Institutionalize a Standardized Approach for Stakeholder Registry and Analysis

Stakeholder identification and feedback is one of the most critical steps during the development of the project charter of an approved business case. By definition, stakeholders can be individuals or organizations that actively work on the project, or whose interests could positively or negatively impact the project outcomes or project success.

The typical stakeholders for any project include:

  • The project sponsor, project manager, and project team within the performing organization
  • Those who will participate as intermediaries for executing some aspects of the project
  • Those who may benefit or lose something due to the project outcomes

Besides identifying the stakeholders, it is important to determine their interests, assess their impact on the project, and create a potential strategy for gaining their support on the project outcomes. A comprehensive approach to stakeholder management includes:

  • Understanding their expectations from the project
  • Gauging the level of participation needed from them to complete individual project activities
  • Analyzing their individual impact and influence on the project outcomes
  • Aligning their needs and requirements to the project goals by building an input-based project charter
  • Creating a proactive plan to manage their changing requirements or expectations (assuming that they will change during the course of the project life cycle)
  • Correlating their needs and expectations with project risks and obstacles,and drafting the necessary risk response activities.

Without garnering the support of high-value stakeholders, the project manager will not be able to successfully achieve the desired project outcomes. A minor misstep could upset the needs of an influential or powerful stakeholder, disrupting the planned activities at a critical juncture of the project.

Here are some best practices that may help in minimizing common obstacles and ensuring project success.

For the organization: Institutionalize a common stakeholder registry template and follow a standardized approach for performing stakeholder analysis or developing a stakeholder management strategy. This means:

  1. Capturing the complete details of the stakeholders, such as their names, roles, department/ sections, requirements, etc., in a well-designed stakeholder registry.
  2. Determining the stakeholder parameters that are most critical for project success, and building them into a simple, user-friendly stakeholder analysis matrix.

For the project manager:

  1. Identify a knowledgeable and experienced stakeholder, who is respected by their peers as the ‘champion stakeholder’. This champion can also assist or guide you throughout the project life cycle.
  2. Provide regular and timely project charter progress updates to the project sponsor and the stakeholders. This could be in the form of meetings, electronic dashboards, or any other commonly agreed method.
  3. Prepare the stakeholder analysis matrix to know where each stakeholder fits, including their level of influence and criticality to the project.
  4. Use the matrix classification to create a suitable strategy for communicating with the stakeholders, managing their requirements or expectations, and gaining their buy-in on various aspects of the project.

Whether it is using the , preparing a realistic project charter, or creating a stakeholder management strategy, you can make every phase of the project life cycle more efficient by adopting leading project management best practices.

For more information on project management consulting services, speak to the experts at BEVA Global at 1-877-669-7347 ext. 252, or contact us online.

 

About the Author

As a Master Degree in Science in Project Management from the University of Québec , Richard is a dynamic bilingual professional with more than 25 years of progressively senior leadership experience in various industry sectors such as retail, construction, non-profit organizations, research and development, information technology and government. Richard holds various designation such as Project Management Professional (PMP), Certified International Project Manager (CIPM), Certified Master Project Manager (MPM) and Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL). Richard is also known as a reputable and knowledgeable instructor in project management in both English and in French in class and virtual.