Stakeholder Management: How to Approach This Systematically

Stakeholder Management: Why It Matters

Stakeholders can help you make your project a success. In other words: achieving goals with your team in a pleasant manner, within agreed-upon time and budget.

However, there are stakeholders who can seriously hinder your progress. As a result, the funding may be cut off, the project terminated, the scope completely changed, there may be opposition, delays, and a lot of stress.

In short, an essential task of a project manager is to identify and influence individuals with power and influence over the project's outcome in favor of the project. Therefore, as a project manager, it is crucial to take stakeholder management very seriously and give it structural priority within your project.

Think Before You Begin

When you start in a new position, the temptation is great to immediately get swept up in the busyness and hustle of an organization. To go for quick, initial results. This way, you can demonstrate that you are in control and propose effective solutions.

Pause your eagerness and perhaps ego for a moment.

It's better to truly take the time to understand the context first. To get to know the organization better. To talk. A lot. And ask questions, including who else you should be talking to.

Only then will you discover what the project is truly about. What the actual assignment and scope are. Whether you have the right resources to achieve the desired result and who your important stakeholders are.

Identifying and Analyzing Stakeholders

One of the first things we recommend at the start of a project is to identify and analyze stakeholders.

Who are the stakeholders? How significant is their interest, and what power do they have to positively or negatively influence your project? And how involved are they, really?

Is it the steering committee, management? And which individuals are they? Are they employees from your own organization, suppliers, customers? Or end users, individuals who will use the product or service? Whoever they are, getting them on board will make it much easier to bring your project to a successful conclusion.

Once you have a list of all these individuals, you can categorize them in a stakeholder analysis model. This is where many project managers lose interest. They say, "I've identified the stakeholders and know exactly where they stand. I don't need to put it on paper."

Take the time to fill out the stakeholder analysis. Do this together with people who also know the organization well and whom you trust, such as your core team or another project manager. Organize a session to create the analysis of power, interest, and involvement together.

The stakeholder model is a snapshot. Whether someone has a lot or little interest and influence in your project, is neutral, positive, or negative, is involved or not: everything can change during your project. People change roles, perspectives, and involvement. And then your way of managing them must also change. So regularly reassess where everyone stands.

Perhaps it goes without saying, but it's also important for the colleagues with whom you created this model to handle it carefully and confidentially.

Continuously Influencing the Right Stakeholders

Filling out the stakeholder analysis has clarified why this project is important to certain individuals in the organization, how involved they are, and what power they possess.

The next step is to create a plan on how to continually influence these individuals so that together, you can make the project a success.

After conducting a stakeholder analysis, the subsequent step is to develop a communication plan. This is what it ultimately comes down to! Depending on someone's position in the grid, you might decide to inform them occasionally or involve them closely in the project. Feel free to ask how people prefer to be informed. Some may want to see a weekly dashboard, while others prefer to be briefed over a cup of coffee.

Our advice: consistently work on your communication. And don't rely solely on formal meeting moments. Drop by someone's office spontaneously, especially a manager with significant influence on your project. Share the highlights and your challenges. Ask: how do you see it? What advice would you give me? This way, you genuinely involve people in the progress.

Also, regularly ask yourself: am I still engaging with the right stakeholders? The only constant is change, especially in the world of project management.

Come to Our Knowledge Event on Stakeholder Management on November 24!

On November 24 from 5:00 PM to 8:00 PM, we are hosting an event at Ghysels BV on the High Tech Campus for project managers about stakeholder management. During this knowledge event, you'll have the opportunity to meet other project managers and exchange experiences on stakeholder management. Through sharing best practices, you'll learn to be even more successful by exerting influence in a structured and intelligent way.

There are still a few spots available. If you are reading this after November 24 and would like to attend our next knowledge event, please let us know, and we will keep you informed about our events.