Identify Stakeholders:
Process of identifying, analyzing and documenting stakeholder engagements on a regular basis.
It is a part of Initiation process group.
This process happens at the following times:
- Beginning of the project or when the charter is being prepared.
- At start of each phase
- When significant change happens in the Project.
- When significant change happens in the Organization or Organization hierarchy.
- As and when required through out the life cycle of the project.
Example project Stakeholders for a typical project:
Input: Identify Stakeholders:
Refer to PMBOK
Identify Stakeholders - Tools & Techniques:
TT: Stakeholder analysis: (Data analysis)
Understand needs, expectations, position in organization, levels of support & stakes of major interests inside and outside the project environment.
Analysis of Stakes:
- Interest: (Positive or Negative)
- Rights: (legal or moral) Legal could be regulations or laws of country which needs to be followed. Moral could be non-discrimination, protection of historical structure etc.
- Ownership: Has ownership of property or title.
- Knowledge: Specialist or Expert knowledge or Politically savvy.
- Contribution: Provider of funds, resources, support, advocacy.
Data representation:
TT: Stakeholder Power Interest Impact Influence Grid: (Data representation)
Power/Interest
Power/Influence
Impact/Influence
Power/Interest Grid:
TT: Importance/Influence Grid: (Data representation)
TT: Stakeholder Cube: (Data representation)
- Trip Wire: Low Power, Low Interest, Negative Attitude
- Time Bomb: High Power, Low Interest, Negative Attitude
- Acquaintance: Low Power, Low Interest, Positive Attitude
- Sleeping Giant: High Power, Low Interest, Positive Attitude
- Irritant: Low Power, High Interest, Negative Attitude
- Saboteur: High Power, High Interest, Negative Attitude
- Friend: Low Power, High Interest, Positive Attitude
- Savior: High Power, High Interest, Positive Attitude
TT: Salience model: (Data representation)
Salience Model
TT: Directions of influence: (Data representation)
Classifies stakeholders based on their influence on the project or its deliverable. Managing the expectations and gaining the support of each type of stakeholder depend on understanding how best to manage the relationships described by these categories.
- Upward: Senior manager of performing organization or Customer organization
(CEO, MD), sponsor or steering committee. Generally people or committee who have power to kill the project. - Downward: Team member or SME's contributing knowledge or skills in a temporary capacity.
- Outward: Stakeholders outside of project. E.g. Suppliers, Interest groups, Government departments.
- Side ward: Peers of project manager, or other functional/operational managers who are in competition for scarce resources or who share resources or information.
Outputs: Identify Stakeholders:
O: Stakeholder Register:
Registers the stakeholders Identification Information, Assessment Information and Classification.
O: Change Requests
O: Project Management Plan updates
Requirement management plan
Communication management plan
Risk management plan
Stakeholder engagement plan
O: Project Document updates
Assumption log
Issue log
Risk register
Key stakeholders:
You now need to know more about your key stakeholders. You need to know how they are likely to feel about and react to your project. You also need to know how best to engage them in your project and how best to communicate with them. Key questions that can help you understand your stakeholders are:
- What financial or emotional interest do they have in the outcome of your work? Is it positive or negative?
- What motivates them most of all?
- What information do they want from you?
- How do they want to receive information from you? What is the best way of communicating your message to them?
- What is their current opinion of your work? Is it based on good information?
- Who influences their opinions generally, and who influences their opinion of you? Do some of these influencers therefore become important stakeholders in their own right?
- If they are not likely to be positive, what will win them around to support your project?
- If you don't think you will be able to win them around, how will you manage their opposition?
- Who else might be influenced by their opinions? Do these people become stakeholders in their own right?
