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.

Culture of Stakeholders

Example: Culture Affects Communication in Mumbai

A project management consultant from the United States was asked to evaluate the effectiveness of a U.S. project management team executing a project in Mumbai, India. The project team reported that the project was on schedule and within budget. After a project review meeting where each of the engineering leads reported that the design of the project was on schedule, the consultant began informal discussions with individual engineers and began to discover that several critical aspects of the project were behind schedule. Without a mitigating strategy, the project would miss a critical window in the weather between monsoon seasons. The information on the project flowed through a cultural expectation to provide positive information. The project was eventually canceled by the U.S. corporation when the market and political risks increased.

Not all cultural differences are related to international projects. Corporate cultures and even regional differences can create cultural confusion on a project.