Manage Project Stakeholder Engagement

This document explores the importance of stakeholder engagement in project management. It covers key concepts, tools, and techniques for identifying, analyzing, and managing stakeholder expectations. The document also provides practical examples and case studies to illustrate the application of stakeholder engagement principles in real-world projects.

MANAGE PROJECT STAKEHOLDER
ENGAGEMENT
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Table of Contents
Knowledge Assessment...................................................................................................................3
Task 1-Stakeholder engagement management................................................................................7
A. Using the stakeholder register and power interest grid below, list all stakeholders, their
power and interest (and why they received this rating) as well as assessment information,
stakeholder classification and potential strategies for engagement.............................................7
B. Given an example where you have experienced an issue that involved the differing interests
of stakeholders. Describe how you resolved this issue and their differing interests...................9
C. You are now in the execution phase of the project and the engagement level of stakeholder
needs to be compared to the planned engagement levels. Fill out a Stakeholder Engagement
Assessment Matrix for all of the stakeholders previously identified showing variance with
planned engagement. Show at least one variance between planned and actual engagement....10
D. Explain the variance between planned and actual engagement. Why has this happened?...11
E. What did you suggest/do to correct stakeholder engagement?.............................................12
F. Give an example where you did identified and clarified stakeholder expectation in terms of
organisation performance indicators or in responding to conflict or difference in: culture,
ethnic background, other personal characteristic of project individuals, religion or skills.......13
G. Give an example where you identified and addressed an individual’s development needs in
supporting stakeholder engagement..........................................................................................14
H. Give an example how you distributed the work to the team and ensured they operated in the
defined roles...............................................................................................................................15
I. Given an example, one of your team needed support in terms of interpersonal skills in
stakeholder engagement. How did you assist them?.................................................................16
J. Brainstorm and list as many reasons as your group can think of for common problems which
lead to a variance in stakeholder engagement. This could be based on your past experience,
reading you have undertaken or your general understanding of projects..................................17
K. How did you ensure stakeholders agreed on the methods of communication and level of
engagement planned?.................................................................................................................18
L. Give an example where you have identified a variance in managing stakeholder
communications. This could be where you discovered incorrect or misleading content, missing
reports, untimely distribution or there has been a stakeholder complaint. Describe how this
variance was identified and resolved.........................................................................................19
References......................................................................................................................................20
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Knowledge Assessment
1. Should you think of your stakeholder in groups or segment?
Stakeholders are the people which can be influenced by the project which have an influence on
the project. Different stakeholders are engaged in a project which can be divided into distinct
group or segments. Firstly these can be divided according to their engagement with primary and
secondary stakeholders. Primary stakeholders play a significant role in the accomplishment of
the project (Rupp, et. al. 2014). Secondary stakeholders who do not have a direct influence and
interest in the project. Either these stakeholders can be classified into other dimensions as well as
duties suppliers, clients, workers etc. Influence and support in the project is another category in
which the project stakeholders can be divided. Mapping through stakeholder maps is effective to
use to identify the support and influence of the stakeholders in the project. So it can be said that
project stakeholders can be classified into the groups and categories which helps to accomplish
the project in a better manner.
2. How can you influence your stakeholder?
It is significant to manage and influence stakeholder in the project. Stakeholders are the
important part of the project which supports in the attainment of the project goals and objectives.
Clear objectives and appropriate goals are effective to use in the influence on the stakeholders in
the project. Measurable and attainable targets effects on the stakeholders to work and perform
accordingly. These targets help to develop motivation in the project which is an essential factor
for the project accomplishment (Klijn, et. al. 2012). Trust development is another factor which are
significant to influence stakeholder in the project. It develops a connection in the project and its
stakeholder which is essential. Project managers are responsible to influence the project
stakeholders by providing examples to teach them how they can perform better in the project. It
helps to create a motivation in the stakeholders which helps in the attainment of the project
objectives. Involvement of stakeholder in the project is significant which helps to manage a
performance level in the project. Feedbacks and suggestions to stakeholders can help in this to
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engage stakeholders in a better manner in the project.
