Chapter 5. Stakeholder Management

5.2 Stakeholder Analysis

After the initial assessment has been completed, stakeholder prioritization can occur. A power/interest grid would be a very helpful tool for prioritization (Figure 5.2.1). It helps project managers categorize stakeholders and create effective communication strategies for each category of stakeholder on the project. This tool is one of the most common techniques utilized to group stakeholders according to their level of authority (power) and their level of concern about the project’s activities and outcomes (interest)[1]. Other techniques besides the power/interest grid can be used, such as the power/influence grid, impact/influence grid, stakeholder cube, and salience model. In this book, we will not cover these techniques.

5.2.1 Stakeholder Power/Interest Grid

The stakeholder power/interest grid is a two-dimensional matrix with four quadrants. Power refers to the authority of stakeholders through which they can affect the course of activities and decisions and may block, facilitate, or accelerate them. Interest refers to stakeholders’ concern about the project’s activities and outcomes and how they are negatively or positively affected. While carrying out the activities to identify stakeholders, we should conduct our research and investigation thoroughly to determine and prioritize the stakeholders. Some stakeholders would have more power and interest in our project. Therefore, we should identify them and create a strategy to engage them during the project. These strategies have been indicated in Figure 5.2.1 for each quadrant based on the level of power and interest.

Figure 5.2.1 shows four quadrants of a stakeholder matrix. The horizontal axis has the interest level (low and high). The vertical axis has the power level (high and low).
Figure 5.2.1. Stakeholder Matrix: Power/Interest Grid and the Strategies to Deal with the Stakeholders

Properties of each quadrant with the potential stakeholder inside them have been described below:

  1. High Power – High Interest: These stakeholders are decision-makers and have the biggest impact on the project’s success. Therefore, we must closely manage their expectations[2]. We should work closely with them to ensure that they agree with and support the change[3]. The project sponsor, project manager, and the team can be included in this quadrant.
  2. High Power – Low Interest: These stakeholders need to be kept satisfied even though they aren’t interested because they yield power. This type of stakeholder should also be dealt with cautiously since they may use their power in a way that is not desired in the project if they become unsatisfied. Government and regulatory agencies that inspect the quality of your work in compliance with legal provisions and standards can be included in this quadrant.
  3. Low Power – High interest: We should keep these stakeholders adequately informed and talk to them to ensure no major issues arise. They are likely to be very concerned and may feel anxious about a lack of control. They can often be very helpful with the details of your project. This quadrant can include our customers or end-users willing to purchase the project’s outcome (e.g., a product or a service).
  4. Low power – Low interest: We should monitor these stakeholders but not bore them with excessive communication. The public and the customers who are not willing to purchase our products can be included in this quadrant. We can send them newsletters once every month, but not every week. We should monitor their interest and power level in case they change.

When considering a stakeholder’s interest, we should assess the following:

  • How is their performance evaluated?
  • Will their performance be impacted by the project and/or its outcomes?
  • Are they needed to help produce the project’s outcomes?

When considering a stakeholder’s power, we should assess the following:

  • What position do they currently hold in our organization or their organizations?
  • How much authority does this position afford them over the project?
  • Can they influence people in positions of high power?

Tools such as stakeholder power/interest grid help project managers prioritize stakeholders. Some stakeholders have little interest and little power in a project and, as a result, do not require as much contact from the project team. Understanding who these stakeholders are allows the project team to spend more time with the stakeholders with a significant interest in the project and exert significant influence. Project teams assess the interest and power of project stakeholders by researching their current positions and actions in previous change initiatives and by directly speaking with them about the project.

Below, let’s consider a fictitious example of a vehicle rental company to elaborate on the stakeholder power/interest grid.

A Vehicle Rental Company’s Project for its Booking System

Our car rental company, Best Rental Company Worldwide (BRCW), has a serious problem. Our booking system crashes frequently. Employees in relevant departments, branches, and the call center cannot process the information properly. Besides, there are significant errors in scheduling and pricing. At the same time, individual and corporate customers rent vehicles on the company’s website and when they reach the call center to book a vehicle. The company’s IT director, CTO (Chief Technology Officer), asked us to initiate a project to address and solve the problems. First, we should create a business case to investigate the problem thoroughly. We should figure out the underlying reasons. To dig into the reasons, we should first identify the stakeholders we should consult to learn their experience with the current system and their concerns and expectations. Our team targets to develop a new booking module in the ERP system, a website, and a mobile application our customers will access and use to book vehicles. We identified the stakeholders as follows:

  1. Project manager
  2. Project team members
  3. Project sponsor: IT Director – Chief Technology Officer (CTO)
  4. Steering Committee (composed of car rental company managers)
  5. IT Department
  6. HR Department
  7. Sales Department
  8. Marketing Department
  9. Maintenance / Repair Department
  10. Call Center and its managers and employees
  11. Branches across the USA (and their managers and employees)
  12. Branches outside the USA
  13. Individual Customers
  14. Organizational Customers (Corporations that rent vehicles based on a contract with BRCW)
  15. Insurance companies
  16. Travel agencies (including e-commerce agencies such as Expedia)
  17. Vehicle manufacturers
  18. Suppliers of vehicle spare parts and consumables for offices at the central units and branches
  19. Government agencies (e.g., Department of Transportation, US Environmental Protection Agency)
  20. Google Play Store (for Android phones and tablets) and App Store (for Apple phones and tablets)
  21. Not-for-profit organizations (e.g., associations that were established to reduce carbon emissions)

The project sponsor, project manager, project team members, steering committee, IT, sales, marketing, and maintenance/repair departments, call center, and branches across the USA are our internal stakeholders inside our company, BRCW. Although including the manager and team members may look counterintuitive, they are also stakeholders. Indeed, they are the most important stakeholders who strongly impact project activities, milestones, decisions, deliverables, outcomes, and the overall project.

The image depicts a Stakeholder Power-Interest Matrix, a tool used in project management to categorize stakeholders based on their level of power and interest in the project. It is divided into four quadrants:Keep Satisfied (High Power, Low Interest): Stakeholders with significant power but low interest. They should be kept satisfied to ensure their support. Examples: Google Play Store, App Store. Manage Closely (High Power, High Interest): Key stakeholders who have both high power and high interest in the project. They require active engagement and close management. Examples: Project Manager, Project Team Members, Project Sponsor, Steering Committee, IT Department, Representative of internal customers. Monitor with Minimum Effort (Low Power, Low Interest): Stakeholders with minimal power and interest. They require limited attention. Examples: Government agencies, Not-for-profit organizations, Occasional individual customers, Suppliers. Keep Informed (Low Power, High Interest): Stakeholders with high interest but limited power. They should be kept informed to maintain their support and involvement. Examples: Sales Department, Marketing Department, Maintenance Department, Internal customers, Frequent individual customers, Organizational customers, Insurance companies, Travel agencies, Vehicle manufacturers.
Figure 5.2.2. Stakeholder Power/Interest Grid for Rental Car Company’s Project

5.2.2 Stakeholders in the Stakeholder Power/Interest Grid

5.2.2.1  Project Sponsor

The project sponsor is typically the most powerful stakeholder. In our case, the CTO is the sponsor. Sponsors have high power and high interest. They are the decision-makers and act as a supervisor and controller of the project. Sponsors often initiate the project by signing off and approving the project charter and authorizing the project manager to form and lead the team, start planning, define the scope, activities, schedule, and risks, and allocate and utilize the budget and resources. A sponsor is the authority superior to the project manager inside the organization and acts as a supervisor and facilitator during the project. A sponsor releases the team’s budget for the project activities. If the project client is one of the units of the organization, that is, an internal client, the project sponsor also becomes the funder. If the client is outside the organization, this external client becomes the funder, while the sponsor should still be inside the organization that is implementing the project. A legal contract is created between the organization (where the project sponsor, project manager, and team are) and the external client (funder). While the contract is a legally binding agreement, we still need a project charter that should be signed by the sponsor who is in our organization where the team resides. The charter should be based on the contract, and it regulates the requirements and resource allocations on the organization’s side. As discussed in Chapter 3 regarding the project charter, the project sponsor can be referred to as the “initiating sponsor.” They have the authority to start and stop the project and will support achieving project objectives by removing the barriers to success. They can be regarded as the “external champions” because they often serve as the last escalation point when the project team needs support bringing an off-track project back on track. Successful project teams know how to leverage the power and position of the project sponsor and will proactively ask them to deliver influencing communications throughout the organization to maintain the project’s momentum and high morale within the team. Project sponsors can assign one or more sustaining sponsors as the “internal champions.” These sponsors are often leaders of the internal departments most affected by the project, such as a marketing manager or human resources manager. When the project sponsor selects the sustaining sponsor(s), one of their goals is to ensure that the project team frequently considers the organizational impacts of the introduced changes. By keeping the sustaining sponsor(s) actively engaged in the project, they will ensure their teams are intently participating in the project and identifying the operational impacts that must be considered for the change to be sustained once the project has been completed.

