Stakeholder Management

Stakeholder management is critical to the success of every project
in every organization I have ever worked with. By engaging the right
people in the right way in your project, you can make a big
difference to its success... and to your career.
– Rachel Thompson (Mind Tools), experienced change management consultant
Having conducted a Stakeholder Analysis exercise, you will have most
of the information you need to plan how to manage communication with
your stakeholders.
You will have identified the stakeholders in your job and in your
projects, and will have marked out their positions on a stakeholder
map.
The next stage is to plan your communication so that you can win them
around to support your projects. Stakeholder Planning is the process
by which you do this.
To carry out a Stakeholder Planning exercise, download our free
Stakeholder Communications


worksheet . This is a table with the following column headings:

Stakeholder Name .
Communications Approach .
Key Interests and Issues .
Current Status – Advocate, supporter, neutral, critic, blocker.
Desired Support – High, medium or low.
Desired Project Role (if any).
Actions Desired (if any).
Messages Needed .
Actions and Communications .

Using this table, work through the planning exercise using the steps
below:

1. Update the Worksheet with Power/Interest Grid Information
Based on the Power/Interest Grid you created in your Stakeholder
Analysis , enter the stakeholders' names, their influence and interest
in your job or project, and your current assessment of where they
stand with respect to it.
2. Plan Your Approach to Stakeholder Management
The amount of time you should allocate to Stakeholder Management
depends on the size and difficulty of your projects and goals, the
time you have available for communication, and the amount of help you
need to achieve the results you want.
Think through the help you need, the amount of time that will be
taken to manage this and the time you will need for communication.
Help with the project could include sponsorship of the project,
advice and expert input, reviews of material to increase quality,
etc.
3. Think Through What You Want From Each Stakeholder
Next, work through your list of stakeholders thinking through the
levels of support you want from them and the roles you would like
them to play (if any). Think through the actions you would like them
to perform. Write this information down in the "Desired Support,"
"Desired Project Role," and "Actions Desired" columns.
4. Identify the Messages You Need to Convey
Next, identify the messages that you need to convey to your
stakeholders to persuade them to support you and engage with your
projects or goals. Typical messages will show the benefits to the
person or organization of what you are doing, and will focus on key
performance drivers like increasing profitability or delivering real
improvements.
5. Identify Actions and Communications
Finally, work out what you need to do to win and manage the support
of these stakeholders. With the time and resource you have available,
identify how you will manage the communication to and the input from
your stakeholders.
Focusing on the high-power/high-interest stakeholders first and the
low-interest/low-power stakeholders last, devise a practical plan
that communicates with people as effectively as possible and that
communicates the right amount of information in a way that neither
under nor over-communicates.

Think through what you need to do to keep your best supporters
engaged and on-board. Work out how to win over or neutralize the
opposition of skeptics. Where you need the active support of people
who are not currently interested in what you are doing, think about
how you can engage them and raise their level of interest.
Also, consider how what you are doing will affect your stakeholders.
Where appropriate, let people know as early as possible of any
difficult issues that may arise, and discuss with them how you can
minimize or manage any impact.

Tip:
It is usually a good idea to manage people's expectations about
likely problems as early as possible. This gives them time to think
through how to manage issues, and preserves your reputation for
reliability.

Once you have prepared your Stakeholder Plan, all you need to do is
to implement it. As with all plans, it will be easier to implement if
you break it down into a series of small, achievable steps and action
these one-by-one.

Key Points
As the work you do and the projects you run become more important,
you will affect more and more people. Some of these people have the
power to undermine your projects and your position. Others may be
strong supporters of your work.
Stakeholder Management is the process by which you identify your key
stakeholders and win their support.
Stakeholder Analysis is the first stage of this, where you identify
and start to understand your most important stakeholders. Once you have completed your Stakeholder Analysis, the next stage is
Stakeholder Planning. This is the process you use to plan how to
manage your stakeholders and gain their support for your projects.
To prepare your plan, go through the following steps:

Update the planning sheet with information from the power/interest grid.
Think through your approach to stakeholder management.
Work out what you want from each stakeholder.
Identify the messages you need to convey.
Identify actions and communications.

Good Stakeholder Management helps you to manage the politics that can
often come with major projects. It helps you win support for your
projects and eliminates a major source of project and work stress.


Download Worksheet