Stakeholder management plan

Stakeholder management plan
See also
Risk response plan Opportunity risk Structure of enterprise planning system MoSCoW technique Organizational culture and project management Risk analysis in project Project initiation System safety SWOT analysis

The stakeholder management plan is made to create the desired relationships and deal with different stakeholder groups. It consists of the functions of planning, organizing, proving, motivating and controlling resources that are repeated and interrelated. The emergence of new stakeholders initiates these functions from the beginning at any time during the project. Thanks to including stakeholders in the project, it is possible to interact with stakeholders at any time. The stakeholder management plan is continuous and consists in adjusting to the emerging opportunities and threats of stakeholders and improving the strategy towards the changes.

The plan must be a separate document. Describes the strategies of the project manager's proceedings, with the help of which he will work among various stakeholder groups to support the project. In some way, the negative impact of those groups in the environment that are not interested in the project's success will be minimized and the disruptions will be minimized. The plan of proceedings also includes information on which stakeholders and how they can significantly influence the project, the degree of their involvement in the project and ways to neutralize their reservations.

Stages of creating a stakeholder management plan

The following is a universal plan for stakeholder management process, which proposes the use of six steps for stakeholder management:

1. analysis of the project's environment,
2. defining the goals of key stakeholders,
3. assessment of own capabilities,
4. problem identification,
5. development of possible solutions,
6. testing and modification of solutions.

Analysis of the project's environment

At this stage, project managers need to know the mood of the environment in which the project will be implemented. You should check what will be the impact of the project on the environment, whether it will stand out. It is necessary to study the "sensitivity" of the project to the environment. This stage also needs to be analyzed because for some internal stakeholders the project will not be of great importance within the organization, and external stakeholders may be negatively affected by the project.

Defining the goals of key stakeholders

To reduce the negative perception of the project by stakeholders, the first step is to define an objective view of stakeholders, which will be based on their thorough analysis, without coloring the reality, and will take into account their needs. Then you need to know the real needs of key groups of stakeholders, that is, those that are the stimuli of their behavior; hidden goals and action programs.

Assessment of own capabilities

At this stage, we analyze the strengths and weaknesses of the project; What are the bargaining power for each stakeholder and where to look for help, if necessary - that is, we know the potential of the project. Lack of honesty at this stage often results in a failure of the enterprise.

Identifying the problem

After analyzing the environment, key stakeholder groups and assessing one's own capabilities, the sources of existing problems are analyzed, and potential problems are identified, which is the starting point for creating a strategy of actions towards stakeholders. For example, in a situation of high uncertainty regarding the workload that is necessary for the implementation of the project, it is possible to point out problems between the project team and accounting.

Development of possible solutions

The first step in developing solutions is to create an action plan to satisfy different stakeholder groups in the context of the interests of other groups. At this stage, the project manager learns which solutions (potentially) can be taken by the management, what reactions the project may cause to the project team or the client. This will be helpful during the implementation of solutions, taking into account the interconnectedness of different groups of stakeholders. The next necessary step is to develop specific solutions before creating them. The most important at this stage is to develop as many different strategies as possible, which will allow the project manager to be as flexible as possible. Strategies must include different ways of acting, regardless of the circumstances.

Testing and modification of solutions

By creating solutions, it is assumed that the stakeholders will act in a predictable manner, which is a common mistake. At this stage, both the manager and the project team must come to terms with the interactive nature of implementing solutions. Many previous analyzes that concern stakeholders must be re-verified, as earlier assumptions may prove to be inappropriate. This step requires critical self-assessment of your own actions and assumptions as well as flexibility to introduce new ideas and information into existing strategies and make appropriate corrections to the stakeholder management plan.

Threats to the project

When project activities are too focused on meeting the needs of all stakeholders, this may result in additional project risks in the form of inputs necessary for the implementation of the project, uncontrolled increase in the scope of the project or extension of schedules. In a situation where the project manager lacks correct management mechanisms, he may deviate from the basic assumptions and strategic goals of the project or lose business justification.

References

• Hillman, A. J., & Keim, G. D. (2001). Shareholder value, stakeholder management, and social issues: what's the bottom line?. Strategic management journal, 22(2), 125-139.
• Cleland, D. I. (1997). Project stakeholder management. Project management handbook, 275-301.
• Sutterfield, J. S., Friday-Stroud, S. S., & Shivers-Blackwell, S. L. (2006). A case study of project and stakeholder management failures: lessons learned. Project Management Journal, 37(5), 26-35.