3. External stakeholders are external to the organisation. Give 3 Examples of external
stakeholders.
Person, groups and organisations which are having an interest in the affairs, programs and
activities of the company are covered in the term of the stakeholder. Employees and shareholders
etc. are considered as internal stakeholders. These internal stakeholders are highly engaged in the
strategies and internal activities of the company that’s why they are significant for the company.
Groups and individual which works outside to the business have much potential to influence the
process and strategy of the company are considered as an external stakeholder (Neubaum, et. al.
2012). These external stakeholders contain a huge influence on the long-term business of the
company so it is essential to consider them in operations and strategies of the company. Example
of the external stakeholder is given below:
Customers: These are the end users of the outcomes of the organisation so it is essential to
consider the initiation and production of the products. These are the most significant external
stakeholders for whom an organisation is engaged in production or service generation. A success
of the business depends on the customers so it is essential for the company to develop better
products as per the demands of the company.
Government: Each and every organisation works under the rules and policies developed by the
government (Neubaum, et. al. 2012). It has a huge influence on an organisation and mostly on
policies of the company. Different rules of developed and designed by the government to
manage ethics and honesty in the work.
Investors: It is a need of each and every company needs the support of investors to manage and
run their business activities. From the initiation stage of the company needs of investors arises
which is significant to accomplish. Availability and acceptance of investors are needed for the
company which helps to develop products for its targeted market.
4. The implementation of which of the following processes decrease the risk of project failure?
Answer: (A). Manage stakeholder engagement is most effective in the decline of the risk of
project failure.
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5. You are engaged in gathering information from stakeholders regarding whose interest should
be taken into account throughout the project. This is called:
Answer: (B). Stakeholder analysis
6. The ability of stakeholders to influence the project is typically highest at the _________stages.
Answer: (B). Initial
7. A stakeholder is ………?
Answer: (D). Anyone who can impact/be impacted positively or negatively by the project
8. Daniel is the project manager of a factory construction project. Daniel has recently joined this
organisation and is not fully aware of the organisation’s culture and structure. In order to manage
his project stakeholder, Daniel has to understand his project stakeholders better. Which of the
following can provide Daniel with some historical information regarding stakeholder
management on the previous projects?
Answer: (D). Organisational Process Assets
9. Which of the following process would apply if you had to communicate with the project team
members to understand their expectations for the outcome of their project?
Answer: (C). Management Stakeholder Engagement
10. Diana is managing the development of a mobile phone application. Half of the project work
has been completed. Diana is currently reviewing her stakeholder management plan. She finds
out that some of the resisting stakeholders have now become supportive. How should Diana
update her stakeholder management plan?
Answer: (B). Transfer these stakeholders to the project supporters group, and for these
stakeholders, adopt the stakeholder management strategy defined for the project supporters
11. If a stakeholder has high interest in your project and high power or authority, then such
stakeholder should be managed with the following action plan:
Answer: (A). Manage closely
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12. Jim is managing a road network design project for a government agency. He is currently
carrying out the Plan Stakeholder Management process for the project. Which of the following
documents will provide the list of project stakeholders to Jim for this process?
Answer: (A). Stakeholder Register
13. Gordon is currently developing his project’s stakeholder management strategy. All enterprise
environmental factors should be considered during this process. Which of the following
enterprise environmental factors should be paid special attention during this process?
Answer: (C). The Organisation’s culture and structure
14. Jenifer has recently been asked to manage an office refurbishment project. She finds out that
the chief financial officer of the company is resisting the project. The chief financial officer is a
key project stakeholder. What must Jennifer do first?
Answer: (B). Analyse the options that might change or influence the chief financial officer’s
perception
15. Which of the following is not considered when manages the engagement and expectations of
the stakeholder?
