PMcrunch

Do you know who your project stakeholders are?  Effective communications and expectation management starts with understanding the needs of the various project stakeholders.
 

To ensure we have a common understanding of the term ‘stakeholders’, let’s look at the PMI ® definition:
 

“Individuals and organizations that are actively involved in the project, or whose interests may be positively or negatively affected as a result of project execution or project completion; they may also exert influence over the project and its results.”
 

This is a very broad definition; just about anyone remotely connected to my project could be a stakeholder.  To sharpen the focus, consider eight categories of project stakeholder:
 

1. Output delivery stakeholders are the project team members responsible for the delivery of the project’s outputs.   The project team is committed to the project; they are closest to the action and will provide much of the information that goes into project reports.
2. Product usage stakeholders will directly or indirectly use the project products; they are ultimately responsible for the achievement of business objectives using the project deliverables.  Product usage stakeholders are primarily concerned with the usability and quality of the project end deliverables.
3. Product support stakeholders are responsible for ensuring that the project product is available for use.  Support stakeholders provide operational support and enhancements to functionality over the life of the product.  They are primarily interested in the scalability and stability as well as the deployment plans.
4. Funding authority stakeholders are accountable for the outcome of the project and grant approval for release of funding and provision of resources.  They are the corporate owners of the project and support the achievement of project objectives.  Funding authority stakeholders include executives, project sponsors, business management, creditors, investors, and shareholders.
5. Contributor stakeholders are individuals or groups who provide products and services to the project.  Contributors include service groups, suppliers and contractors.  The main difference between contributors and output delivery stakeholders is commitment level.  Output delivery stakeholders are committed to the success of the project.  Contributors are involved in the project; their main concern is meeting their specific product or service obligation.
6. Review/audit stakeholders are groups or organizations who need to review or audit the project and it’s deliverables to ensure that proper processes are followed and the quality of deliverables meets appropriate standards.  Review/audit stakeholders include Architecture (or Technical) Review groups, Project Management Office (PMO), Quality Review groups, Internal or external auditors, consumer groups, regulatory agencies, and environmental agencies.  Review/audit stakeholders often have the authority to stop a project until their concern is addressed. 
7. Stakeholders affected by the outcome of the project include the public/press/media, unions or bargaining units, and competitors of the organization. High profile projects may require public relations activities to manage the expectations of the general public or the press/media.
8. Related projects (both internal and external) may impact the project team’s ability to meet their objectives. Other project teams may provide inputs to or receive outputs from the project.  These inter-project dependencies will require communication.  Related projects may also share resources with your project.

Consider these categories when identifying project stakeholders.  The ones you miss can come back to haunt you!
 

Gord Gibben, PMP
Author Electronic Project Office