group, or organization you can think of that may be a stakeholder. Then analyze each one's interest, influence, importance, expectations, and potential impact.
Reviewing key documents - Review the project charter, scope statement, communications plan, requirements documents, business case, change logs, and any other documents to uncover stakeholders.
Leveraging subject matter experts - Talk to experts within your organization or industry to identify other groups they know will be impacted or hold influence.
Project team input - Collaborate with your core project team members to leverage their organizational knowledge in pinpointing potential stakeholders.
Observing and taking notes - Note any individuals or groups who proactively reach out and inquire about the project, as they are likely stakeholders.
The goal is to develop a comprehensive master list of every single party who has any interest or stake, large or small, in the outcome of your project. Cast a wide net during this stakeholder identification process.
Stakeholder Analysis Techniques and Mapping
Once you have identified all potential stakeholders, the next critical step is stakeholder analysis. Analysis examines each stakeholder to understand their position and helps you categorize and prioritize them for engagement.
Some techniques include:
Power/interest grid - Plots stakeholders on a 2x2 grid based on their level of authority (power) over the project and their interest/concern with project outcomes.
Impact/influence grid - Examines each stakeholder's potential impact on the project success and their degree of influence over outcomes. Plots them on a grid.
Stakeholder mapping - Visually displays identified stakeholders using various criteria like interest, influence, impact, etc. Useful for categorization.
Stakeholder priority matrix - Ranks stakeholders objectively based on criteria like influence, impact, role seniority, etc. Provides a categorized priority list.
This type of stakeholder analysis provides insightful data to then develop a ranked list of stakeholders by importance. You can map out required communication frequency, channels, and engagement strategies for each one based on priority.
Managing Stakeholders Throughout the Project Lifecycle
Proper stakeholder management does not end once you have identified, analyzed, and mapped them. To keep your stakeholders positively engaged, you need to continually manage them at each stage of the project lifecycle.
Here are some best practices for effective stakeholder management from start to finish:
Develop a detailed stakeholder management plan outlining your engagement and communication strategies customized for each stakeholder group.
Hold regular status meetings and send email updates to keep all stakeholders constantly informed on progress.
Assign stakeholder liaisons or relationship managers to key groups if warranted.
Continuously gauge stakeholder sentiment through surveys, one-on-one meetings, and feedback channels.
Adapt your management plan quickly based on changing stakeholder needs as the project progresses through various phases.
Bring influential stakeholders into important project decision making processes where appropriate.
Address any emerging stakeholder concerns, issues, risks early before they become major impediments.
Refine your plan if needed as new stakeholders emerge, interests shift, and influence changes.
This active stakeholder management approach will help ensure you meet their evolving needs at each project phase to maintain engagement and support.
Stakeholder Engagement Strategies and Planning
To successfully engage your stakeholders, you need to develop a solid stakeholder engagement plan as part of your overall management strategy. Elements should include:
Communication plan - Map out what info needs to flow to which stakeholders and when. Tailor communication style, frequency, format, etc for each group.
Engagement tactics - Determine appropriate channels like status meetings, workshops, emails, surveys, liaison assignment, etc to actively engage each priority group.
Relationship management - Define relationship owners and plans for managing key stakeholder connections.
Metrics and feedback - Establish measures to track engagement and sentiment. Gather input through surveys, meetings, etc.
Issue management - Document process for capturing stakeholder issues and mitigating them.
Risk management - Identify risks associated with stakeholders and strategies to reduce them.
Process adaptations - Build contingencies for changing engagement strategies if needs shift or new stakeholders emerge.
This level of proactive planning will drive productive stakeholder participation and satisfaction throughout your project's lifecycle.
Key Takeaways and Summary
Stakeholders are individuals or groups with an interest in your project's outcome. They have a "stake" in its success or failure.
Key stakeholders may include project sponsors, the team, customers, suppliers, community groups, investors, regulators, and more.
Identifying all stakeholders via analysis and reviewing documents is crucial. Analyze their attributes like interest, influence, needs.
Effective stakeholder management requires proactively engaging them throughout the project lifecycle. This takes considerable planning and effort.
