Teachable Moments: Who Is a Stakeholder?

Dr. Sarah Ross (PhD) is a Lecturer and Trainer in Project Management at RANEPA (Russia) and the following Business Schools in France (SKEMA, Groupe Sup de Co, KEDGE, and CESI). She has over 25 years experience in the service sector (health, telecommunications and tertiary education) primarily in the delivery of transformational projects whilst involved in general management activities.

 

Teachable moments are formed when you have done something--regardless of the outcome--and learned from the experience. Learning makes us better at what we do and provides a great opportunity to develop others and sharpen skills. We’ve compiled our best Teachable Moments from our community members for you to learn from and share with other project managers.

I was delivering a PRINCE2 course in Brisbane, Australia in 2008 and asked the delegates how they defined or perceived stakeholders.As a New Zealander, you can imagine that there was a certain level of friendly jousting and bantering that went on. One delegate responded, “It is the person holder, the meat (steak) at the BBQ.”

For a moment I thought this was taking Trans-Tasman jostling to a new level. But then he continued: “The most powerful person at the BBQ is the one holding the meat, the most influential is the farmer who raised the cow and it is the neighbor (vegetarian or meat lover) you neglected to invite who smells the BBQ across the fence. A stakeholder is anyone who is sniffing your project!”

Tips:

1. Ask yourself, “Whose work activities will change as a result of this?”
2. Identify the people who are responsible for the results
3. Don’t forget the customer touchpoints

Related Content

1. Where Do Stakeholders Come From?
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