I’ve dealt with a lot of diverse groups over the years as a project manager or just a leader within an organization. One thing that stuck out to me is how difficult it can be to identify all of your stakeholders.
So I thought I would take a moment today to give you a few tips on figuring out who really is a stakeholder.
First, anyone that is on your team is a stakeholder. In a lot of cases, it is essential that you get them on board right away.
If your project is going to be something that interacts with the world at large, you have tons of stakeholders and you have to recognize their needs, even if you will never interact with them face to face. (A good example of this is when you create a product that is going to be sold to a wide and diverse group. Think Steve Jobs and his team at Apple creating the iPad.)
Anyone that has the ability to shut down the project or fund or defund the project is a stakeholder. This one is very obvious. And, its one that gets a lot of coverage in PMP courses, but its still one that needs to be put out there.
Who are you doing the work for? They are huge stakeholders.
Here’s a strange one, for your final tip on figuring out stakeholders, but if you are working on a project that has a long lifespan, think about the people that may be voiceless now: people, animals, things that aren’t yet even on your radar. (This might take the form of developing a new energy technology that may not begin paying off until our kids are teenagers or adults. Or, even further down the road with our grandkids.)
Hopefully this gets you thinking about stakeholders in a little bit different manner.
What kind of ways do you help yourself and your team think about identifying stakeholders?