What Is Stakeholder Management?

Stakeholders are individuals or groups vested in your project or venture. Stakeholder management is the process of building positive relationships with stakeholders and managing their needs to advance your project effectively.

The success of your project will heavily rely on the relationships you develop with your stakeholders, given the significant knowledge, resources, or investments they make. Therefore, it’s essential to have a well-defined process for identifying stakeholders, understanding their requirements, and effectively managing their expectations.

5 steps of stakeholder management

Follow these five steps of the stakeholder management process to look after your stakeholders' interests and maintain crucial relationships.

1. Identify stakeholders: Conduct a stakeholder analysis to identify project stakeholders, whether internal (owners, investors, and team members) or external (creditors, suppliers, or governing bodies).

2. Prioritise stakeholders: Order stakeholders based on their impact on the project—some will have a greater impact, others less. Maintain relationships with the ones that have the most significant impact, considering the project’s priorities could shift as it’s completed.

3. Understand stakeholder needs and motives: To engage better, know your stakeholders' needs and motives, communicate with them, and maintain a positive relationship. Meet and interview each stakeholder, conduct surveys, and hold focus groups to understand their requirements and gather feedback.

4. Create an engagement plan: Develop an engagement plan for your stakeholders that details your communication expectations, timelines, and feedback methods. Document this plan and present it to your stakeholders.

5. Implement and monitor progress: Employ your engagement plan, watching its progress, to manage expectations and make adjustments as needed.

Related terms

• Task management

• Project plan

• Pert chart

• Resource management

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Stakeholder management involves identifying and understanding the needs of individuals or groups who affect your project and building positive relationships to ensure project success.  By following a five-step process, you can effectively manage stakeholder expectations and maintain crucial relationships. Once you’re ready to learn more about stakeholder management, consider completing the Google Project Management: Professional Certificate, which provides an overview of how to manage a project, including how to undertake stakeholder management.