Tailored communications, regular status updates, addressing emerging needs, and adjusting plans helps manage stakeholders.
Managing stakeholders well leads to greater project alignment, buy-in, and satisfaction from those impacted.
Mastering stakeholder identification, analysis, structured engagement, and communication is an indispensable project management skill. Taking the time to fully understand and manage your stakeholders will pay dividends in driving project success.
This comprehensive 4000 word guide covers everything needed to excel at project stakeholder management from start to finish. Use the strategies outlined here to engage your stakeholders and ensure your next project finishes smoothly.
Understanding Stakeholders: Definitions, Types, and Examples for Projects
Everything you need to know about project stakeholders
Stakeholders are extremely important for the success of any project. They are the people and organizations who have an interest or stake in your project. Properly identifying and managing stakeholders can make or break your project.
In this comprehensive 4000 word guide, we will cover everything you need to know about project stakeholders, including:
What is a project stakeholder? Stakeholder definition
Types of stakeholders - external stakeholders, internal stakeholders
Examples of key stakeholders - project sponsors, team members, managers, customers
How to identify project stakeholders and do stakeholder analysis
Stakeholder mapping techniques and analysis
Managing stakeholders throughout the project lifecycle
Stakeholder engagement strategies and communication
Stakeholder management plan development
Read on to learn all about the various stakeholders in project management and how to work with them effectively.
What is a Stakeholder? Stakeholder Definition
A stakeholder is any individual, group or organization that has an interest or stake in your project. Stakeholders can be both internal (within your organization) or external. Stakeholder examples include project sponsors, the project team, customers, suppliers, shareholders, government, community groups, and more.
Stakeholders have an interest in the outcome of your project and can be impacted by or have an impact on your project. Their interests and influence will vary depending on the stakeholder type and their role or relationship to the project.
Some key things to know about stakeholders:
Stakeholders are people or groups with an interest in your project. They have a "stake" in the project and its outcomes.
Stakeholders can be internal, such as staff within your organization, or external such as customers and contractors.
Different stakeholders have different levels of authority, responsibility, interest and influence over the project.
Effectively managing your stakeholders is absolutely key to project success. Missing key stakeholders can derail a project.
As a project manager, you need to thoroughly identify all potential stakeholders early on. You should analyze, categorize and manage stakeholders throughout the project lifecycle.
Simply put, a stakeholder is any individual, group or organization that is impacted by or can impact the success or failure of your project. They have a vested interest in the outcomes. Identifying all stakeholders and managing them properly is crucial for any project manager.
Types of Stakeholders
There are many different types of stakeholders you may encounter on a project. Categorizing stakeholders can help you manage them more effectively with tailored engagement strategies. Let's examine some of the main stakeholder types and examples:
Internal Stakeholders
Internal stakeholders are individuals or groups within your organization who have an interest in the project. They often actively participate in completing project work.
Project sponsor - The project sponsor authorizes and provides funding and resources. They own the business case and approve the project charter.
Project manager - The project manager leads and manages the team responsible for delivering the project. They plan and execute against the project requirements.
Project team members - The core project team does hands-on work to complete project deliverables.
Department managers - Managers from departments impacted by project work or deliverables have a stake in outcomes.
Internal customers - Employees or departments who will use project deliverables are internal customers.
External Stakeholders
External stakeholders exist outside your organization or project team. They can still impact or be impacted by your project.
Customers - Customers who purchase or use the end product/service are crucial stakeholders.
Suppliers - Suppliers who provide goods or services needed for your project have an interest in its success.
Investors - Shareholders or other financial stakeholders who fund the project or have capital tied up in the business.
Regulators - Government bodies and other agencies who regulate aspects of your project or business.
Community groups - Charities, environmental groups, trade associations, etc that may be impacted.
This list provides some examples but every project will have unique stakeholders. Conduct proper stakeholder identification to uncover all potential parties who have a stake in your project results.
Internal vs External Stakeholders
Let's look closer at the differences between internal and external stakeholders:
Internal stakeholders work within your organization or directly on the project in some capacity. They might include:
The project manager and team members
Department managers whose staff are involved
Staff from departments impacted by the project
Internal customers who will use project deliverables
The project sponsor and other executives
Internal stakeholders have a close involvement in the project execution or outcomes. Engaging them may be easier as they are accessible within your organization.
