Stakeholder Management
This chapter describes the importance of managing project stakeholders. Consider the techniques used to identify the various categories of stakeholders and the unique challenges of these various categories. This chapter also discusses the politics of projects.
Project Stakeholders
Top Management
Top management may include the president of the company, vice-presidents, directors, division managers, the corporate operating committee, and others. These people direct the strategy and development of the organization.
On the plus side, you are likely to have top management support, which means it will be easier to recruit the best staff to carry out the project, and acquire needed material and resources; also visibility can enhance a project manager's professional standing in the company.
On the minus side, failure can be quite dramatic and visible to all, and if the project is large and expensive (most are), the cost of failure will be more substantial than for a smaller, less visible project.
Some suggestions in dealing with top management are:
- Develop in-depth plans and major milestones that must be approved by top management during the planning and design phases of the project.
- Ask top management associated with your project for their information reporting needs and frequency.
- Develop a status reporting methodology to be distributed on a scheduled basis.
- Keep them informed of project risks and potential impacts at all times.