UNIT 4 LESSON 4 – ENGAGE STAKEHOLDERS

ENABLERS
1) Analyze stakeholders
2) Categorize stakeholders
3) Engage stakeholders by category
4) Develop, execute and validate a strategy for stakeholder engagement

Deliverables
- Create stakeholder register
- Update stakeholder register
- Stakeholder engagement – happy stakeholders indicates the projects’ success
- Assess work performance information

Tools
- Organizational process assets – policies, procedures and knowledge base. These include:
o Corporate policies and procedures for social media , ethics and security
o Corporate policies and procedures for issue, risk, change and data management,
o Organizational communication requirements
o Standardized guidelines for development, exchange, storage and retrieval of info
o Historical info from previous projects
- Expert judgment – people with experience in:
o Environment and culture of the organization
o Analytical and assessment techniques used for stakeholder engagement processes
o Communication methods and strategies
o Characteristics of stakeholders involvement in the current project
o Requirements management, vendor management and change management
o Politics and power structures
- Plan meetings
- Create power or influence versus impact grid
- Interpersonal skills – Key PM skill. Involves:
o Building trust
o Resolving conflict
o Active listening
o Overcoming resistance to change
- Management skills
o Facilitate consensus
o Influence people
o Negotiate agreements
o Modify org behavior
- Update stakeholder register

Stakeholders - Anyone who has a stake in the project, individual, group or organization who may affect, be
affected by a decision, activity or outcome. Impact can be positive or negative. Invovlement of stakeholders is
crucial.
- Project managers - Vendors
- Project team members - People affected by the output
- Senior management - Competitors
- Sponsors - Social Groups
- Customers - Gov’t and political leadership
- End users
Stakeholder Management includes:
- Identification of the people, groups or organizations that could impact or be impacted by the project
- Analysis of stakeholder expectations and their impact on the project
- Development of appropriate management strategies for stakeholder engagement in project decisions an
execution

Key Considerations for Stakeholder Mgt

- Use a structured way of identifying, prioritizing and engaging stakeholders
- Stakeholder identification should begin immediately after approval of the project charter
- Identify all stakeholders and not just a limited set of stakeholders
- Ensure all team members are involved in stakeholder engagement activities
- Review the stakeholder community regularly
- Consult with stakeholders who are most affected by the project outcomes through co-creation
- Capture the value of effective stakeholder engagement, both positive and negative

Tailoring Considerations for Stakeholder Engagement

Stakeholder Diversity
- How many stakeholders are there?
- How diverse is the culture within the stakeholder community?
Complexity of stakeholder relationships
Communications Technology
- What comm tech is available?
- What support mechanisms are in place to achieve the best value from the available technology?

Considerations for Agile Projects

- Actively engage and participate with the stakeholders
- Engage stakeholders directly rather than going through layers of management
- Engage early, be transparent and build a trust to reduce the cost of changes
- Use postings on public spaces for visibility

Stakeholder Analysis - helps to determine the position of stakeholder groups an individuals in the project
It involves analyzing:
- Stakeholder characteristics
- Stakeholder groups
- Organizations involved in the project
Each stakeholder will have a different level of engagement and each level must be mapped at the beginning of
the project.

Stakeholder Engagement Assessment Matrix – helps visualize the current and desired states of stakeholder
involvement. Levels include:
- Unaware - stakeholder not aware of the project and its input
- Resistant - stakeholder is aware of the impact but is resistant to change
- Neutral - aware but is neither supportive nor resistant
- Supportive - aware of the project and is supportive of the change
- Leading - aware and actively engaged to ensure projects success

Stakeholder Categorization – each has power and influence over the project
Mapped through classification models:
- Power-interest
- Power-influence
- Influence-impact grids
- Salience models – describes classes of stakeholders based on their power, urgency and level of involvement
 o Power Grid - Power (y-axis) vs Interest (x-axis) graph – monitor them (lower left), keep them
informed (lower right), keep them satisfied (upper left) manage them closely (upper right)
Prioritize the requirements by stakeholder and include buy-in from key stakeholders at major decision points

Stakeholder Engagement Strategies

- A good strategy helps maintain relationships b/t the team and the stakeholders
- Strategies must be based on the needs, expectations, interests and potential impacts of the project
- Must effectively involve stakeholders throughout the project life cycle

The methods of communication identified for each stakeholder in the Communications Management Plan are
applied during stakeholder engagement management. Feedback helps understand stakeholder reactions.
Feedback via:
- Conversations (formal and informal)
- Issue identification and discussion
- Meetings
- Progress reports
- Surveys