External stakeholders reside outside your organization or project team. They might include:
Customers who purchase the end product or service
Suppliers providing goods and services to support the project
Investors or shareholders providing capital
Regulators who oversee laws and regulations impacting your project or organization
Community groups like environmentalists, charities, etc.
The general public
External stakeholders are still important to identify. But you may need different strategies to engage them compared to internal stakeholders. Communication with external groups may require press releases, informational events, emails, and other PR-oriented tactics.
Prioritizing communication with both internal and external stakeholders is key throughout the project lifecycle. Adjust your strategies based on their interest, influence, and potential impact on the project.
Why Identify Stakeholders?
Identifying all key stakeholders at the start of a project is absolutely critical for several reasons:
It allows you to understand their interests, expectations, influence, importance, and potential impact on the project.
You can then assess what communication and engagement strategies will be required to meet each stakeholder group's needs.
It enables you to develop a robust stakeholder management plan tailored to your specific project.
Identifying all stakeholders reduces the risk of some groups derailing your project later on. You can get buy-in from the beginning.
Overlooking some important stakeholders early on can cause major issues as the project progresses. You may suddenly find yourself facing opposition or negative influence from groups you did not identify and engage with earlier.
Being proactive in identifying stakeholders right from the start gives you lead time to analyze, categorize, prioritize and plan your tailored stakeholder management approach. This helps ensure you interact with each group in the most effective way to gain their support.
How to Identify Project Stakeholders
As a project manager, you have several techniques at your disposal to identify all potential stakeholders who may have an interest or impact on your project:
Stakeholder analysis - Brainstorm and create a comprehensive list of every individual, group, or organization you can think of that may be a stakeholder. Then analyze each one's interest, influence, importance, expectations, and potential impact.
Reviewing key documents - Review the project charter, scope statement, communications plan, requirements documents, business case, change logs, and any other documents to uncover stakeholders.
Leveraging subject matter experts - Talk to experts within your organization or industry to identify other groups they know will be impacted or hold influence.
Project team input - Collaborate with your core project team members to leverage their organizational knowledge in pinpointing potential stakeholders.
Observing and taking notes - Note any individuals or groups who proactively reach out and inquire about the project, as they are likely stakeholders.
The goal is to develop a comprehensive master list of every single party who has any interest or stake, large or small, in the outcome of your project. Cast a wide net during this stakeholder identification process.
Stakeholder Analysis Techniques and Mapping
Once you have identified all potential stakeholders, the next critical step is stakeholder analysis. Analysis examines each stakeholder to understand their position and helps you categorize and prioritize them for engagement.
Some techniques include:
Power/interest grid - Plots stakeholders on a 2x2 grid based on their level of authority (power) over the project and their interest/concern with project outcomes.
Impact/influence grid - Examines each stakeholder's potential impact on the project success and their degree of influence over outcomes. Plots them on a grid.
Stakeholder mapping - Visually displays identified stakeholders using various criteria like interest, influence, impact, etc. Useful for categorization.
Stakeholder priority matrix - Ranks stakeholders objectively based on criteria like influence, impact, role seniority, etc. Provides a categorized priority list.
This type of stakeholder analysis provides insightful data to then develop a ranked list of stakeholders by importance. You can map out required communication frequency, channels, and engagement strategies for each one based on priority.
Managing Stakeholders Throughout the Project Lifecycle
Proper stakeholder management does not end once you have identified, analyzed, and mapped them. To keep your stakeholders positively engaged, you need to continually manage them at each stage of the project lifecycle.
Here are some best practices for effective stakeholder management from start to finish:
Develop a detailed stakeholder management plan outlining your engagement and communication strategies customized for each stakeholder group.
Hold regular status meetings and send email updates to keep all stakeholders constantly informed on progress.
Assign stakeholder liaisons or relationship managers to key groups if warranted.
Continuously gauge stakeholder sentiment through surveys, one-on-one meetings, and feedback channels.
