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Stakeholder engagement in projects- things you need to know

Management of stakeholders is one of the major responsibilities of a project manager. In a project, there are several individuals involved and since the project manager is in the centre and the integrator of the project, he/she is expected to satisfy the stakeholders within the project’s boundaries. This is why the analysis and management of stakeholders are crucial to the success of any project. If you are a project manager and need some help with stakeholder management, you can sign up for Training Creatively’s stakeholder engagement training course in London.

Who is a stakeholder?

A stakeholder can be an individual, an organisation or a group who might affect, be affected or perceive itself to be affected by activity, decision or the outcome of a project.

Simply put, anyone whose interest is affected either negatively or positively is known as a stakeholder in the project. While managing stakeholder, the project manager has to deal with individuals who have their own agenda and interests. It is very difficult to gauge the interest of the key stakeholders who are involved in the project and work according to their, and the project ad sponsoring organisation’s priorities.

This is what makes proper training in the assessment and management of stakeholder so crucial for the project’s success.

Steps to stakeholder Engagement

Stakeholder engagement is a method of systematically collecting and analysing qualitative and quantitative information in order to determine whose interests must be taken into account throughout the project’s lifecycle. It helps in the identification of expectations, interests and influence of the stakeholders and how best to manage them to achieve the project objectives.

There are basically four major dimensions over which stakeholder engagement is done.

  • Identify: The first step is to identify the stakeholders’ characteristics including their characteristics, roles, knowledge, interests and expectations.
  • Analysis: Assess the negative and positive impact of the stakeholders and accordingly classify them so that it is easier to come up with an appropriate strategy that works for them.
  • Assess: You need to understand how important stakeholders will respond or react to particular situations as well as the strategies you are developing to engage them. This assessment usually helps project managers to work towards boosting the positive stakeholder impacts and mitigating the ones that are negative.
  • Implementation: This involved the implementation of the appropriate strategies that were agreed in the Assess step above; as well as their evaluation and improvement.

Now, there are various techniques when it comes to the analysis, assessment and engagement of stakeholders. There are various dimensions that you have to take into account to come up with an appropriate strategy for managing project stakeholders. Appropriate training will enable you to better grasp the needs and interests of each of the stakeholders. So, get yourself enrolled for Training Creatively’s comprehensive stakeholder engagement training courses. For more information, get in touch.

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