Part 53: Project Stakeholder Management Processes

Project Stakeholder Management

  • Identify Stakeholders
    • KEY BENEFIT: Allows the project manager to identify the appropriate focus for each stakeholder or stakeholder group
    • In this process, we
      • Identify the stakeholders
      • nalyse & keep track of the interests, involvement, influence, and potential impact of each stakeholder
      • Classify stakeholders according to their interest, influence, and involvement
    • Remember that
      • Stakeholders are people, groups, and organizations that could be impacted by, or could impact, a decision, activity, or outcome of the project
      • A stakeholder has interests that are affected by the project
      • Stakeholders may be inside or outside the organization
      • Sometimes a stakeholder’s influence is not obvious until later in the project
    • For example, we might spend a year developing detailed engineering drawings for a new factory, only to find out (when we apply for a permit) that the local residents oppose the project.  The local residents are stakeholders.  They pressure politicians to oppose the project.  The local residents and the politicians were not identified early in the project, and now it seems like they have a lot of influence.
    • The Salience Model groups stakeholders by
      • Power = level of authority
      • Urgency = need for attention
      • Legitimacy = appropriate involvement

  • Plan Stakeholder Engagement
    • KEY BENEFIT: Provides a plan to interact with stakeholders to support the project’s interests
    • In this process, we
      • Develop strategies to engage stakeholders based on their needs, interests, and impact on the project
      • Identify how the project will affect each stakeholder, and then develop methods to manage their expectations, to achieve the project’s objectives
    • We should update our stakeholder management plan
      • At each new phase of the project
      • When changes to our organization occur
      • When we add or remove stakeholders, or when the power of existing stakeholders changes
    • Stakeholder management involves building relationships.  We want to convince all stakeholders to support the project.  We do this by offering them some benefit or by making them feel that their opinion is valued.
    • For example, if we’re building a factory, we should see if the factory will disrupt the community with noise, pollution, or traffic.  To gain support from residents and politicians, we could convince the community that the factory will provide them with much-needed jobs.  We could invest in a playground or recreation center.

  • Manage Stakeholder Engagement
    • KEY BENEFIT: Helps increase support and minimize resistance from stakeholders
    • In this process, we
      • Communicate and work with stakeholders to meet their needs, manage their expectations, address issues and potential concerns, and foster engagement
    • Anticipating people’s reactions to a project can help us take proactive actions to gain support
    • Stakeholders are most capable of influencing the project during its initial stages, like when we are planning the project or when we are trying to obtain permits.  Once the execution has started, it’s usually too late to stop it.
    • For example, if we’re building a factory, the community will not be able to stop the project once a permit has been issued or when construction has begun.  To ensure support, we should hold “town hall” meetings and focus groups before we try to apply for a permit.  This way, the community will not oppose the project. 

  • Control Stakeholder Engagement
    • KEY BENEFIT: Maintains or increases effectiveness of stakeholder engagement activities
    • In this process, we
      • Monitor project stakeholder relationships and adjust our strategies
    • Remember, in any project there may be many different stakeholders. 
    • For example, if we’re building a factory, we could have the following stakeholders
      • Local Politicians
      • Our competitors
      • Investors (people who invested money in our company)
    • Local politicians may support or oppose our factory (depending on their political party and sources of campaign funding).
    • Our competitors would probably oppose it, because it would hurt their business.
    • Some of our investors may support the project and some may oppose it.
    • The question is, how much power and legitimacy does each stakeholder have?  That will influence how we deal with each stakeholder.  We want to direct our efforts towards the most powerful stakeholders.
    • Local politicians and the local community may be very powerful in deciding whether we obtain a permit.  So we want to direct our efforts towards convincing them that the factory is good for the community.
    • Our competitors may have no influence.  Even though they are powerful corporations, they may not be able to convince the government that our factory is a bad idea. 
    • Our competitors may not have any legitimacy either.  Technically, they could lose money or market share when our factory opened.  But, from a legal perspective, they don’t have what is called “standing”.  That is, we aren’t infringing on a legally protected right of theirs.
    • Our investors may have no power to influence construction.  Many investors don’t have a say in the day-to-day operations of the companies they invest in.  If the investors thought that the factory was a bad idea, they might be able to bring a lawsuit to stop us, but that is highly unlikely.