PMP Certification Study Notes 13 – Project Stakeholder Management

Please note that the study notes below is intended to include only the most important or esaily confused PMP concepts. It is by no means complete in the sense that one can rely on it to be fully prepared for the PMP Exam. Aspirants are advised to make use of this piece of study notes for revision purposes. Wish you PMP success!

Project Stakeholder Management

• stakeholders are groups/individuals who may affect/be affected by the project
• identify stakeholders is a continual process throughout the project lifecycle as some stakeholders may become irrelevant while new stakeholders may be identified as the project evolves
• the Project Manager is responsible for the engaging and managing the various stakeholders in a project
  • identify stakeholders, communicate and engage them, manage expectations and focus on satisfaction
  • stakeholder satisfaction is a key project objective

Identify Stakeholders

• Inputs: Project Charter, Business Documents, Project Management Plan, Project Documents, Agreements, EEF, OPA
• Tools & Techniques: Expert Judgement, Data Gathering, Data Analysis, Data Representation, Meetings
• Outputs: Stakeholder Register, Change Requests, Project Management Plan Update, Project Documents Update

• identify stakeholders and document the importance/influence (=active involvement) /impact/interest/involvement of stakeholders/groups of stakeholders
• stakeholders from procurement process and operation process needed to be included
  • agreements are used for determining external stakeholders such as the seller
• Data Gathering Tools:
  • Questionnaires and surveys
  • Brainstorming
• Data Analysis Techniques:
  • stakeholder analysis techniques
    • Interest, rights (legal or moral rights), power/interest, power/influence or impact/influence grid, salience model, prioritization, etc.
• Data Representation Tools:
  • Power/interest grid, power influence grid or impact/influence grid (3 ‘I’s: importance, interest, influence)
• determine the stakeholders’ hot buttons (what response in specific situations) and develop support strategies
• stakeholders have the greatest influence in the initial stage of the project
• stakeholder analysis matrix is part of the stakeholder management strategy (output of Identify Stakeholders Process)
• Salience Model: describing stakeholders based on the power (influence), urgency and legitimacy
• document only influential stakeholders if there is a large number of stakeholders
• document the impact using a power/influence grid, power/interest grid, influence/impact grid, salience model

Plan Stakeholder Engagement (formerly Plan Stakeholder Management)

• Inputs: Project Charter, Project Management Plan, Project Documents, Agreements, EEF, OPA
• Tools & Techniques: Expert Judgement, Data Gathering, Data Analysis, Decision Making, Data Representation, Meetings
• Outputs: Stakeholder Engagement Plan

• strategies to engage stakeholders throughout the project lifecycle
• Stakeholder Engagement Plan contains: current/desired engagement levels, scope and impact to stakeholders, interrelationships, communication requirements and forms, how to update the plan
  • The distribution of this plan requires precautions as the engagement level of stakeholders is a very sensitive information
• Data Analysis Tools:
  • Assumptions and constraint analysis
  • Mind mapping
  • Root cause analysis
  • Stakeholder Engagement Assessment Matrix: (C-current level, D-desired level)
  • SWOT analysis
• Engagement Level
  • Unaware
  • Resistant: resistant to change
  • Neutral
  • Supportive: supportive of change
  • Leading: actively engaged in project success

Manage Stakeholder Engagement

• Inputs: Project Management Plan, Project Documents, Agreements, EEF, OPA
• Tools & Techniques: Expert Judgement, Communication Skills, Interpersonal and Team Skills, Ground Rules, Meetings
• Outputs: Change Requests, Project Management Plan Update, Project Documents Update

• ultimate aim is to increase support and minimize resistance from stakeholders by addressing issues with a view to increasing the success of the project
  • communicate and work with stakeholders to meet their needs/expectations and address issues
  • build trust and resolve conflicts, negotiation skills, communication skills
  • need to communicate bad news/issues in a timely manner (not to hide, not to delay)
• the communication requirements of individual stakeholder are recorded in the Project Communication Plan
• PM may call upon the sponsor for assistance
• Ground rules are created to set the expected behaviour of project team members and other stakeholders (for stakeholder engagement)
• the Issue Log (Action Item Log): to identify issues/define impacts, owner (most important element) and priority/with the due date

Monitor Stakeholder Engagement (formerly Control Stakeholder Engagement)

• Inputs: Project Management Plan, Project Documents, Work Performance Data, EEF, OPA
• Tools & Techniques: Data Analysis, Decision Making, Data Representation, Communication Skills, Interpersonal and Team Skills, Meetings
• Outputs: Work Performance Information, Change Requests, Project Management Plan Update, Project Documents Update

• monitor overall stakeholder relationships and adjusting strategies to achieve the desired level of stakeholder engagement
• Decision-Making Tools:
  • Multicriteria decision analysis
  • Voting