Stakeholders on a Project

 

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Stakeholder Defined

  • Stakeholders are those who have a stake or an interest in a project or strategy undertaken by a company or an organization.
  • They will be affected in some way be the project and so have an interest in influencing it.
  • They may benefit from the project and so will be supportive and positive about it;
  • Conversely, the project may damage their interests or they may perceive it will have a negative outcome for them so they will seek to stop it or, at the very least, project it in a bad light.

Stakeholder communication and management is critical to a project’s success. The first step is knowing who your stakeholders are and how they may influence your project. 

 

Types of Stakeholders

Sponsor:

  • Role:  Funds/Requests the Project.  Usually an executive from the department that requests the project and whose budget the costs will be paid.
  • Area of Influence:  They're closely involved in the project's performance and will require regular status updates.

Customers:

  • Role: Fellow employees or external consumers that will benefit from the project’s success.
  • Area of Influence:  Asking for Customer Feedback is a great way to help make decisions about the project.  Their input will have a direct influence on project decisions.

End Users:

  • Role: Interested in your project’s outcome.
  • Area of Influence:  End User demos and feedback can help focus the development process.

Project Team Members:

  • Role: Perform the project work.
  • Area of Influence:  They can greatly affect a project’s progress and outcome.

Keep in mind your stakeholders could either be very positive about this project, very negative about the project or somewhere along the spectrum of very positive to very negative.  Knowing where each group/person lies will help in managing them throughout the project.

 

Stakeholder Management

Managing Positive Stakeholders:

  • Provide information to maintain their support
  • Consult with them prior to taking project decisions
  • Meet with them regularly
  • Consult with them, involve them and seek to build their confidence in the project and the team
  • Encourage them to act as advocates for the project
  • Nurture them, look after them, they are critically important to you and to the project

Managing Negative Stakeholders:

  • Attempt to develop their support and change their view by ensuring they fully understand the project and the benefits it will deliver. Their resistance maybe due to lack of information or understanding.
  • Attempt to build their confidence in you and in the team.
  • Find out what is important to them, if you can help them out or minimize negative impact on them they may be more helpful.
  • Demonstrate that you are doing your best to limit adverse effects on them.
  • Counter any negative influence they may have on others.

Keep in mind that a stakeholder can switch from being positive to negative and vice versa.  Always keep a watch on how things are progressing and if there are any sudden changes that need to be addressed.

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