5.2.2.2  Project Manager and Project Team

The project manager and the team members have high power and high interest since they are responsible for conducting all the teamwork and project activities. They define and sequence activities, estimate their duration, budget, and resources, identify and allocate resources, identify and manage risks, and monitor and control all project activities. They are those who are held accountable in the first place for the project’s success. Project managers have to deal with stakeholders external to the organization as well as the internal environment, which is certainly more complex than what a manager in an internal environment faces. For example, suppliers who are late in delivering crucial parts may blow the project schedule. To compound the problem, project managers generally have little or no direct control over these stakeholders. Therefore, it is a challenging process for project managers and the team. We will discuss team management in more detail in Chapter 6.

5.2.2.3  Top Management and Steering Committee

Top management may include the company’s president, vice presidents, directors, division managers, and the corporate operating committee. They direct the strategy and development of the organization. Project managers should have top management support, so recruiting the best staff to carry out the project and acquiring needed materials and resources will be easier. Moreover, visibility can enhance a project manager’s professional standing. On the minus side, failure can be quite dramatic and visible to all, and if the project is large, as is in our case, and expensive, the cost of failure will be more substantial than for a smaller, less visible project. Therefore, while dealing with top management, project managers should develop in-depth plans and major milestones that must be approved by top management during the planning and design phases of the project. They should ask top management associated with the project for their information reporting needs and frequency. They should also develop a status reporting methodology to be distributed on a scheduled basis and keep them informed of project risks and potential impacts at all times. In our case study, the steering committee, composed of top managers and their representatives, plays a crucial role in the project.

5.2.2.4  Functional Departments

In our case study, we have functional departments: IT, sales, marketing, and maintenance/repair departments and branches across the USA. Central functional units generally have more authority than the regional offices. All these units have managers and employees at various hierarchical levels. Among the central units, the IT department is one that we should work with more closely since the project is directly related to their responsibilities, and most of the human and physical resources we need for the project activities reside in the IT department. Therefore, the IT department has high power and high interest. The project also needs human resources from the sales, marketing, and maintenance departments. We need to consult subject matter experts in these departments. Therefore, these department heads control their resources, and we rely on them. If we have a good relationship with them, they may be able to consistently provide the best staff and the best equipment for our project. Employees from these departments may be part of our core team or attend project activities. Since the booking system directly affects their day-to-day operations, they have a higher interest. However, their power level may not be very high all the time. It may fluctuate from moderately high to lower interest levels, although generally not very low.

5.2.2.5  Internal Customers: Branches and Call Center

In our case, the branches and the call center are the internal customers of our project. They will be the end-users of the new ERP module when our customers and employers of our organizational customers visit the branches or call the call center to book a vehicle or to talk about another issue related to the booking (e.g., complaints, roadside assistance). These two categories of internal customers hold the power to accept or reject the deliverables of activities and the overall project when completed. However, they are generally represented by their managers, a product owner, or an inspection and acceptance committee, who have high power and naturally very high interest. Therefore, we should place them in the quadrant that allows us to manage them closely. The project manager must negotiate, clarify, and document project specifications and deliverables early in the relationship. After the project begins, the project manager must stay tuned to the customer’s concerns and issues and keep the customer informed. Call center agents may resist using the new system if they don’t find it user-friendly and easy to use. They must be informed frequently, and their feedback should be sought, especially when making critical decisions. Their resistance and dissatisfaction may lead to rework, which may cause the project to have budget overruns and schedule slippages. This is why continuous user involvement and feedback are crucial during the project to minimize the risk of unacceptance.

While dealing with internal customers, the project manager and the team should pay attention to ensuring clarity about what stakeholders, in particular customers, want precisely. This is a part of product and project scope management. Project managers should assign business and/or systems analysts who can elicit requirements utilizing surveys, interviews, focus group meetings, workshops, root-and-cause analysis, and document analysis. Project managers should be aware of any issues regarding the lack of documentation for what is wanted, lack of knowledge of the customer’s organization and operating characteristics, unrealistic deadlines, budgets, or specifications requested by the customer, the hesitancy of the customer to sign off on the project or accept responsibility for decisions, and changes in project scope. As explicated in Chapter 3, “Project Initiation,” and Chapter 4, “Project Planning,” project managers should address the needs and expectations of stakeholders such as customers, clients, or owners, and be sure to do the following:

  • Learn the organization’s organizational structure, culture, buzzwords, and business.
  • Clarify all project requirements and specifications in a written agreement.
  • Specify a change procedure clearly in change management and configuration management plans.
  • Establish the project manager as the focal point of communication in the project organization.

