Some people think of Stakeholder management as simply “people management.” And while they share the same attribute of both (usually) being humans, that’s where the similarity stops.
When managing your project Stakeholder, note that it will consume your time. Each project’s Stakeholders will require differing amounts of attention and products.
My advice is to take it one person at a time. Eventually, you’ll understand everyone’s individual needs. Then the project will end the next day. ¯\(ツ)/¯
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Our beloved overlords of project management, the Project Management Institute (PMI), defines a Stakeholder via their Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) 7th Edition as “[an] individual, group, or organization that may affect, be affected by, or perceive itself to be affected by a decision, activity, or outcome of a project, program, or portfolio.”$^1$
That’s a lot to take in, so let’s sum this up: if someone sees, hears about, or reads about your project (etc.), whether you’re aware of it or not, consider them a Stakeholder.
This may seem a little broad, perhaps even more so than the PMI definition (no, not really), but it will save you from losing your sanity if you treat everyone as a stakeholder (even the Scrum Team).
As noted above, a Stakeholder is nearly anyone who has a stake in your project, program, or portfolio. There are a few ways to look upon the masses and figure out who’s who.
It is essential to understand that not all stakeholders will have the same influence or effect on a project. There are many ways to identify Stakeholders for a project; however, it should be done methodically and logically to ensure that no troll is left behind nobody is omitted. This may be done by looking at Stakeholders organizationally, geographically, or by involvement with various project phases or outcomes.$^2$
We can also go about it by figuring out who’ll be directly or indirectly impacted by our project, program, or portfolio.
Aside from their monikers, there is a distinct difference between these two groups. Generally speaking, those who are considered “directly affected stakeholders” will usually yield more significant influence or may have more impact on the success and failure of a project than those who are indirectly affected.
<aside> 🚨 Word of Caution: If a list is created with the names of your Stakeholders, keep it close to your chest. People can be sensitive over lists of names and where they’re at on it. You’ve been warned.
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This is determined through a process known as Stakeholder Analysis (I’ll make a page for this at some point) which will provide you the output known as the Stakeholder Register (also a page I’ll create later).
Through the miracles of science 🧪👩🔬 (and knowledge), we’ve discovered who’s who in the zoo. Now comes the hard part, giving the people what they want.
Once you’ve identified and categorized your Stakeholder audience, you’re now in a position to keep them all happy with charts, emails, phone calls, and/or meetings. As in real life (or reality TV), the level of attention that a Stakeholder gets is directly correlated with the amount of influence they have over your project. In short, those who have the most power over the outcome—positive or negative— of the project may require the most attention.
All individual or group requirements will be recorded in your Stakeholder Register. If your project is big enough, you may have a Stakeholder Management plan that will list who gets what by title or name. However, if you don’t, as the Scrum Master/Project Manager, it’s your responsibility to keep a record of who gets what and, perhaps, how important they are to the project (or the project’s success/failure).