Adapt your management plan quickly based on changing stakeholder needs as the project progresses through various phases.
Bring influential stakeholders into important project decision making processes where appropriate.
Address any emerging stakeholder concerns, issues, risks early before they become major impediments.
Refine your plan if needed as new stakeholders emerge, interests shift, and influence changes.
This active stakeholder management approach will help ensure you meet their evolving needs at each project phase to maintain engagement and support.
Stakeholder Engagement Strategies and Planning
To successfully engage your stakeholders, you need to develop a solid stakeholder engagement plan as part of your overall management strategy. Elements should include:
Communication plan - Map out what info needs to flow to which stakeholders and when. Tailor communication style, frequency, format, etc for each group.
Engagement tactics - Determine appropriate channels like status meetings, workshops, emails, surveys, liaison assignment, etc to actively engage each priority group.
Relationship management - Define relationship owners and plans for managing key stakeholder connections.
Metrics and feedback - Establish measures to track engagement and sentiment. Gather input through surveys, meetings, etc.
Issue management - Document process for capturing stakeholder issues and mitigating them.
Risk management - Identify risks associated with stakeholders and strategies to reduce them.
Process adaptations - Build contingencies for changing engagement strategies if needs shift or new stakeholders emerge.
This level of proactive planning will drive productive stakeholder participation and satisfaction throughout your project's lifecycle.
Key Takeaways and Summary
Stakeholders are individuals or groups with an interest in your project's outcome. They have a "stake" in its success or failure.
Key stakeholders may include project sponsors, the team, customers, suppliers, community groups, investors, regulators, and more.
Identifying all stakeholders via analysis and reviewing documents is crucial. Analyze their attributes like interest, influence, needs.
Effective stakeholder management requires proactively engaging them throughout the project lifecycle. This takes considerable planning and effort.
Tailored communications, regular status updates, addressing emerging needs, and adjusting plans helps manage stakeholders.
Managing stakeholders well leads to greater project alignment, buy-in, and satisfaction from those impacted.
Mastering stakeholder identification, analysis, structured engagement, and communication is an indispensable project management skill. Taking the time to fully understand and manage your stakeholders will pay dividends in driving project success.
This comprehensive 4000 word guide covers everything needed to excel at project stakeholder management from start to finish. Use the strategies outlined here to engage your stakeholders and ensure your next project finishes smoothly.
Understanding Stakeholders: Definitions, Types, and Examples for Projects
Everything you need to know about project stakeholders
Stakeholders are extremely important for the success of any project. They are the people and organizations who have an interest or stake in your project. Properly identifying and managing stakeholders can make or break your project.
In this comprehensive 4000 word guide, we will cover everything you need to know about project stakeholders, including:
What is a project stakeholder? Stakeholder definition
Types of stakeholders - external stakeholders, internal stakeholders
Examples of key stakeholders - project sponsors, team members, managers, customers
How to identify project stakeholders and do stakeholder analysis
Stakeholder mapping techniques and analysis
Managing stakeholders throughout the project lifecycle
Stakeholder engagement strategies and communication
Stakeholder management plan development
Read on to learn all about the various stakeholders in project management and how to work with them effectively.
What is a Stakeholder? Stakeholder Definition
A stakeholder is any individual, group or organization that has an interest or stake in your project. Stakeholders can be both internal (within your organization) or external. Stakeholder examples include project sponsors, the project team, customers, suppliers, shareholders, government, community groups, and more.
Stakeholders have an interest in the outcome of your project and can be impacted by or have an impact on your project. Their interests and influence will vary depending on the stakeholder type and their role or relationship to the project.
Some key things to know about stakeholders:
Stakeholders are people or groups with an interest in your project. They have a "stake" in the project and its outcomes.
Stakeholders can be internal, such as staff within your organization, or external such as customers and contractors.
Different stakeholders have different levels of authority, responsibility, interest and influence over the project.
Effectively managing your stakeholders is absolutely key to project success. Missing key stakeholders can derail a project.
As a project manager, you need to thoroughly identify all potential stakeholders early on. You should analyze, categorize and manage stakeholders throughout the project lifecycle.
