Successful projects typically receive support and input from stakeholders inside and outside the business. Stakeholder management allows businesses to identify stakeholders, understand their needs to meet them and ensure smooth communication. In this article, we examine several crucial aspects of stakeholder management.
Identify Key Stakeholders
Businesses should always map out who will be involved in or contribute to your project before it starts. These could also be people who might have an interest in the project but are not directly responsible for its implementation.
Doing this as early as possible will enhance communication, help avoid confusion, and clarify where different stakeholders fit on a project.
Categorize and Prioritize the Identified Stakeholders
You should also categorize and prioritize stakeholders once you have identified them. This exercise will help you understand what parts of the project they will be involved in, the level of influence they will exert, their expectations, and what information they will need.
Doing so will also help you understand which stakeholders you should engage regularly and the best ways to do so.
Choose the Right Project Management Stack
Only about a quarter of all teams use project management software. With how much value using one provides, all teams should either pick a project management tool or build the right project management stack.
In addition to the primary management tool, such a stack should also include collaboration and messaging tools to ensure stakeholders can reach whoever they want to whenever they want to. Using the right stack also eliminates friction between stakeholders which can often be a significant hindrance to achieving project goals.
Decide How Best to Engage with Different Stakeholders
Because of the different roles they will play in the project, you should engage with each stakeholder differently. At a basic level, you should communicate with all of them frequently to ensure their engagement. You can do this through calls, personal meetings, emails, and online tools.
You may need to consult with some stakeholders. This process requires involving them in decision-making through focus groups, surveys, or meetings.
During this exercise, consider using a stakeholder mapping template to map the stakeholders by their interests and power. Doing so will help you see areas where they can influence the project or that interest them.
Lastly, you can engage stakeholders through collaborations. Here, you work with them to achieve different objectives or complete specific tasks.
Regardless of the approach, you should tailor it to the individual stakeholders and align it with the project’s needs.
Take Notes of Issues
Stakeholder management also requires coming up with solutions to common issues or grievances. Keeping detailed logs or notes about the feedback stakeholders provide is crucial for identifying common issues over time. These patterns will make it easier to tweak different aspects of the project or follow up with individuals to find out what is going on and whether issues they had have been resolved.
Stakeholders play a crucial role in different projects because they can influence them in different ways. Engaging them while being considerate and keeping their needs in mind can help build strong relationships for specific and future projects that lead to the desired results or even better ones.
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