Understanding Project Stakeholders in Project Management

Project Stakeholders LOOM.02.124 Project Management by Dr. Kairi P ldsaar

In this lecture, we will answer the following questions: Definition of a project stakeholder? What is a project stakeholder in project managment? Who are the stakeholders in a project? How to do stakeholder analysis? How to manage your project stakeholders?

According to the Project Management Institute, project stakeholders are defined as: Individuals and organizations who are actively involved in the project, or whose interests may be positively or negatively affected as a result of project execution or successful project completion. Definition of a project stakeholder? In other words, your project s stakeholders are the people or groups who have something to gain (or lose) from your project s outcome

Some notes on that! A stakeholder is anyone with an interest or investment in your project Your stakeholders are a varied group, with varied interests The list or importance of stakeholders can change throughout the project s journey Stakeholder happiness is one of thekey metrics of a successful project Managing those complex stakeholder relationships is one of thekey skills of a project manager

Heres what you need to know about your stakeholders: who they are what they do why they matter and how to work with them How to start off?

Who are the stakeholders in a project? A stakeholder is anyone with an interest or investment in your project The list is always longer than tought at first!

1) Internal stakeholders Team members, managers, executives and so on (from within the house!!) 2) Extenral stakeholders People or groups from outside the house customers, users, suppliers, investors, government and so on Types of stakeholders

https://www.invensislearning.com/articles/pmp/who-are-project-stakeholders-and-why-are-they-important-for-a-projecthttps://www.invensislearning.com/articles/pmp/who-are-project-stakeholders-and-why-are-they-important-for-a-project

How to know which stakeholders you need to focus in your projects? Stakeholder analysis

Stakeholder analysis IDENTIFY IDENTIFY stakeholders PRIORITIZE PRIORITIZE them UNDERSTAND UNDERSTAND their needs and wants

IDENTIFYING stakeholders Presuming that you have done a thorough POS previously compile a full list of your project stakeholders (both internal and external) Remember! Some of the stakeholders will not come to the picture until the later phases of the project

PRIORITIZING stakeholders It helps to understand where to invest your resources Who are the key decision makers at any given moment so you can be sure that you are talking to a right person, at the right time You can use: POWER/INTEREST grid or IMPACT/INFLUENCE grid

Answer these questions: 1) What level of power do they have? (How important is it that they are happy with your projects progress and results?) 1) What level of interest do they have? (Is this project super- important to them? Are they directly accountable for it? Are they opposed to the project or concerned about it in some way?)

LATENTS Put enough effort to keep them satisfied address their concerns Make sure not to over- communicate, they are not interested to the fullest details of your project PROMOTERS Make the greatest effort to satisfy involve them extensively Communicate regularly Make sure they are on your side! TOP PRIORITY! HANDLE WITH CARE! APATHETICS Keep in touch, but not too often keep them informed Make sure there aren t any problems LOW PRIORITY DEFENDERS Keep them adequately informed involve them as needed Make sure no issues are arising They are interested in and possess helpful details NEED HELP TO PARTICIPATE

UNDERSTAND the stakeholders Key stakeholders Face-to-face interviews or conversations What their definition of project success looks like Any concerns or reservations they have about the project or its outcomes What their expectations for the project are What impact a positiive or negative project outcome have on them Whether there are any anticipated conflicts of interest with other stakeholders that you need to be aware of Bigger Picture, communication style, building relationships

MANAGE stakeholders Your key stakeholders requirements, objectives, and happiness is your ONGOING concern though the project Re-balancing their expectations when needed and as all agreed at the beginning Document each stakeholders needs and roles (and share it with all)! Communicate with your stakeholders (keep them informed, included and inspired!) NB! Avoid over-communication as well as under-communication Give stakeholders visibility over what matters to them

As a conclusion Stakeholders are people who get affected by your project or have any kind of interest in it They can be internal, external, positive, negative, high power, low power, etc. To complete your project successfully you must manage all these stakeholders and fulfill their prospects. If you fail to do so, your project may get jeopardized.

ASSIGNMENT 4 Do the stakeholder analysis as a group-work Prepare an organised list of your results. Clearly distinguishing between key stakeholders and other groups! See the examples on the course webpage (under assignment 4 )