Communications 101: Stakeholders

John D’Entremont, PMP, is a program manager with over 15 years experience in training, managing training teams and designing materials to enhance the skills of managers and executives.

  Communications Management   Stakeholder Management   ProjectsAtWork  

For any and all projects you lead, a constant mantra should be “keep the stakeholders involved.” It will help you to get ahead of potential risks and changes to scope as your project moves towards completion, and it will be critical to its ultimate success. When in doubt, overcommunicate.

While all project management methodologies have a focus on stakeholder management, Agile approaches require those relationships to be even closer. It’s right there in the Agile Manifesto’s four major tenets, two of which state: “customer collboration over contract negotiation” and “individuals and interactions over proceses and tools.”

The fact is, whether your managing a project by waterfall or Agile, or referencing the PMBOK Guide or the Scrum Guide, effective stakeholder management will be critical to the success of your project as it helps you get ahead of potential risks and changes to scope.

When you begin formulating your stakeholder management strategy, there are several basic considerations to identify. Giving them some thought will help you avoid some of the potential conflicts that can arise as you move through the phases of your project.

1. Have you identified all stakeholders? Though it sounds like an easy task to complete, it is worth the time to go over your list more than once to ensure that all stakeholders are accounted for.…

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