Stakeholder Identification

Why do I need to identify the stakeholders, and who might they be?

Examples of external stakeholders

Other stakeholders - 1

The project manager must recognize

·         The existence of other stakeholders

·         I.e. other than those directly associated with the project team

·         And who can affect the project outcome

·         The diagram on page 2 showed some examples

·         E.g. the public, regulators, the competition and those with special interests

·         For example, software project stakeholders include

·         Users of the software

·         Customers who will buy it, and

·         Investors who pay for the development

Other stakeholders - 2

These stakeholders

·         May have direct influence over the project

·         Such as the public and regulators

·         Who benefit from the project results

·         Or they may be constituents

·         Who are affected by it indirectly

·         By changes in work or leisure opportunities

·         And who may also represent opposition

·         The question is

·         How do you know?

Stakeholder identification

When the project community is quite large

·         It is vital to know

·         Who is, and who is not, important

·         From the perspective of influence

·         On the project's success

·         You have an opportunity to improve both the perception and reception of the project

·         And establish a more comprehensive scope

·         By learning about the various stakeholders

·         As described in the steps that follow

Steps to stakeholder identification - 1

Step 1

·         Survey the project's public (people environment)

Step 2

·         Get to know the real nature of each group's business

·         And hence their interest in the project

Step 3

·         Understand their behavior and motivation

·         And how they might react to various approaches

Steps to stakeholder identification - 2

Step 4

·         Pinpoint the main characteristics of each group

·         And develop responses designed to establish a good relationship

·         Some people like to be involved, others don't

·         Most people like to be kept informed, a few don't

·         Almost everyone wants to know if their pocket book will be affected !

Steps to stakeholder identification - 3

Step 5

·         Determine which group, therefore, will have the most impact on the successful perception of the project upon completion

·         And develop an acceptance plan aimed at managing and meeting external stakeholder interests

·         Most people are willing to put up with some inconvenience

·         If they will ultimately benefit

·         Or at least know about the inconvenience in advance

Steps to stakeholder identification - 4

Step 6

·         Always be alert for any "fatal flaw"

·         That could be found by even a minor stakeholder group

·         And bring the project to a standstill !