Answer: (C). Send status reports and updates and changes made to the project management plan
16. Which one of the following is one of the best ways to manage stakeholders?
Answer: (C). Keeping them informed throughout the project
17. Stakeholder engagement assessment matrix is used to map
Answer: (D). Only A and B (a. Current engagement level and b. Desired engagement level)
18. Stakeholder classification should never be based on the following category/group:
Answer: (C). Optimistic/pessimistic
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Task 1-Stakeholder engagement management
A. Using the stakeholder register and power interest grid below, list all
stakeholders, their power and interest (and why they received this rating) as
well as assessment information, stakeholder classification and potential
strategies for engagement.
Stakeholder
identification
(name/title/positi
on)
Stakeholder
power and
interest in the
project and
justification
Assessment
information
(major
requirements/mai
n expectations/
potential
influence)
Stakeholder
classification
(Internal/Externa
l/Neutral/Support
er/Resister)
Potential
strategies for
engagement
gaining support
and reducing
objections
Employees These are highly
involved in the
project to develop
a better website for
users
Redevelopment of
website
Internal Setting targets
Users Redevelopment of
the website is
focused on its
users
To have a better
website to see the
photographic
collection
External Taking feedbacks
National archives
of Australia
It is the client
company wants to
change in their
website so it has
much power and
interest to
influence the
project
It has the power to
make changes in
the –prototype of
the website
Internal By analysing
needs and
requirement of the
project
Suppliers Suppliers of the
project have much
Suppliers have an
expectation to get
Supporter Providing advance
information
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power to influence
the process of
working in the
project
information and
requirement time
to time
Power/interest grid stakeholder engagement
Figure 1: Power/interest grid stakeholder engagement
Source: Author
According to this diagram, stakeholders can be prioritised in the project which can help to the
project manager to engage them accordingly (Eskerod and Jepsen, 2016).
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Keep satisfied
(Users)
Manage
closely
(National
archives of
Australia)
Monitor
(Employees)
Keep
Informed
(Suppliers)
Power
Interest
High
Low
Low High

B. Given an example where you have experienced an issue that involved the
differing interests of stakeholders. Describe how you resolved this issue and
their differing interests.
Suppliers and National archives of Australia have a much difference in the interest level.
Supplier works according to provided information to them by the agency which is contracted for
the redevelopment of the website. National archives of Australia which is the owner of the
website have highly interested to develop a better website. Both are having much difference in
the project. Suppliers are engaged in this project by providing regular information to them how
to work and improve their support. Project updates are helped top engage National archives of
Australia in the project and resolve their issues (Hörisch, et. al. 2014).
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C. You are now in the execution phase of the project and the engagement level
of stakeholder needs to be compared to the planned engagement levels. Fill
out a Stakeholder Engagement Assessment Matrix for all of the stakeholders
previously identified showing variance with planned engagement. Show at
least one variance between planned and actual engagement.
Stakeholder engagement assessment matrix
Stakeholder Unaware Resistant Neutral Supportive Leading
Employees C
Supplier C D
Users C D
National
archives of
Australia
C D
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D. Explain the variance between planned and actual engagement. Why has this
happened?
Suppliers are unaware still in the execution process which is the actual condition of them and it
is essential for them to be supportive of the project. It is happened due to lack of information and
communication flow between the suppliers and organisation working on the website
redevelopment.
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E. What did you suggest/do to correct stakeholder engagement?
Stakeholder engagement can be enhanced by providing them with targets and goals to attain.
Proper communication, feedbacks and involvement of their in the decision-making process will
help the organisation to engage their stakeholder appropriately in the project (Wayne Gould,
2012).
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F. Give an example where you did identified and clarified stakeholder
expectation in terms of organisation performance indicators or in responding
to conflict or difference in: culture, ethnic background, other personal
characteristic of project individuals, religion or skills.
It is essential to clarify the expectations of the stakeholders which have been identified in this
project as well. Employees which are engaged in this project have an expectation to get enough
time to accomplish this project to attain the project objectives and accomplish all requirements of
the project. Their expectations are resolved by describing them different time management
strategies which can be used by them to work appropriately.
