6 - Project Stakeholder Management Terminology - Additional Info Flashcards
Project Stakeholder Management
(Entails)
Entails identifying stakeholders and planning, managing and monitoring their engagement.
It’s important to remember that stakeholder management is ongoing as new
stakeholders are identified and as the expectations and impact of existing stakeholders evolve during the project.
A key characteristic of stakeholder management is that, early in the project, an
individual stakeholder can have a great degree of influence, but that influence often decreases as the project evolves.
A key area of stakeholder management that needs to be considered is the identification
and analysis of each stakeholder. It is vital that key stakeholders are engaged, as appropriate, throughout the project.
Pg. 172, 174
Stakeholder
The people, groups, or entities that may impact, be impacted by, or
perceive to be impacted by, the work of the project.
Stakeholder involvement, or engagement, relies heavily on continuous and effective communication.
Typical Stakeholders:
Customers / Users, Sponsor
Portfolio Managers, Portfolio Review Board
Program Managers, Project Management Office
Project Managers, Project Team
Functional Managers, Operations Management
Sellers/Business Partners
Regulatory/Governmental Entities
Pg. 172, 175
Project Team Responsibilities
(Stakeholder Management)
The project team is responsible for evaluating the stakeholders’ expectations and their
impact on the project.
The team is also responsible for involving stakeholders in the project and, if at all possible, persuading them to support the decisions and strategies developed for the work of the project and their implementation.
Stakeholder involvement, or engagement, relies heavily on continuous and effective communication.
Pg. 172
Trends
New stakeholder trends designed to ensure project success are:
1) The increased effort required during stakeholder identification due to the expanded definition of stakeholders.
- The traditional definition included employees, suppliers, and shareholders who may impact or be impacted by the project, as well as anyone who feels they may be impacted by the project
- The expanded definition now includes regulatory, lobbying, and environmental groups that may impact or be impacted by the project, in addition to employees, suppliers, and shareholders who may impact or be impacted by the project, as well as anyone who feels they may be impacted by the project
2) An increased emphasis on stakeholder engagement
- The participation of all team members in stakeholder engagement
- Regular review of stakeholders (which should be at the same rate as reviews of individual project risks)
- Working with major stakeholders through the concept co-creation, i.e. including them as partners/part of the team
- Tracking the value of effective stakeholder engagement: positive (benefits of active stakeholder support) and negative (true costs of not engaging stakeholders, typically product recall and/or loss of organization reputation)
Pg. 172
Tailoring
Project tailoring, the manner in which the processes of a knowledge area are exercised, is employed to address the distinctive nature of each project.
Successful project tailoring is predicated on a careful consideration of:
* The diversity of stakeholders
* The complexity of stakeholder relationships (the more networks in which stakeholders participate, the greater the chances of their receiving both information and disinformation)
* The communication technology (not only availability, but effectiveness)
Pg. 172-173
Agile/Adaptive Environment
In Agile/adaptive environments (environments where a high degree of change is
expected) active and direct engagement of, and robust participation by, the stakeholders is crucial to the success of the project.
These environments advance aggressive transparency, including inviting stakeholders
to attend meetings and reviews and publishing artifacts publicly, so that issues can be quickly discovered and addressed.
Aggressive transparency is designed to facilitate a dynamic exchange of information between the customer, users, and developers through a co-creative process, which results in increased stakeholder involvement and satisfaction.
Pg. 173
Stakeholder Processes
Initiating: Identify Stakeholders / Stakeholder Register
Planning: Plan Stakeholder Engagement / Stakeholder Engagement Plan
Executing: Manage Stakeholder Engagement / Change Requests
Monitoring & Controlling: Monitor Stakeholder Engagement / Work Performance Information & Change Requests
Pg. 173
Balancing Conflicting Stakeholder Interests
There are three considerations, ordered by precedence, for approaching the conflicting stakeholder interests that may arise in the exam’s situational questions:
- The reasons for undertaking the project with a focus on the market conditions or business needs and the priority of the project compared to other projects
- The requirements defined in the project charter
- The project management plan
Pg. 175
Managing Project Change Requests
With regard to addressing project-specific change requests by the customer/sponsor,
the following order should help ensure success:
- Never tell the customer/sponsor “no” when asked about a request. If the customer/sponsor is willing to encounter a delay or pay more to implement the change, it is the decision of the customer/sponsor.
- Listen to the customer/sponsor regarding their request.
- Involve the appropriate team members to determine the options associated with the request and their impact.
- Communicate the options to the customer/sponsor.
- Let the customer/sponsor make the final decision based on the options you have provided them.
- If applicable, create a change request to accommodate the option decided upon by the customer/sponsor.
Pg. 176
Identify Stakeholders
(Initiating Process Group)
During the Identify Stakeholders process, a determination is made regarding which people and organizations impact and/or are impacted by the project.
Stakeholders may include sponsors, the customer, and those who impact, or perceive themselves to be impacted by, the project.
To manage a successful project, the project manager must ensure that all stakeholders are identified early and that their expectations, influence, importance, and levels of interest are analyzed and periodically reviewed in case adjustments are necessary.
An effective analysis enables the project manager to focus on the expectations of the
stakeholders.
Pg. 176
Key Inputs
(Identify Stakeholders - Initiating)
- Project Charter
- Business Case
- Benefits Management Plan
- Communications Management Plan
- Stakeholder Engagement Plan
Pg. 177-178
Project Charter
(Key Input - Identify Stakeholders - Initiating)
The project charter is the document that provides authorization for the existence of the project and gives the project manager the power to use organizational resources to execute the project.
The project charter typically lists the key deliverables, the milestones, and the preliminary roles and responsibilities of the project.
