Engaging Project Stakeholders

Know the different ways to engage stakeholders.

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Course: On-Demand

(smooth music) Welcome to engaging project stakeholders. As a project's work gets underway, it's time to implement plans for managing and engaging stakeholders. These lessons examine the various means of engagement, such as: communicating about the project, consulting stakeholders to utilize their experience, building trusted relationships, asking stakeholders to define expectations for project outcomes, and eliciting requirements. You can use these ideas to plan on engaging stakeholders and projects. Communicating and consulting with stakeholders is one of the easiest and best ways to engage with them. Early in the project, asking many open-ended questions will get stakeholders to discuss the project outcomes they're seeking and any other expectations they may have. Then once you have asked a question, you can act active listening, which requires you to withhold any judgment or opinion about the message you're hearing. It's advised to not be distracted by your thoughts, and instead, focus on the message the stakeholder is trying to deliver. Be sure to paraphrase and restate what you've heard to confirm your understanding of the intended message. Building a relationship with key stakeholders at this phase of the project is important as it will keep the dialogue going in the future. Later, as the project work begins, you can use reports, presentations, emails, and other communications to distribute information about the project and its progress. This is also an opportunity to communicate team successes. The team will appreciate the recognition and the stakeholders will grow to trust the team more. Nearly all stakeholders will require some level of information about the project. So it's recommended to consult your stakeholder register to determine communications frequency and preferences for your stakeholders and stakeholder groups. Some stakeholders, such as those with high power and high interest, will require higher levels of engagement. In addition to periodic communications and demonstrations of results, these stakeholders are recommended to be consulted, especially when the team is working difficult issue. They may have important information that can help solve the problem. Consulting the stakeholders and turning their advice into action will help increase their trust in you and the team. The consultations may be one-on-one, but other forms of engagement are important. Engagement may include surveys, focus groups and workshops. It's critical to approach these types of engagement carefully. Sound surveys are built on the principle that information received from a few stakeholders applies to a more general population. So it's important to have a correct sample size and rate of response to the survey. Focus groups also need strong facilitation. One pitfall of focus groups is that participants may tend to tell the facilitator what they think the facilitator wants to hear instead of what they need to hear. Such workshops could lead to failed projects and products. Prototypes and demonstrations are additional tools that can be used to consult with stakeholders. For example, early in the project, if prototypes or components of products are available, you can host a meeting where stakeholders can get firsthand hands-on experience and provide feedback. Later, as the project progresses, you can look for ways to showcase completed work and let stakeholders interact and provide feedback. Continued engagement with stakeholders will help assure project success.

Intermediate Provider : Ray Frohnhoefer 5 Lessons · 15m in Arabic, German, English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Urdu, Chinese

Course Description

As a project’s work gets underway, plans for managing and engaging stakeholders need implementation. It’s important to engage stakeholders in your project because they’ll often have beneficial skills or resources that can contribute to its progress. They can also help to uncover risks and define project goals. The more you’re able to engage your stakeholders, the likelier it is a project will succeed. But what methods can you capitalize on to engage your project stakeholders?

These lessons on Engaging Project Stakeholders examine the various means of engagement, such as communicating about the project, consulting stakeholders to take advantage of their experience, and asking stakeholders to define expectations for project outcomes. You’ll also learn how to elicit your project’s requirements from your stakeholders, and how to build trusting relationships with them. You’ll also see how stakeholders play a key role in managing project risk. You can use these ideas to plan how to engage stakeholders in projects.

What You'll Learn

Recognize the various forms of stakeholder engagement available during a project
Communicate about the project and consult stakeholders to take advantage of their experience
Articulate project outcomes and define expectations with stakeholders
Elicit and determine your project's requirements from stakeholders
Foster trusting relationships with project stakeholders
Understand the role stakeholders play in managing project risk

Key Takeaways

Engaging stakeholders matters because they often have beneficial skills or resources that can contribute to a project's progress.
Stakeholders can help to uncover risks and define project goals.
The more you are able to engage your stakeholders, the likelier it is that a project will succeed.
Means of engagement include communicating about the project, consulting stakeholders for their experience, and asking them to define expectations for outcomes.
Stakeholders play a key role in managing project risk.

Frequently Asked Questions

What will I learn in this course?

The course examines various means of stakeholder engagement, including communicating about the project, consulting stakeholders to take advantage of their experience, and asking stakeholders to define expectations for project outcomes. You will also learn how to elicit your project's requirements from stakeholders and how to build trusting relationships with them.

Why is engaging project stakeholders important?

Stakeholders often have beneficial skills or resources that can contribute to a project's progress, and they can help uncover risks and define project goals. The more you engage your stakeholders, the likelier it is that a project will succeed.

What topics do the lessons cover?

The lessons cover Communicating and Consulting, Articulating Outcomes and Expectations, Fostering Trustful Relationships, Stakeholders and Managing Risk, and a Test Your Knowledge section.

How do stakeholders relate to project risk?

The course shows how stakeholders play a key role in managing project risk and how engaging them can help uncover risks.

Professional Certifications and Continuing Education Units (CEUs)

Project Management Institute (PMI®)

Professional Development Units (PDUs): 0.5

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Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM®)

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