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G. Give an example where you identified and addressed an individual’s
development needs in supporting stakeholder engagement.
Some of the issues arise for employees which are engaged in the website development.
Employees have not informed properly about the project requirement which has created
difficulties in their work which is addressed by the project manager by providing them project
requirements information.
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H. Give an example how you distributed the work to the team and ensured
they operated in the defined roles.
Belbin team roles theory has helped in the allocation of work in the team which is based on the
skills. Planter, shaper, coordinator, monitor, evaluator, implementer, complete finisher etc.
different roles are defined under this theory which has helped a lot in work allocation in the
team. Smart targets are set for all of the team members to ensure they perform well in their role.
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I. Given an example, one of your team needed support in terms of
interpersonal skills in stakeholder engagement. How did you assist them?
The team which is working on the website redevelopment in the project has a huge need to
enhance communication which is affecting the coordination and work quality as well.
Identification of causes for lack of communication is significant which has helped to enhance
communication and coordination in the project team.
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J. Brainstorm and list as many reasons as your group can think of for common
problems which lead to a variance in stakeholder engagement. This could be
based on your past experience, reading you have undertaken or your general
understanding of projects.
A list of different methods is given below which is used to resolve problems related to the
stakeholder engagement in the project are given below:
Root cause analysis: It is also effective method to break down the problem into the different part
and identify the root cause behind the problem (Puppe, 2012).
Fishbone diagram: It is also used to identify the causes which are affecting or creating a
variance in the stakeholder engagement.
Trial and error: It is effectively used in the project to develop better solutions to engage
stakeholder in the project.
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K. How did you ensure stakeholders agreed on the methods of communication
and level of engagement planned?
It is required to explain benefits of communication and the determined level of engagement plan
for stakeholders. It has helped to agree on them to use the determined communication method in
the project to develop coordination and enhance information sharing. According to the power
and interest grid of stakeholder, priorities are developed by stakeholders who have helped to
develop stakeholder engagement plan. Benefits of these plans are well explained to stakeholders
who have supported to agree with them (Andriof, et. al. 2017).
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L. Give an example where you have identified a variance in managing
stakeholder communications. This could be where you discovered incorrect
or misleading content, missing reports, untimely distribution or there has
been a stakeholder complaint. Describe how this variance was identified and
resolved.
The National Archives of Australia is the client organisation which wants to redevelop its
website so it is essential to inform them about the progress of the project. It is essential to share a
current report of the project at the end of the week to the National Archives of Australia which
has not followed in the project. This variance is resolved by developing a procedure to send a
report to the National archives of Australia at the end of the week.
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References
 Andriof, J., Waddock, S., Husted, B., & Rahman, S. S. (2017). Unfolding stakeholder
thinking 2: Relationships, communication, reporting and performance. Routledge.
 Eskerod, P., & Jepsen, A. L. (2016). Project stakeholder management. Routledge.
 Hörisch, J., Freeman, R. E., & Schaltegger, S. (2014). Applying stakeholder theory in
sustainability management: Links, similarities, dissimilarities, and a conceptual
framework. Organization & Environment, 27(4), 328-346.
 Klijn, E. H., Eshuis, J., & Braun, E. (2012). The influence of stakeholder involvement on
the effectiveness of place branding. Public management review, 14(4), 499-519.
 Neubaum, D. O., Dibrell, C., & Craig, J. B. (2012). Balancing natural environmental
concerns of internal and external stakeholders in family and non-family businesses. Journal
of Family Business Strategy, 3(1), 28-37.
 Puppe, F. (2012). Systematic introduction to expert systems: Knowledge representations
and problem-solving methods. Springer Science & Business Media.
 Rupp, C., Kern, S., & Helmig, B. (2014). Segmenting nonprofit stakeholders to enable
successful relationship marketing: A review. International Journal of Nonprofit and
Voluntary Sector Marketing, 19(2), 76-91.
 Wayne Gould, R. (2012). Open innovation and stakeholder engagement. Journal of
technology management & innovation, 7(3), 1-11.
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