Identifying Project Stakeholders

Identify the people who need to be involved in your project.

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Course: On-Demand

(lively music) Welcome to Identifying Project Stakeholders. People are the power behind projects. The decisions they make and the results of those decisions can mean the difference between success and failure. In these lessons, you'll learn how to identify who project stakeholders are and how to analyze their involvement. You'll also discover how to best involve them for the sake of achieving a successful project. Stakeholders are people or groups that might be involved with, or are impacted by a project's decisions, activities, or outcomes. They're also the people who think that they'll be impacted or involved. It's important to take appropriate steps to identify stakeholders, determine their attributes and characteristics, group them, and assemble your collected data for collaboration and sharing. Why is it important to involve stakeholders in your project? First off, stakeholders will influence or impact the project. And if they aren't engaged, they may find ways to stop the project or keep it from being successful. Once you identify the stakeholders, you can deliver messages and communications to engage and manage their interests. It's always better to overidentify stakeholders because it's easier to remove someone from the list instead of working around the issues and roadblocks that disengaged stakeholders can create. Stakeholders include anyone directly or indirectly affected by the project. These may be individuals, groups, or entire organizations. They could be the project's owner or beneficiary. Or they may be somehow affected by the project's outcome. Or they may be just involved with limited activities, tasks, or project-related decisions. For example, decommissioning a nuclear reactor and carting the components off to be buried may involve stakeholders such as the executives of the owning power company; the project team, including project mangers and business analysts; company employees; the health and safety inspector; citizens living on the route; municipalities that the citizens live in; nuclear dump sites and their employees; and multiple nuclear and power regulatory agencies. This list is too broad for some groups and may need to be narrowed. For example, the regulatory agencies or some employees at the dump may need to be called out by name because their involvement in the project is different from others in their group. A list like this may not identify all the stakeholders. It could be considered a starter list instead. Whatever the case, creating a robust list of stakeholders is essential for the project's success. And while some stakeholders will be best for defining and analyzing requirements, others may be best for validating and verifying the solution for completing the project. Usually some project stakeholders are initially documented in the project charter, which provides high level information about the project, including the project's sponsor, manager, recipient, and potential users and beneficiaries. There are still many more stakeholders that may need to be identified. Some of the most frequently used techniques for stakeholder identification are brainstorming, reviewing organizational charts, and asking questions. Brainstorming usually takes the form of a facilitated meeting where you collect ideas. Typical attendees would include you as the project manager, business analysts, and the project team. The purpose of brainstorming is to collect ideas that can then be reviewed later. Brainstorming is a tool you use when you want to be thorough instead of taking the time to be innovative. Organizational charts of the various stakeholders will be useful as well. If you can't find any, you may have to draw them up and review them yourself. Even in a holacracy, a self-organized group without formal management, groups of people can be identified and characterized. On an added note, it never hurts to ask. Ask the project team, management, the HR department, and subject matter experts about who they relate to and work with. You can ask every stakeholder you meet, "Who else should I speak to about this project?" and "Have I missed any important stakeholders?" As the project moves forward, it's essential to document new stakeholders that may emerge as changes are made. Also, some stakeholders may have changed roles because of promotions or lateral moves within the organization. It's recommended to take

Intermediate Provider : Ray Frohnhoefer 6 Lessons · 22m in Arabic, German, English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Urdu, Chinese

Course Description

People power projects. Their decisions and actions can mean the difference between success and failure. The people who have such a big influence on projects are called project stakeholders. They can be anyone from the team working on the project to government regulatory agencies. Knowing how to navigate your project’s stakeholders and utilize them is a crucial component for delivering your project on time. But how can you identify your project stakeholders?

These lessons on Identifying Project Stakeholders will explore who project stakeholders are, how to analyze their involvement, and how to involve them in achieving a successful project. You’ll also learn about the influence stakeholders have on projects. You’ll know how to identify both internal and external stakeholders, and perform both quantitative and qualitative stakeholder analyses. You’ll discover how you can choose the best possible stakeholder-management strategy for your project. You’ll come away from these lessons with the knowledge of how to determine who can be a stakeholder on your project.

What You'll Learn

Identify who needs to be involved in your project, including both internal and external stakeholders
Analyze the different types of stakeholders and the influence they have on projects
Perform quantitative and qualitative stakeholder analysis
Determine and choose the best stakeholder-management strategy for your project
Examine how stakeholders' decisions and actions affect project success

Key Takeaways

Project stakeholders are the people who have a significant influence on projects, ranging from the team working on the project to government regulatory agencies.
Stakeholders' decisions and actions can mean the difference between a project's success and failure.
Knowing how to navigate and utilize a project's stakeholders is a crucial component for delivering a project on time.
Stakeholders can be both internal and external, and their involvement can be assessed through quantitative and qualitative analysis.
Selecting the best possible stakeholder-management strategy supports a successful project.

Frequently Asked Questions

What will this course teach me about project stakeholders?

The course explores who project stakeholders are, how to analyze their involvement, and how to involve them in achieving a successful project. It also covers the influence stakeholders have on projects.

Does the course cover both internal and external stakeholders?

Yes. You'll learn how to identify both internal and external stakeholders, with dedicated lessons on Internal Project Stakeholders and External Project Stakeholders.

What types of stakeholder analysis does the course cover?

The course teaches you to perform both quantitative and qualitative stakeholder analyses, addressed in the lesson on Quantitative and Qualitative Stakeholder Analysis.

What are the main learning objectives of this course?

The objectives are to identify who needs to be involved in your project, analyze the different types of stakeholders, and determine a stakeholder-management strategy.

What lessons are included in this course?

The lessons are Stakeholder Influence and Project Management, Internal Project Stakeholders, External Project Stakeholders, Quantitative and Qualitative Stakeholder Analysis, Choosing a Stakeholder Management Strategy, and Test Your Knowledge.

Professional Certifications and Continuing Education Units (CEUs)

Project Management Institute (PMI®)

Professional Development Units (PDUs): 0.5

Certification Program Categories:

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