5.2.2.6  External Customers

Providing clarity about what stakeholders want precisely, as explained above for internal customers, is true for external customers too. Business and/or systems analysts should also elicit requirements from external customers by utilizing techniques such as surveys, interviews, focus group meetings, workshops, root and cause analysis, and document analysis. External customers are outside our organization. Therefore, they are within the external stakeholders. In our case, external customers are individual customers (people who rent vehicles for leisure or work) and organizational customers (corporations that rent vehicles based on a contract). When we finalize our project, they can book the rental vehicles on our website and mobile app, call the call center to reserve a vehicle or talk about another issue related to the booking (e.g., complaints, roadside assistance) or they can visit a branch to reserve, pick up or return a rental vehicle. Organizational customers, in general, have a contractual relationship with our company as they regularly and frequently rent vehicles at better prices and in better conditions. They will be interested in our new booking system since a more effective system helps them have a smoother process with minimum flaws. Most of the individual customers may not be frequent customers. They may pursue lower prices by comparing them based on the vehicle type. Therefore, their interest in our new system may not always be high. We can name them as occasional individual customers. However, the customers who rent their vehicles from our company regularly may be interested in our project, and they may be willing to receive newsletters, for example, once every month in their email accounts. The power level for both individual and organizational customers would be low since they don’t have the authority and decision-making authority to significantly affect the course of the project (Figure 5.2.2).

5.2.2.7  External Stakeholders

In our case, individual customers (see 5.2.1.6), organizational customers (see 5.2.1.6), mobile app stores, insurance companies, travel agencies (including e-commerce agencies), vehicle manufacturers, suppliers, government agencies, and not-for-profit organizations are our external stakeholders.

An important stakeholder group in our case would be two common mobile application stores – Android’s Google Play and Apple’s App Store. Our mobile app developers and testers will use their SDKs (Software Development Kits), and they should authenticate the app before it can be used by the customers on their smartphones. We also need to comply with standards regarding privacy and security. Thus, these two stores will have high power in our project. However, their interest level may not be high as they are not impacted by this project and its outcomes. We should keep them satisfied by complying with their standards and terms and conditions.

Government and regulatory agencies are generally considered to have high power and low interest if they have an inspection and approval authority in the project. Project managers in certain heavily regulated environments (e.g., pharmaceutical, banking, or military industries) must deal with government regulators and departments. These can include all or some levels of government, from municipal, provincial, federal, and international levels. Besides, constructors are subject to permits and inspections from the local (city and county offices such as Public Works, Fire, and Health Departments) and federal agencies regarding the quality and legal standards they need to adhere to in their constructions (e.g., building permits, fire evacuation plan, fire and smoke equipment, safety). This is why these agencies’ power levels are high. In our case, government agencies were listed as the Department of Transportation and the US Environmental Protection Agency. Although these agencies may perform controls, inspect, and release permits for our operations, they may not have power and interest in our booking system. Thus, they are inside the low-power and low-interest quadrant in Figure 5.2.2. If a function or condition needs to be added to our system, and these agencies should approve it before we make it available, we can include them inside the high-power and low-interest quadrant.

In our booking system project, we also have not-for-profit organizations such as associations established to reduce carbon emissions. Similar to government agencies, these organizations may not have power in our project. However, they may have a low or moderate level of interest since the system could include the fuel efficiency rates for each car. In Figure 5.2.2, they were placed within the low-power and low-interest quadrant.

Insurance companies and travel agencies may be interested in our new booking system since some of them have an ongoing contractual relationship with our company. When a customer wants to rent a vehicle, they can select an insurance plan during their rental time. Travel agencies and/or travel websites (e.g., Expedia, Priceline) communicate with our company’s system to check the availability of our rental cars. Therefore, both insurance companies and travel agencies may be interested in our project. However, their power level would be low as they don’t have the decision-making authority to affect the project activities.

