A stakeholder management plan outlines who the stakeholders are on your project, how they’re impacted by the project and how best to communicate their respective project interests.

Depending on the size and complexity of your project, managing stakeholders can be a difficult task. And without proper planning, mismanagement of stakeholders could negatively impact the success of your project.

In this post, we will discuss the common issues project managers face in stakeholder management and come practical tips to ensure project success.

The Foundation of Stakeholder Management

When you think about stakeholder management, it’s important to understand the influence different stakeholders have on the project. Each stakeholder brings different expectations and it’s up to you as the project manager to use your expertise and judgment to guide the project. 

Having a solid stakeholder management plan at the start of the project is crucial. You can start by creating a stakeholder register. I like to kill two birds with one stone by making my stakeholder register and RACI matrix in one document.

This document lists all impacted individuals on the project as well as who is responsible, accountable, consulted and informed. I also include additional columns for relevant stakeholder information like escalation contact, email, time zone or whatever else makes sense for the project. 

escalation contact, email, timezone or whatever else makes sense for the project.  

Once you have a list of who your stakeholders are and what their needs are on the project, determine cadence and content of communication with each stakeholder. This should be documented and integrated into your communication plan.

Stakeholder Management - Common Issues

• Conflicting interest is very common in large complex projects. This happens when key stakeholders, usually business leaders, have different priorities. The issue could arise in discussions around budget and where to allocate resources.

• Miscommunication is also very common and is usually an issue when the business leader and project manager are not aligned and have not clearly defined project requirements.

• Lack of involvement from stakeholders can also be detrimental to the project success. The project manager is left to make decisions without specialized knowledge and support from the project stakeholders.

• Scope creep happens when changes to the project get implemented without going through proper change management. This really messes up the budget and timeline of the project.

How to manage common issues like a pro.

• When you have stakeholders with conflicting interests and priorities, it’s important to have an open and very honest conversation about how not aligning priorities will impact the project.

  At the first sign of conflict, it should be noted on your Issues, Risks, Assumptions, Actions and Decisions (IRAAD) log. This document should be a part of your regularly scheduled meetings to review with the appropriate stakeholders.

  When they can see how the indecision impacts the project timeline, they’re more likely to align on priorities more quickly. 

• Try to avoid miscommunication by having clearly defined requirements. Your requirements documents should be reviewed regularly and tracked during the duration of the project until all requirements have been satisfied.

  Stakeholders should be signing off at each milestone. This way, everyone is on the same page. It’s also a best practice to record meetings where requirements are being reviewed; refer back to these recordings to gain clarity.

• Lack of communication from stakeholders can be avoided by understanding up front who the project champion is and what interest each stakeholder has. By catering to those interests, there’s a better chance of more involvement. If the lack of communication persists and decisions need to be made, escalate to the proper individuals noted in your stakeholder register or RACI matrix.

• Avoid scope creep by implementing proper change management. When additional elements are added to your project, document them to your change log, communicate the budget and/or timeline impact to your stakeholders, and request approval before proceeding. 

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By, Airess Rembert, PMP, Member of Women Of Project Management & Blogger at The Nerd Bae