Stakeholders are people who will be affected by the project or can influence it but are not directly involved with the project work. They could be the customer, supplier, champion, sponsor, department head, employees — anyone who may be interested in the outcome of the project. It is important that you understand who these people are, understand any concern they may have, and communicate to them on a regular basis.
An easy way to do this is to establish a communications plan that should include the following steps:
- During the Define phase, identify the stakeholders involved in your project.
- Identify the main concerns each group of stakeholders might have regarding the project.
- Develop a plan to give each group of stakeholders a report on the project’s progress and to address their main concerns.
- Throughout the project, continue to regularly communicate with these stakeholder groups.
A simple matrix, such as the following, can help you with this process:
Understanding your stakeholder concerns, addressing them, and communicating often will alleviate problems as you proceed in your project.