Another stakeholder would be vehicle manufacturers from which our company, BRCW, purchases the vehicles to rent to the customers. Although they have a high interest in our vehicle portfolio and an ongoing relationship with our company, they may not have a high-level interest in the booking system. Indeed, vehicle manufacturers prefer their vehicles to appear in the booking system with high-quality pictures and accurate technical information. This is why they may have a moderate level of interest in our booking system. They want to see the same look and feel or our current system’s picture and information quality. Therefore, they were placed in the low-power and high-interest quadrant in Figure 5.2.2. We can also use the maintenance and service points of these vehicle manufacturers. However, this wouldn’t be related to the booking system.

Another stakeholder, suppliers of vehicle spare parts and consumables for offices at the central units and branches, wouldn’t have a high interest in our booking system. They may have a moderate level of interest in the functions and conditions in our ERP module if spare parts and consumables are included. Neither of them has power in our project. Many projects heavily depend on goods provided by outside suppliers. This is true, for example, of construction projects where lumber, nails, brick, and mortar come from outside suppliers. If the supplied goods are delivered late, in short supply, of poor quality, or if the price exceeds the originally quoted, the project may suffer. Therefore, their interest level would be high. However, in our case, their interest level wouldn’t be high. Hence, they were replaced in the low-power and low-interest quadrant in Figure 5.2.2.

We didn’t include any contractors in our case study. However, there are times when organizations don’t have in-house expertise. Thus, available resources and work are farmed out to contractors or subcontractors for the whole project or some activities. These subcontractors may be consultants, electricians, carpenters, and architects in a construction project. Managing them requires many skills to manage full-time project team members. We may have problems with them regarding the quality of the work, cost overruns, and schedule slippage.

5.2.3 An Example of Stakeholder Power/Interest Grid for the Grocery LLC’s Mobile-Commerce Project

In Chapter 3 of this textbook, we created a project charter in the initiation phase of Grocery LLC’s mobile e-commerce project. The stakeholders specified in this charter under “9. Key Stakeholder List” are below. Besides, project team members indicated under “12. Project Team” in Chapter 3 have been included in the list below.

  1. Project manager (Senior Systems Analyst)
  2. Project team members (The core team)
    1. Project manager: Senior systems analyst
    2. Two systems (business) analysts
    3. Two UI/UX designers
    4. Three developers (including Android and IOS developers and the backend developer)
    5. Two testers (quality assurance engineers)
    6. Two sales and marketing experts
  3. Project sponsor (Chief Operations Officer – COO)
  4. Product owner (The representative from the operational department who was assigned by the COO)
  5. IT Department
  6. Sales Department
  7. Marketing Department
  8. HR Department
  9. Store managers and employees
  10. Suppliers
  11. Online customers
  12. Customers who visit the stores in person
  13. Government agencies that announce the pandemic restrictions
  14. Google Play and App Store for the mobile application

The stakeholders have been placed on the grid, as illustrated in Figure 5.2.3. Unlike Figure 5.2.2, this grid shows each stakeholder with dots inside their quadrants. We should always keep in mind that the location of each dot should be justified, and they don’t indicate a GPS location, so they provide a comparison of their locations with other stakeholders.

The image is a Stakeholder Power/Interest Grid for Grocery LLC's mobile commerce project, categorizing stakeholders based on their level of power and interest:Keep Satisfied (High Power, Low Interest): Stakeholders with significant power but lower interest, requiring minimal engagement to keep them satisfied. They are Google Play, App Store, HR Department. Manage Closely (High Power, High Interest): Key stakeholders with both high power and interest, requiring active engagement and close collaboration. They are Project Sponsor, Product Owner, Project Manager, Project Team, IT Department, Store Managers in the Inspection Committee. Monitor with Minimum Effort (Low Power, Low Interest): Stakeholders with minimal power and interest, requiring limited engagement. They are Government agencies that announce pandemic restrictions, Customers who prefer visiting the stores in person, Suppliers. Keep Informed (Low Power, High Interest): Stakeholders with high interest but limited power, requiring regular updates to maintain their support. They are Store Managers and Employees, Sales Department, Marketing Department, Online Customers.
Figure 5.2.3. Stakeholder Power/Interest Grid for Mobile Commerce Project

High Power – High Interest Quadrant

In the first example above, “A Vehicle Rental Company’s Project for their Booking System,” we have explained that the project sponsor, project manager, and project team are placed in this quadrant. The product owner in the m-commerce project of Grocery LLC is a representative from the operational department who was assigned by the COO. This person represents the interests of the internal client, and the priority of the product specification is managed and directed by this person. Therefore, the product owner has a high authority to affect the course of the project. Naturally, their interest is at a very high level from the very beginning to the very end of the project, extending beyond the completion of the project. Let’s assume two store managers will be assigned to the inspection committee to assess the mobile application’s performance measures to grant acceptance. In any case, whether they are on the committee or not, store managers are directly affected by the activities and outcome of this project. Finally, the IT Department will be the main functional unit that will coordinate this project’s technical activities (programming, testing, deployment), and assign systems (business) analysts, UI/UX designers, developers (including Android and IOS developers, and the backend developer), and testers if these human resources are available in this department. If they are unavailable, the IT department will start a recruitment process through the HR department.