Pg. 177
Business Case
(Key Input - Identify Stakeholders - Initiating)
A business case, which usually describes the business need and contains a cost-benefit analysis, is used to justify the creation of the project and is the basis for the project charter.
In addition to distinguishing the objectives of the project, it provides an initial catalog of stakeholders
Pg. 177
Benefits Management Plan
(Key Input - Identify Stakeholders - Initiating)
The benefits management plan describes the alignment of the project with organizational business goals, the targeted benefits, and the manner in which the benefits are transitioned and measured.
Note that the project manager is not responsible for updating or modifying the benefits management plan since it is a business document.
Pg. 178
Communications Management Plan
(Key Input - Identify Stakeholders - Initiating)
The communications management plan is a component of the project management plan that documents the planning, structure, implementation, and monitoring/control of communications.
It contains:
- Stakeholder communication requirements
- The information to be communicated, including language, format, content, and degree of detail
- The case for conveyance of the information
- The timeframe for and frequency of the distribution, including the manner in which any acknowledgment or response will be effected
- The person responsible for communication of the information
- The person responsible for authoring release of confidential information
- The recipients of the information and their needs, requirements, and expectations
- The resources allocated for communication related activities, along with a calendar and budget
- The technological methods used for conveyance of the information, including memos, email, press releases, and social media
- The methods for updating the communications management plan
- A glossary of common terms
- Flow charts regarding the project’s information flow, workflows, meeting plans, and a list of reports
- Constraints imposed by legislation, regulation, and/or technology
- Guidelines and templates for project status meetings, project team meetings, and email.
Pg. 178
Stakeholder Engagement Plan
(Key Input - Identify Stakeholders - Initiating)
The stakeholder engagement plan is a component of the project management plan that documents the management approach and activities utilized to competently engage stakeholders.
Pg. 178
Expert Judgement
(Key Tool & Techniques - Identify Stakeholders - Initiating)
Expert judgment is judgment based on expertise acquired in a specific area.
It is often more significant and accurate than the best modeling tools available and can be provided by stakeholders, company personnel external to the project, professional organizations or groups, and consultants.
It is important to consider expertise related to the organizational politics and power structures, organizational culture, the relevant industry, and a knowledge of the expertise and contributions of individual team members.
Pg. 179
Stakeholder Analysis
(Key Tool & Techniques - Identify Stakeholders - Initiating)
Stakeholder analysis is performed to determine the positions and roles of stakeholders, as well as their expectations, interest in the project, level of support for the project, and “stake.”
Stakes can include one or more of the following:
- Interest (the effect of the project on the stakeholder)
- Legal rights (such as occupational health and safety)
- Moral rights (such as environmental impact)
- Ownership
- Knowledge
- Contribution
- Results of the power/influence grid or power/interest grid or stakeholder cube (three-dimensional model depicting the stakeholder community)
- Results of the salience model (model describing stakeholders in terms of power, urgency, and legitimacy)
- Results of the directions of influence model, which classifies stakeholders as upward (senior management, sponsor, and steering committee), downward (team members or specialists), outward (stakeholder groups outside the project), or sideward (project manager peers such as middle managers or other project managers).
Pg. 179
Stakeholder Register
(Key Output - Identify Stakeholders - Initiating)
The stakeholder register contains information related to identified stakeholders.
It includes:
- Identification information (name, position, location, project role, and contact information)
- Assessment information (key requirements, potential impact on project results, phase in which the stakeholder wields the greatest influence, and expectations)
- Stakeholder classification (impact/influence/power/interest, internal/external, or other classification model).
It is used to determine which stakeholders could best identify risks and/or have the availability to act as risk owners
Pg. 179
Communications Management Plan
(Key Output - Identify Stakeholders - Initiating)
The communications management plan is a component of the project management plan that documents the planning, structure, implementation, and monitoring/control of communications.
It contains:
- Stakeholder communication requirements
- The information to be communicated, including language, format, content, and degree of detail
- The case for conveyance of the information
- The timeframe for and frequency of the distribution, including the manner in which any acknowledgment or response will be effected
- The person responsible for communication of the information
- The person responsible for authoring release of confidential information
- The recipients of the information and their needs, requirements, and expectations
- The resources allocated for communication related activities, along with a calendar and budget
- The technological methods used for conveyance of the information, including memos, email, press releases, and social media
- The methods for updating the communications management plan
- A glossary of common terms
- Flow charts regarding the project’s information flow, workflows, meeting plans, and a list of reports
- Constraints imposed by legislation, regulation, and/or technology
- Guidelines and templates for project status meetings, project team meetings, and email.
Pg. 180
Identify Stakeholders
Situational Question and Real World Application
Failure to effectively perform the Identify Stakeholder process can result in a deficient stakeholder register and a project outcome that doesn’t align with the needs of the stakeholders.
Pg. 180
Stakeholder Analysis Methods
There are a number of analysis methods that can be used to determine whose interests
it is most important to consider during the project.
Methods include:
- Power/Interest Grid
- Power/Influence Grid
- Influence Impact Grid
- Salient Models
Pg. 180
Power/Interest Grid
(Stakeholder Analysis Method)
Graphically illustrates which stakeholders need to be kept satisfied, managed closely, monitored, or kept informed based on the level of their power and their interest in the outcome of the project.
Pg. 180-181
Stakeholder Register
The stakeholder register is used to manage an increase in the positive impact, and a
decrease in the negative impact, of stakeholders.
Project managers typically create a stakeholder register, which may or may not be
shared based on the sensitivity of the information contained.
A typical register includes the stakeholder name, level of interest in the project, level of impact on the project, and strategies to gain support or minimize negative impact.
Pg. 181
