According to the PMBOK®, stakeholders are, ‘persons and organisations such as customers, sponsors, performing organisation and the public, that are actively involved in the project, or whose interests may be positively or negatively affected by execution or completion of the project.’ (PMI, 2004). The ICB defines stakeholders as, ‘people or groups, who are interested in the performance and/or success of the project, or who are constrained by the project’, preferring to employ the term ‘interested parties’ (IPMA, 2006).

Why do we need to manage the stakeholders? For most projects, the project manager can increase the chances of success by correctly managing the stakeholders’ needs, expectations and influence. The level of commitment of key stakeholders will determine the success or failure of certain projects which involve organisational change or have an important social, political, economical or environmental impact. Knowing the stakeholders’ expectations and requirements is fundamental to define the quality standards and requirements for the project and the products or services to be delivered.

And how can we get started? Project managers must know their stakeholders, understand the communication channels between them and develop a communication strategy to align the needs and expectations of the interested parties, using effective communication to improve their commitment level.

In the book (chapter 6), I suggest a strategy to manage the stakeholders in global programs and projects, by identifying key interested parties, evaluating their attitudes to the project, analysing their positions, mapping the communication channels and increasing their level of commitment.

A valuable tool to increase the commitment of key stakeholders is a project communication strategy, which can use the stakeholder analysis to address most of their needs and expectations. (see the chapter 8 of the book).

Sources:
IPMA – International Project Management Association (2006) ‘ICB – IPMA Competence Baseline, version 3.0’ (IPMA, The Netherlands)

PMI (2004) ‘A guide to the project management body of knowledge (PMBOK® guide) third edition’ (PMI, USA)