your goals, your approach, and your chances for project success.
You risk compromising your project in the following ways when you don’t involve key people or groups in your project in a timely manner:
You may miss important information that can affect the project’s performance and ultimate success.
You may insult someone. And you can be sure that when someone feels you have slighted or insulted them, they’ll take steps to make sure you don’t do it again!
As soon as you begin to think about a new project, start to identify people who may play a role. This chapter shows you how to identify these candidates; how to decide whether, when, and how to involve them; and how to determine who has the authority, power, and interest to make critical decisions.
Understanding Your Project’s Stakeholders
Plan whether, when, and how to involve them.
Determine whether the scope of the project is bigger or smaller than you originally anticipated.
You may hear other terms used in the business world to describe project stakeholders, but these terms address only some of the people from your complete project stakeholder register. Here are some examples:
A distribution list identifies people who receive project communications. These lists are often out-of-date for a couple of reasons. Some people remain on the list simply because no one removes them; other people are on the list because no one wants to run the risk of insulting them by removing them. In either case, having their names on this list doesn’t ensure that these people actually support, are affected by, or are interested in your project.
Team members are people whom the project manager directs. All team members are stakeholders, but the stakeholder register includes more than just team members.
Developing a Stakeholder Register
As you identify the different stakeholders for your project, record them in a stakeholder register. Check out the following sections for information on how to develop this register.
Starting your stakeholder register
A project stakeholder register is a living document. You need to start developing your register as soon as you begin thinking about your project.
Begin your project’s stakeholder register by considering the initial version of the register that’s generated upon completion of the development of the project charter (see Chapter 3 for more on this topic). Next, write down any other names that occur to you. When you discuss your project with other people, ask them who they think may be affected by or interested in your project. Then select a small group of the stakeholders you identify and conduct a formal brainstorming session. Continue to add and subtract names to your stakeholder register until you can’t think of anyone else.
In the following sections, we explain how to refine your stakeholder register by dividing it into specific categories and recognizing important potential stakeholders; we wrap up with a sample to show you how to put your own register together.
Using specific categories
To increase your chances of identifying all appropriate people, develop your stakeholder register in categories. You’re less likely to overlook people when you consider them department by department or group by group instead of trying to identify everyone from the organization individually at the same time.
Internal: People and groups inside your organization:Executive leadership: Typically C-level or VP-level management responsible for the general oversight of all organization operationsRequesters: The person who came up with the idea for your project and all the people through whom the request passed before you received itProject manager: The person with overall responsibility for successfully completing the projectEnd users: People who will use the goods or services the project will produceTeam members: People assigned to the project whose work the project manager directsUNDERSTANDING THE STAKEHOLDER REGISTER’S TRUE PURPOSEA number of years ago, we heard the story of a woman who had attended a very reputable project management training session and began to put her newfound learnings into practice. She was using several of the techniques discussed in the course and found them to be very helpful. However, after making a serious attempt to create a stakeholder register, she found this tool to be impractical and of little value.Her manager had assigned a project that she had to finish in two months. She immediately developed a stakeholder register, but, much to her horror, the register included more than 150 names! How, she wondered, was she supposed to involve more than 150 people in a two-month project? She concluded that the stakeholder register clearly was of no help.In fact, her stakeholder register had served its purpose perfectly. Identifying the people at the outset who would affect the success of her project gave her three options:She could plan how and when to involve each person during the project.She could assess the potential consequences of not involving one or more of her stakeholders.She could discuss extending the project deadline or reducing its scope with her manager if she felt she couldn’t ignore any of the stakeholders.The stakeholder register itself doesn’t decide whom you should involve in your project. Instead, it specifies those people who may affect the success of your project so you can weigh the benefits and the costs of including or omitting them.Groups normally involved: Groups typically involved in most projects in the organization, such as the human resources, finance, contracts, and legal departmentsGroups needed just for this project: Groups or people with special knowledge related to this project
External: People and groups outside your organization:Clients or customers: People or groups that buy or use your organization’s products or servicesCollaborators: Groups or organizations with whom you may pursue joint ventures related to your projectVendors, suppliers, and contractors: Organizations that provide personnel, raw materials, equipment, or other resources required to perform your project’s workRegulators: Government agencies that establish regulations and guidelines that govern some aspect of your project workProfessional societies: Groups of professionals that may influence or be interested in your projectThe public: The local, national, and international community of people who may be affected by or interested in your project