High Power – Low Interest Quadrant

Like the first example, mobile application stores, such as Android’s Google Play and Apple’s App Store, would have high power in this project. Developers and testers in this project will use their SDKs (Software Development Kits), and they should authenticate the app before it can be used by the customers on their smartphones. Thus, we should keep them satisfied by complying with their standards and terms and conditions. During the project, we should keep an eye on the announcements made by government agencies regarding the pandemic. Modifications or new restrictions may affect the ongoing activities and challenge the allocation of human and physical resources. The fourth stakeholder in this quadrant would be the HR department. Although the HR department may not have high interest, their power level could be higher since the recruitment process should be carried out through them as explained above in the “high power – high interest quadrant”.

Low Power – High Interest Quadrant

As indicated in the “high power – high interest quadrant,” store managers’ interest will be high as their stores must manage online orders. They will also be interested in the features of this application and its store interface since the store employees will need a user-friendly application to process the orders smoothly. Therefore, employees are expected to have a high level of interest in this project. Although both managers’ and employees’ power to influence the project activities and outcomes wouldn’t be high, we can still expect a moderate level of power because of their key role in the process. At the headquarters of Grocery LLC, sales and marketing departments are expected to have a high interest in this project. Actually, both departments will provide human resources directly to the project team. These two departments will manage the mobile application’s content and marketing tools. Finally, we can place online customers in this quadrant as the end-users of the mobile app. The project team should elicit these stakeholders’ expectations from the app while creating, validating, and finalizing the app’s requirements.

Low power – Low Interest Quadrant

In this case study, we have two stakeholder groups in this quadrant. Suppliers have a key and frequent relationship with the grocery chain. However, their interest would be mostly in the supply chain management system through which they communicate with the chain and the intermediaries to dispatch the items ordered by the stores. Increased sales by means of the mobile app would benefit suppliers. However, the relationship with the grocery chain depends on the agreements and contracts independent of the mobile application. Nevertheless, we can still expect a moderate level of interest in this project. The second stakeholder group in this project would be customers who prefer visiting the stores in person and, hence, who don’t think of using the mobile app. Their interest level can be at a minimum level.

5.2.4 Stakeholder Register

To better understand stakeholders, we should have a stakeholder register accompanied by the power/interest grid we delineated above. This register should include information about all our key stakeholders and those with low interest and low power. Table 5.1 illustrates an example of a stakeholder register based on our case study about a rental vehicle booking system implemented at BRCW.

Table 5.1. Stakeholder Register
ID Stakeholder Name, Organization Name & Title Power Level (H/M/L) Interest Level (H/M/L) Current Level of Support Level of Support Required Risk Rating (H/M/L) Related Stakeholders Issues & Concerns Engagement Strategy & Tactics
1
  • Project Sponsor
  • CTO
  • BRCW
 H H Supports Actively Supports Actively L Project Team
Steering Committee
IT Department		 Concern: High expectations for external resources to deliver as planned may scrutinize budget use closely.
Possible Issue: Misalignment between the sponsor’s vision and team execution could lead to delays.		 Strategy: Ensure the project sponsor remains actively engaged and aligned with the project’s progress and challenges throughout the lifecycle.
Tactics:

  1. Schedule bi-weekly status meetings to provide updates on progress, risks, and issues.
  2. Present milestone achievements and involve the sponsor in key decisions (e.g., resolving major conflicts, prioritizing changes).
  3. Share dashboards or concise reports summarizing project health, budget usage, and upcoming deliverables.
  4. Solicit input from the sponsor to leverage their influence in removing roadblocks or resolving interdepartmental conflicts.
2
  • Google Play Store
  • Google (Android)
 H L Neutral Supports M App Store
Project Team		 Concern: Strict compliance requirements for app features, privacy, and security.
Possible Issue: Non-compliance with Google’s policies could delay app approval.		 Strategy: Ensure compliance with Google Play guidelines to achieve smooth app approval and avoid delays.
Tactics:

