Changes

As project management has grown as a profession over the years, we’ve seen that projects may vary widely in scope, cost, and timelines. While there is great variety in these areas, projects also share a similarity in many other areas. One area in which all projects share similarity is the area of stakeholders and stakeholder management. What is a stakeholder? Who is a stakeholder? How do we identify and manage stakeholders? The answers to these questions are an important part of successfully managing any project regardless of its complexity

Depending on the complexity and scope of a project there may be very few or extremely large numbers of stakeholders. A project may be a part of a city or county public works department and may include all members of the community as stakeholders and number in the thousands. In determining what a stakeholder is, it is important that we consider anyone who may fall into any of these categories. As we move on toward stakeholder identification we must analyze the project landscape and determine what individuals or groups can influence and affect the project or be affected by its performance and outcome.

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<li>The project manager, sponsor, and team</li>

Many times a project team will create the stakeholder analysis by using the stakeholder register and simply adding a greater level of detail to each entry. It is recommended to leave these documents separate and create a stakeholder analysis independent of the register. The analysis may contain information that should not be distributed freely to all of the stakeholders as the register should be. In addition to the general information contained in the stakeholder register, the stakeholder analysis contains.

Stakeholder Management is where you will use all of the information you’ve collected and develop a strategy to manage stakeholders. No matter how much you plan or how invested you are in a project, poor stakeholder management can easily cause a project to fail. It is a key component of executing and completing a successful project. A large portion of stakeholder management focuses on communication.

By understanding what a stakeholder is and using a thorough and systematic approach to Stakeholder Identification, Analysis, and Management, a project manager can significantly improve his or her chances of success. As projects become more complex and involved, so does managing their stakeholders. It is easy to lose track or omit key project players and by not properly utilizing these processes and tools project managers will lose their ability to effectively communicate with stakeholders in a manner necessary to ensure a successful project.