Project Management Leadership: Building Creative Teams, 2nd Edition

Chapter 11

Working with Stakeholders

Learning Outcomes

After reading this chapter you should be able to:

• Understand the stakeholders’ lifecycle.
• Understand how to identify stakeholders and interested parties.
• Understand how to develop a network of useful contacts.

Project Stakeholder Management is a new knowledge area that includes the processes and activities that enable the project leader to ensure that the needs and expectations of the project stakeholders and interested parties are being addressed.

The PMBOK 5ed (2012) has separated stakeholder management from communication management. The main difference is that communication is about the mechanics of supplying information (content, timing, medium, etc.), whereas stakeholder management is about engaging with the stakeholders and involving them in the decision-making process and activities.

Projects are not performed in a vacuum – they are performed within a company, within an industry and within a market. They involve a wide range of people who have a wide range of needs and expectations. These people are called stakeholders and interested parties. It is, therefore, essential that the project leader understands the characteristics and features of working with stakeholders to be able to identify and determine the stakeholders’ needs and expectations (requirements).

This chapter will explain how the project management systems approach can be used to develop a stakeholders’ analysis from the project manager’s perspective. ...