  1. Conduct a preliminary review of Google Play’s latest compliance requirements, focusing on privacy, security, and technical guidelines.
  2. Assign a dedicated team member to monitor changes in Google Play policies and communicate updates to the development team.
  3. Use Google Play’s SDK during development to identify and resolve compatibility issues early.
  4. Schedule a compliance audit before submitting the app for approval to ensure all requirements are met.
3
  • Organizational Customer
  • Company X
 L H Opposes Supports H Project Team
Sales Department
Call Center
Branches		 Concern: Skepticism about BRCW’s ability to deliver an effective app.
Possible Issue: Negative perception may erode trust and require additional effort to gain their support.		 Strategy: Build trust and demonstrate BRCW’s commitment to delivering an effective app through continuous engagement and collaboration.
Tactics:

  1. Organize regular feedback sessions with Company X’s managers to present incremental progress and prototypes.
  2. Provide detailed documentation outlining how the new booking system addresses their concerns.
  3. Offer a dedicated point of contact for Company X to ensure timely resolution of any queries or concerns.
  4. Share success stories or benchmarks from similar projects to reinforce confidence in BRCW’s capabilities.
4 Occasional individual customers L L Neutral Supports L Project Team
Call Center
Branches		 Concern: These customers are price-sensitive and primarily focused on finding affordable deals. They may also prefer familiar, easy-to-use systems and resist engaging with a new booking platform if it seems overly complex or time-consuming.
Possible Issue: Low adoption rates for the new system due to a lack of perceived value, usability challenges, or inadequate communication about its benefits.
 Strategy: Encourage adopting the new booking system by addressing their pricing concerns and ensuring it is user-friendly and accessible.
Tactics:
1. Add features to the system that emphasize price comparisons and special offers, making it easy for customers to find the best deals quickly.
2. Conduct user experience testing with a diverse group of occasional customers to identify and resolve potential usability issues before launch.
3. Develop simple guides, tutorial videos, and an FAQ section to help customers navigate the new system.
4. Launch a promotional campaign offering discounts or bonus rewards for first-time users of the new booking system.

The level of support (either current or desired) can be evaluated in five levels[4]:

  1. Supports Actively: Anticipates and feels the need for change and actively works with the project team.
  2. Supports: Anticipates and feels the need for change but is not involved in the project team.
  3. Neutral – Neither supporting nor opposing.
  4. Opposes – Neither feels the need for change nor tries to prevent the change.
  5. Opposes Actively – Doesn’t see the need for change but is actively working to prevent the change.

In some cases, it isn’t uncommon for project managers to work with stakeholders who are not supportive of the project. They may feel the project will not benefit them or their organizations. They may also resist making the necessary changes to support the project’s outcomes. Some stakeholders are very upfront about their resistance, and others are not. The project sponsor may be integral to winning these stakeholders in these situations. Knowing when to involve others tactfully in stakeholder management is another key success factor for effective project management.

Stakeholders are critical factors to be taken into account while identifying the risks. Their risk rating helps the team determine individual and overall project risks. The project manager and the team should use judgment in deciding how to handle each stakeholder by evaluating their current and desired support level, the potential impact on the project activities, decisions and outcomes, and their issues and concerns regarding the project and other stakeholders. The role of stakeholders in identifying and managing risks will be discussed in Chapter 10.

Stakeholders may convey their issues regarding the project explicitly or implicitly. Therefore, the team should attempt to analyze and list the issues and concerns that may emerge during the project implementation. Based on all the inputs discussed, the team should carry out brainstorming sessions and come up with strategies for the stakeholders whose lack of support significantly might impact the project’s success, how to gain their support, and how to engage them effectively in the project. Table 5.1 includes issues and concerns with four stakeholders in the rental booking system project, as well as engagement strategy and tactics.

Furthermore, we should consider the relationship among stakeholders. Can we improve the project’s chances by working with those who support us to improve the views of those who oppose it? Therefore, as indicated in Table 5.1, it would be helpful for the team to have information regarding the relationships among the stakeholders. For example, related stakeholders are the project team, sales department, call center, and branches for organizational customers.

