How do stakeholders related to project deliverables

It can also apply to the end user or customer, as their needs are a critical consideration when it comes to steering your project. There are two main types of stakeholders in project management , internal and external.

These stakeholders are coming from within the house!!! Internal stakeholders are people or groups within the business, such as team members, managers, executives, and so on. External stakeholders are — as you can probably guess — people or groups outside the business.

This includes customers, users, suppliers, and investors. Needless to say, this can add an extra layer of complexity, as you need to be able to communicate with people at all different levels of the business and with varying degrees of engagement, influence, and interest.

The stakeholders in each particular project will vary depending on the type of project and industry, but here are a few examples of the types of stakeholders in project management you might need to consider:. Financiers the people, not the cakes. So how do you know which stakeholders you need to focus on for your particular project? For that, you need to do a stakeholder analysis.

As soon as your project charter is complete and the scope of your project is defined, you can use it to start mapping out your stakeholders. First step, you need to identify who your stakeholders actually are. To do this, draw on your project charter and any other project plans and documentation to compile a full list of your project stakeholders, both internal and external.

Prioritizing your stakeholders is important because it helps you understand where to invest your resources. What level of power do they have? How influential are they to the project, to other stakeholders, to the team, and so on? What level of interest do they have?

Are they reliant on it for other work or results? Are they opposed to the project or concerned about it in some way? Now that you know who the key players are and which ones to prioritize, you need to get a full grasp of their expectations for the project.

The information on the project flowed through a cultural expectation to provide positive information. The project was eventually canceled by the U. Not all cultural differences are related to international projects. Corporate cultures and even regional differences can create cultural confusion on a project. On a major project in South America that included project team leaders from seven different countries, the greatest cultural difference that affected the project communication was between two project leaders from the United States.

Two team members, one from New Orleans and one from Brooklyn, had more difficulty communicating than team members from Lebanon and Australia. Often there is more than one major stakeholder in the project. The business or emotional investment of the stakeholder in the project and the ability of the stakeholder to influence the project outcomes or execution approach will also influence the stakeholder complexity of the project. A small commercial construction project will typically have several stakeholders.

All the building permitting agencies, environmental agencies, and labour and safety agencies have an interest in the project and can influence the execution plan of the project. The neighbours will have an interest in the architectural appeal, the noise, and the purpose of the building. The plant was to be built in India a few years after an accident that killed several Indians and involved a different U.

When the company announced the new project and began to break ground, the community backlash was so strong that the project was shut down.

A highly involved stakeholder can significantly influence your project. A small college in South Carolina won a competitive grant to erect and operate a wind turbine on campus.

The engineering department submitted the grant as a demonstration project for engineering students to expose students to wind technology. The campus facilities department found only one location for the wind turbine that would not disrupt the flow of traffic on campus. The engineering department found that location unacceptable for students who had to maintain the wind turbine. The county construction permitting department had no policies for permitting a wind turbine and would not provide a building permit.

The college had to go to the county council and get an exception to county rules. The marketing department wanted the wind turbine placed in a highly visible location to promote the innovative approach of the college. The number of stakeholders on the project, multiplied by their passion for the subject and the lack of agreement on the location, increased the complexity of the project. Significant time and resources of a project will be dedicated to identifying, understanding, and managing client expectations.

The Department of Highways chartered a project to upgrade a number of bridges that crossed the interstate in one of the larger cities in South Carolina. The closing of these bridges severely impacted traffic congestion, including a large shopping mall. The contract included provisions for minimizing the impact on the traffic and communities near the construction areas.

This provision allowed businesses or interested parties to review the project schedule and make suggestions that would lessen the impact of the construction.

The project leadership invested significant time and resources in developing alignment among the various political stakeholders on the project approach and schedule.

Take the time to identify all stakeholders before starting a new project. Include those who are impacted by the project, as well as groups with the ability to impact the project. Then, begin the process of building strong relationships with each one using the following method.

These are the basics of building strong stakeholder relationships. But as in any relationship, there are subtleties that every successful project manager understands — such as learning the differences between and relating well to different types stakeholders. By conducting a stakeholder analysis, project managers can gather enough information on which to build strong relationships — regardless of the differences between them.

For example, the needs and wants of a director of marketing will be different from those of a chief information officer. Others will support projects if there is sound evidence of their value to improving operations, boosting market share, increasing production, or meeting other company objectives. Building strong, trusting relationships with interested parties from the start can make the difference between project success and failure.

There are many project decelerators, among them lack of stakeholder support. Whether the stakeholders support your project or not, if they are important to your project, you must secure their support. How do you do that? First, you must identify who your stakeholders are.

Just because they are important in the organization does not necessarily mean they are important to your project. Just because they think they are important does not mean they are. Note that in some situations there are people who think they are stakeholders. From your perspective they may not be, but be careful how you handle them. They could be influential with those who have the power to impact your project. Do not dismiss them out of hand. Second, you need to determine what power they have and what their intentions toward your project are.

Before you can manage stakeholder expectations, you first need to know who your project stakeholders are. Make sure to account for both internal and external stakeholders. To figure out who your project stakeholders are, ask yourself:. If you need help tracking your stakeholders, consider creating a RACI chart or stakeholder register to track who everyone is, why they matter, and what their impact on the project will be. Before you move on to step two, do one last sanity check.

Ask yourself:. Are there any other internal stakeholders I should be aware of, like resource managers or project portfolio managers? High stakeholder engagement can really take your project to the next level. This grid—sometimes called a power-interest grid or an interest matrix—is the best way to visualize your four main stakeholder groups. High influence and high interest. These are likely your project approvers and sponsors. Externally, these may also be key partners or customers.

Make sure you check with these stakeholders regularly and ensure your expectations are aligned. During the course of the project, be sure to actively collaborate with these project stakeholders—you can think of them as the key players in your stakeholder team. High influence and low interest. They might be distant cross-functional partners or executive leadership at your company. Make sure these stakeholders are aware of your project basics and ask your high power and high interest stakeholders to help you manage the relationship if need be.

Low influence and high interest. During the course of the project, keep these project stakeholders informed. Low influence and low interest. These are secondary stakeholders. Depending on the size and complexity of your work, you might want to loop them in semi-regularly on project status reports , or not loop them in at all until the end.

The reality is, some stakeholders may disagree with certain elements of the project. Maybe your work is even disrupting some of their work. If you try to see things from their perspective, you have a better chance of finding a solution—and turning the situation into a win-win scenario. Key stakeholders should also sign off on your project charter , project plan , project objectives , and project scope.

As your project gets underway, make sure to update any relevant stakeholders on changes and progress. In addition to increasing visibility, documenting your processes early reduces the risk of any miscommunication down the road. When in doubt, go back to your stakeholder analysis map to identify who needs to be looped in. You may meet with some stakeholders—your high power and high interest stakeholders, for example—frequently to discuss the project and deal with any unanticipated challenges.

But to keep the rest of your stakeholders in the loop, send out regular project status updates with recently completed milestones, any blockers, and next steps. There is no perfect solution to stakeholder communication. But here are the most common pitfalls and how you can avoid them:. Problem: Overeager project stakeholders are causing scope creep. Sometimes, overeager project stakeholders can have a negative impact.

The best way to establish boundaries with your stakeholders is to implement a change control process.