Managing project stakeholders is one thing. Successfully managing project stakeholders is another different thing. Stakeholders are varied as projects themselves. Stakeholders often have competing objectives. Sometimes, these competing objectives are within a single stakeholder!  The project manager who unearths this will be on the road to success.  And like delivering a successful project, successfully managing stakeholders starts with a good foundation.  

Identify Stakeholders 

Start by reviewing who in your immediate circle are or could be stakeholders. Some examples are project sponsor(s), your boss, your boss’s boss, department heads of the departments affected by the project, team members, managers, and other project managers. These are a few categories to explore.   

Identification is just the beginning. Next, we need to classify stakeholders based on their level of influence, interest in the project, and role (e.g., sponsor, team member, end-user).   

 

Understand Stakeholder Needs and Expectations

Reach out to the stakeholders on your list, otherwise known as Engagement Analysis. Determine what each stakeholder expects from the project. This can involve interviews, surveys, or direct conversations. And remember to ask stakeholders if they can think of anyone that should be considered a stakeholder. Repeat the engagement analysis with these newly identified potential stakeholders.  The project manager must be able to articulate risks to each stakeholder and their expectations.  Some of these risks may require special planning or additional tasks to be included in the scope. 

Consolidate the critical needs identified by each stakeholder versus preferences or less crucial requirements. Put simply, look for common comments or expectations and group those. One thing we have experienced is that a critical need by one stakeholder is identified as not so critical to another stakeholder. This is where power/influence comes into play. An escalation plan for the project will also be handy to resolve these conflicts between competing stakeholders of equivalent power and interest. 

Assess Stakeholder Influence and impact

A stakeholder’s title can help establish their power/influence and impact. Sometimes, you may have to discuss stakeholders with management to discover or verify someone’s power/influence. 

There is a balance between ensuring all voices are heard and the idea that some voices are stronger or matter more than others on any given topic.  For example, the person paying for the project has ideas about the project objective that, at large, is perhaps a higher priority in some contexts.   

After you have identified the power/influence of each stakeholder, summarize the data. One way is to use a Salience model. Use a model to prioritize stakeholders based on their power, urgency, and legitimacy. A salience model refers to a computational or theoretical framework used in natural language processing (NLP) and information retrieval to determine the importance or relevance of elements within text or data.  

Develop a Stakeholder Management Plan

A Stakeholder Management Plan consists of four sub-plans or sections: Communication Plan, Engagement Strategy Plan, Plan for Addressing Concerns, and Conflict Resolution Plan. 

  • Communication Plan: Define how, when, and with what frequency you will communicate with each stakeholder. 
  • Engagement Strategy Plan: Determine the level and type of engagement needed for each stakeholder (e.g., regular updates, involvement in decision-making). 
  • Plan for Addressing Concerns: Plan how to manage and address stakeholder concerns. 
  • Conflict Resolution Plan: How conflicts between stakeholders will be handled. One suggestion is to use Mediation, where the project manager acts as a mediator when conflicts arise between stakeholders. Alternatively, the project manager could enlist the project sponsor to mediate. 
  • A second way is Negotiation. The project manager can apply their negotiation skills to find mutually agreeable solutions. Key: Document the conversation and agreement and get both parties to sign.  

Communicate Effectively

This is sometimes a judgment call—whether a project manager communicates effectively to stakeholders. The structure here is to use the plans created and be careful of off-the-cuff comments or statements.  We have seen many project failures due to what we refer to as weasel words that are not clear about the situation or the stakes.  We frequently recommend the book Doublespeak by William Lutz, for examples of how not to communicate. 

Let’s start with Active Listening. Listen actively to stakeholders to understand their perspectives and concerns. Active listening is paying attention to each stakeholder. Don’t think about any bias; they don’t like me; they always have a problem,’ etc. Don’t think about your answer. Hear every word the stakeholder says. Ask questions if you need clarification. 

Adapt your communication styles and content to resonate with different stakeholders and situations.  

Finally, establish channels for stakeholders to provide feedback and ask questions. Feedback is a great way to learn about the communication style of different stakeholders. This will help your development of adjusting communication styles.  

Manage Stakeholder Expectations

One of the issues we have experienced is the initial contact to interview a stakeholder, which may be the first time the stakeholder hears anything about the project. Yes, they may have heard the mention of something going on but probably won’t have the details. So, ensure stakeholders understand project goals, timelines, and constraints from the outset. 

One of the best pieces of information the project manager and the stakeholders can get clear on is what constitutes project success. In the past, we have asked stakeholders, “What would success look like to you?”  Discuss project success. Can you come to an agreement? This action helps gain agreement from stakeholders. 

Monitor and Engage Continuously

Every project should have a status reporting method and calendar. Make sure the stakeholders are included in the distribution and have a way to ask questions. Regular updates should keep stakeholders informed of project progress, milestones, and any changes.  

If issues arise for an update, be proactive in resolving problems or conflicts that may occur among stakeholders. Refer to the Conflict Resolution Plan.  

The Stakeholder Management Plan is a living document. The plan should be adjusted as the project progresses and stakeholder dynamics evolve. 

Evaluate and Adjust

We have found that some stakeholders will have feedback or questions and go to someone other than the project manager. If this happens, go to the particular stakeholder and find out why they are coming directly. It could be as simple as they don’t want to bother you. 

The key is to seek feedback from stakeholders periodically to assess satisfaction and make necessary adjustments. 

Lastly, document lessons learned about stakeholder management for future projects. 

Conclusion 

The three words to remember are: Engage, Expectations, and Execution. Engage the stakeholders, explain your expectations, and request their expectations (in tangible ways – metrics). Execution as you documented you would in the plans, adapting plans and actions as we must.