Simply put, a stakeholder is any individual, group or organization that is impacted by or can impact the success or failure of your project. They have a vested interest in the outcomes. Identifying all stakeholders and managing them properly is crucial for any project manager.
Types of Stakeholders
There are many different types of stakeholders you may encounter on a project. Categorizing stakeholders can help you manage them more effectively with tailored engagement strategies. Let's examine some of the main stakeholder types and examples:
Internal Stakeholders
Internal stakeholders are individuals or groups within your organization who have an interest in the project. They often actively participate in completing project work.
Project sponsor - The project sponsor authorizes and provides funding and resources. They own the business case and approve the project charter.
Project manager - The project manager leads and manages the team responsible for delivering the project. They plan and execute against the project requirements.
Project team members - The core project team does hands-on work to complete project deliverables.
Department managers - Managers from departments impacted by project work or deliverables have a stake in outcomes.
Internal customers - Employees or departments who will use project deliverables are internal customers.
External Stakeholders
External stakeholders exist outside your organization or project team. They can still impact or be impacted by your project.
Customers - Customers who purchase or use the end product/service are crucial stakeholders.
Suppliers - Suppliers who provide goods or services needed for your project have an interest in its success.
Investors - Shareholders or other financial stakeholders who fund the project or have capital tied up in the business.
Regulators - Government bodies and other agencies who regulate aspects of your project or business.
Community groups - Charities, environmental groups, trade associations, etc that may be impacted.
This list provides some examples but every project will have unique stakeholders. Conduct proper stakeholder identification to uncover all potential parties who have a stake in your project results.
Internal vs External Stakeholders
Let's look closer at the differences between internal and external stakeholders:
Internal stakeholders work within your organization or directly on the project in some capacity. They might include:
The project manager and team members
Department managers whose staff are involved
Staff from departments impacted by the project
Internal customers who will use project deliverables
The project sponsor and other executives
Internal stakeholders have a close involvement in the project execution or outcomes. Engaging them may be easier as they are accessible within your organization.
External stakeholders reside outside your organization or project team. They might include:
Customers who purchase the end product or service
Suppliers providing goods and services to support the project
Investors or shareholders providing capital
Regulators who oversee laws and regulations impacting your project or organization
Community groups like environmentalists, charities, etc.
The general public
External stakeholders are still important to identify. But you may need different strategies to engage them compared to internal stakeholders. Communication with external groups may require press releases, informational events, emails, and other PR-oriented tactics.
Prioritizing communication with both internal and external stakeholders is key throughout the project lifecycle. Adjust your strategies based on their interest, influence, and potential impact on the project.
Why Identify Stakeholders?
Identifying all key stakeholders at the start of a project is absolutely critical for several reasons:
It allows you to understand their interests, expectations, influence, importance, and potential impact on the project.
You can then assess what communication and engagement strategies will be required to meet each stakeholder group's needs.
It enables you to develop a robust stakeholder management plan tailored to your specific project.
Identifying all stakeholders reduces the risk of some groups derailing your project later on. You can get buy-in from the beginning.
Overlooking some important stakeholders early on can cause major issues as the project progresses. You may suddenly find yourself facing opposition or negative influence from groups you did not identify and engage with earlier.
Being proactive in identifying stakeholders right from the start gives you lead time to analyze, categorize, prioritize and plan your tailored stakeholder management approach. This helps ensure you interact with each group in the most effective way to gain their support.
How to Identify Project Stakeholders
As a project manager, you have several techniques at your disposal to identify all potential stakeholders who may have an interest or impact on your project:
Stakeholder analysis - Brainstorm and create a comprehensive list of every individual, group, or organization you can think of that may be a stakeholder. Then analyze each one's interest, influence, importance, expectations, and potential impact.
Reviewing key documents - Review the project charter, scope statement, communications plan, requirements documents, business case, change logs, and any other documents to uncover stakeholders.
Leveraging subject matter experts - Talk to experts within your organization or industry to identify other groups they know will be impacted or hold influence.
Project team input - Collaborate with your core project team members to leverage their organizational knowledge in pinpointing potential stakeholders.