A stakeholder register is a living document that should be reassessed regularly, as with other plans and documents such as risk registers and issue logs (see Chapter 10). Thus, the project team should assign some time in their weekly or monthly meetings to discuss whether revisions must be done in the stakeholder register. Stakeholders’ power and interest levels, support levels, risk ratings, issues and concerns, and accordingly, engagement strategies and tactics could change throughout the project. Besides, new stakeholders may be added later. This process is discussed in 5.3, “Managing and Monitoring Stakeholders.”

5.2.4.1 Stakeholder Engagement Assessment Matrix

Another data representation tool that can be used is a Stakeholder Engagement Assessment Matrix. It can also be incorporated into the stakeholder register. In Table 5.1 above, the level of support was indicated in five levels: (1) Supports actively, (2) supports, (3) neutral, (4) opposes, and (5) opposes actively[5]. Besides this, another matrix can be used as detailed in the PMBOK Guide 6th Edition. C indicates the current engagement level, whereas D indicates the desired level.

Table 5.2 Stakeholder Engagement Assessment Matrix (Adopted from PMBOK Guide 6th Edition)
Stakeholder ID Unaware Resistant Neutral Supportive Leading
1 C D
2 C D
3 C D

*C: Current, D: Desired

As indicated in Table 5.2, stakeholders are evaluated based on five levels of engagement. They may be unaware of the project and its potential impacts. They may be aware of the project and its potential impacts but resistant to any changes that may occur as a result of the work or outcomes of the project. These stakeholders will be unsupportive of the work or outcomes of the project. When stakeholders are aware of the project but neither supportive nor unsupportive, we can classify them as neutral. When they are aware of the project and potential impacts and supportive of the work and its outcomes, we can classify them as supportive. Eventually, stakeholders are classified as leading when they are aware of the project and its potential impacts and are actively engaged in ensuring that the project is a success.

5.2.2.2    Responsibility Assignment Matrix (RACI Chart)

A responsibility assignment matrix is another data representation technique that can illustrate each team member’s and relevant stakeholders’ roles and responsibilities in each project activity. It shows the project resources assigned to each work package (lowest-level activities in a WBS). One of the common responsibility assignment matrices is the RACI (responsible, accountable, consult, and inform) chart. A RACI chart is a useful tool to ensure clear assignment of roles and responsibilities when the team consists of internal and external resources[6]. As seen in Table 5.3, a RACI chart displays the activities associated with team members and stakeholders.

To avoid confusion about who is ultimately in charge of supervision and/or decision-making for an activity, only one person should be associated with accountability[7]. An “Accountable” role has the final authority or accountability for the task’s completion. This role is generally assumed by the project sponsor, project manager, supervisor, or team members delegated by the project manager for an activity. As seen in Table 5.3, we have only one role for each activity that assumes an accountability role. For example, in the “Collect Requirements” activity, Jim is the team member responsible for coordinating the whole activity and/or performing the tasks directly. Jim can consult Jane and Anna, who may be subject matter experts with substantial experience and knowledge or those who are affected significantly by the activity and are interested in this activity and the overall project. Thus, Jim can interview Jane and Anna and learn about their needs, expectations, and concerns. Mary can be the project manager or the supervisor on the team, who audits and approves the activity and its deliverables. Tom could be a stakeholder with high interest and low power. We should keep him informed about what is going on in this activity. We can also receive feedback from Tom to improve the tasks in this activity.

Table 5.3 RACI Chart
Team Member or Stakeholder
Activity Jim Mary Chris Jane Anna Tom
Plan Scope Management A R R I C C
Collect Requirements R A I C C I
Define Scope A R R I C C
Create WBS A R R R I

 

  1. Project Management Institute. (2017). A guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK guide) (6th ed.). Project Management Institute. ↵
  2. https://www.projectmanagement.com/wikis/368897/stakeholder-analysis--using-the-power-interest-grid ↵
  3. International Institute of Business Analysis. (2015). A guide to the Business Analysis Body of Knowledge (BABOK Guide), version 3.0. Toronto, Ont: International Institute of Business Analysis. ↵
  4. Anupam (n.d.). Stakeholder Analysis Register. Retrieved from https://www.projectmanagement.com/ ↵
  5. Anupam (n.d.). Stakeholder Analysis Register. Retrieved from https://www.projectmanagement.com/ ↵
  6. Project Management Institute. (2017). A guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide) (6th ed.). Project Management Institute. ↵
  7. Project Management Institute. (2017). A guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide) (6th ed.). Project Management Institute. ↵

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Project Management, 2nd Edition by Abdullah Oguz, Ph.D., PMP® is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

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