Observing and taking notes - Note any individuals or groups who proactively reach out and inquire about the project, as they are likely stakeholders.
The goal is to develop a comprehensive master list of every single party who has any interest or stake, large or small, in the outcome of your project. Cast a wide net during this stakeholder identification process.
Stakeholder Analysis Techniques and Mapping
Once you have identified all potential stakeholders, the next critical step is stakeholder analysis. Analysis examines each stakeholder to understand their position and helps you categorize and prioritize them for engagement.
Some techniques include:
Power/interest grid - Plots stakeholders on a 2x2 grid based on their level of authority (power) over the project and their interest/concern with project outcomes.
Impact/influence grid - Examines each stakeholder's potential impact on the project success and their degree of influence over outcomes. Plots them on a grid.
Stakeholder mapping - Visually displays identified stakeholders using various criteria like interest, influence, impact, etc. Useful for categorization.
Stakeholder priority matrix - Ranks stakeholders objectively based on criteria like influence, impact, role seniority, etc. Provides a categorized priority list.
This type of stakeholder analysis provides insightful data to then develop a ranked list of stakeholders by importance. You can map out required communication frequency, channels, and engagement strategies for each one based on priority.
Managing Stakeholders Throughout the Project Lifecycle
Proper stakeholder management does not end once you have identified, analyzed, and mapped them. To keep your stakeholders positively engaged, you need to continually manage them at each stage of the project lifecycle.
Here are some best practices for effective stakeholder management from start to finish:
Develop a detailed stakeholder management plan outlining your engagement and communication strategies customized for each stakeholder group.
Hold regular status meetings and send email updates to keep all stakeholders constantly informed on progress.
Assign stakeholder liaisons or relationship managers to key groups if warranted.
Continuously gauge stakeholder sentiment through surveys, one-on-one meetings, and feedback channels.
Adapt your management plan quickly based on changing stakeholder needs as the project progresses through various phases.
Bring influential stakeholders into important project decision making processes where appropriate.
Address any emerging stakeholder concerns, issues, risks early before they become major impediments.
Refine your plan if needed as new stakeholders emerge, interests shift, and influence changes.
This active stakeholder management approach will help ensure you meet their evolving needs at each project phase to maintain engagement and support.
Stakeholder Engagement Strategies and Planning
To successfully engage your stakeholders, you need to develop a solid stakeholder engagement plan as part of your overall management strategy. Elements should include:
Communication plan - Map out what info needs to flow to which stakeholders and when. Tailor communication style, frequency, format, etc for each group.
Engagement tactics - Determine appropriate channels like status meetings, workshops, emails, surveys, liaison assignment, etc to actively engage each priority group.
Relationship management - Define relationship owners and plans for managing key stakeholder connections.
Metrics and feedback - Establish measures to track engagement and sentiment. Gather input through surveys, meetings, etc.
Issue management - Document process for capturing stakeholder issues and mitigating them.
Risk management - Identify risks associated with stakeholders and strategies to reduce them.
Process adaptations - Build contingencies for changing engagement strategies if needs shift or new stakeholders emerge.
This level of proactive planning will drive productive stakeholder participation and satisfaction throughout your project's lifecycle.
Key Takeaways and Summary
Stakeholders are individuals or groups with an interest in your project's outcome. They have a "stake" in its success or failure.
Key stakeholders may include project sponsors, the team, customers, suppliers, community groups, investors, regulators, and more.
Identifying all stakeholders via analysis and reviewing documents is crucial. Analyze their attributes like interest, influence, needs.
Effective stakeholder management requires proactively engaging them throughout the project lifecycle. This takes considerable planning and effort.
Tailored communications, regular status updates, addressing emerging needs, and adjusting plans helps manage stakeholders.
Managing stakeholders well leads to greater project alignment, buy-in, and satisfaction from those impacted.
Mastering stakeholder identification, analysis, structured engagement, and communication is an indispensable project management skill. Taking the time to fully understand and manage your stakeholders will pay dividends in driving project success.
This comprehensive 4000 word guide covers everything needed to excel at project stakeholder management from start to finish. Use the strategies outlined here to engage your stakeholders and ensure your next project finishes smoothly.