PMBOK - Chapter 2 - 2.1 STAKEHOLDER PERFORMANCE DOMAIN

2.1 STAKEHOLDER PERFORMANCE DOMAIN

The following definitions are relevant to the Stakeholder Performance Domain: 

Stakeholder. An individual, group, or organization that may affect, be affected by, or perceive itself to be affected by a decision, activity, or outcome of a project, program, or portfolio. 

Stakeholder Analysis. A method of systematically gathering and analyzing quantitative and qualitative information to determine whose interests should be taken into account throughout the project.

Projects are performed by people and for people. This performance domain entails working with stakeholders to maintain alignment and engaging with them to foster positive relationships and satisfaction. 

Stakeholders include individuals, groups, and organizations (see Figure 2-2). A project can have a small group of stakeholders or potentially millions of stakeholders. There may be different stakeholders in different phases of the project, and the influence, power, or interests of stakeholders may change as the project unfolds.

Effective stakeholder identification, analysis, and engagement includes stakeholders who are internal and external to the organization, those who are supportive of the project, and those who may not be supportive or are neutral. While having relevant technical project management skills is an important aspect of successful projects, having the interpersonal and leadership skills to work effectively with stakeholders is just as important, if not more so. 

2.1.1 STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT 

Stakeholder engagement includes implementing strategies and actions to promote productive involvement of stakeholders. Stakeholder engagement activities start before or when the project starts and continue throughout the project.

Defining and sharing a clear vision at the start of the project can enable good relationships and alignment throughout the project. Establishing a clear vision that key stakeholders agree on can entail some challenging negotiations, especially with stakeholders who are not necessarily in favor of the project or its intended outcomes. As shown in Figure 2-3, there are several steps to engage stakeholders effectively. 

2.1.1.1 Identify High-level 

stakeholder identification may be carried out prior to forming the project team. Detailed stakeholder identification progressively elaborates the initial work and is a continuous activity throughout the project. Some stakeholders are easy to identify, such as the customer, sponsor, project team, end users, and so forth, but others can be difficult to identify when they are not directly connected to the project.

2.1.1.2 Understand and Analyze 

Once stakeholders are identified, the project manager and the project team should seek to understand stakeholders’ feelings, emotions, beliefs, and values. These elements can lead to additional threats or opportunities for the project outcomes. They can also change quickly, and as such, understanding and analyzing stakeholders is an ongoing action. 

Related to understanding the project stakeholders is the need to analyze aspects of each stakeholder’s position on and perspective of the project. Analyzing stakeholders considers several stakeholder aspects, such as: 

▶ Power, 

▶ Impact, 

▶ Attitude, 

▶ Beliefs, 

▶ Expectations, 

▶ Degree of influence, 

▶ Proximity to the project, 

▶ Interest in the project, and 

▶ Other aspects surrounding stakeholder interaction with the project

This information helps the project team consider interactions that may influence the motivations, actions, and behaviors of stakeholders. In addition to individual analysis, the project team should consider how stakeholders interact with each other, as they often form alliances that help or hinder the project’s objectives. For example, if the project team believes a key business manager is highly influential but has negative perceptions related to the project, they can explore how to detect the business manager’s perceptions and respond appropriately as the project unfolds. In all cases, the analysis work should be held in confidence by the project team since the information could be misinterpreted outside the context for the analysis. 

2.1.1.3 Prioritize 

On many projects, there are too many stakeholders involved for the project team to engage directly or effectively with all of them. Based on its analysis, the project team can complete an initial prioritization of stakeholders. It is common to focus on stakeholders with the most power and interest as one way to prioritize engagement. As events unfold throughout the project, the project team may need to reprioritize based on new stakeholders or evolving changes in the stakeholder landscape.

2.1.1.4 Engage 

Stakeholder engagement entails working collaboratively with stakeholders to introduce the project, elicit their requirements, manage expectations, resolve issues, negotiate, prioritize, problem solve, and make decisions. Engaging stakeholders requires the application of soft skills, such as active listening, interpersonal skills, and conflict management, as well as leadership skills such as establishing the vision and critical thinking. 

Communication with stakeholders can take place via written or verbal means, and it can be formal or informal. Examples of each type of communication are shown in Table 2-1.

Table 2-1. Types of Communication

Communication methods include push, pull, and interactive communication: 

▶ Push. Communication sent to stakeholders such as memos, emails, status reports, voice mail, and so forth. Push communication is used for one-way communications with individual stakeholders or groups of stakeholders. Push communication inhibits the ability to immediately gauge reaction and assess understanding; therefore, it should be used deliberately. 

▶ Pull. Information sought by the stakeholder, such as a project team member going to an intranet to find communication policies or templates, running internet searches, and using online repositories. Pulling information is used for indirect sensing of stakeholder concerns.

Engagement goes deeper than pushing or pulling communication. Engagement is interactive. It includes an exchange of information with one or more stakeholders such as conversations, phone calls, meetings, brainstorming, product demos, and the like. 

With all forms of communication, quick feedback loops provide useful information to: 

▶ Confirm the degree to which the stakeholder(s) heard the message. 

▶ Determine if stakeholders agree with the message. 

▶ Identify nuanced or other unintended messages the recipient detected. 

▶ Gain other helpful insights.

2.1.1.5 Monitor 

Throughout the project, stakeholders will change as new stakeholders are identified and others cease to be stakeholders. As the project progresses, the attitude or power of some stakeholders may change. In addition to identifying and analyzing new stakeholders, there is an opportunity to assess whether the current engagement strategy is effective or if it needs to be adjusted. Therefore, the amount and effectiveness of stakeholder engagement is monitored throughout the project. 

The degree of stakeholder satisfaction can often be determined by having a conversation with stakeholders to gauge their satisfaction with the project deliverables and the overall management of the project. Project and iteration reviews, product reviews, stage gates, and other methods are ways to obtain periodic feedback. For large groups of stakeholders, a survey can be used to assess the degree of satisfaction. Where necessary, the stakeholder engagement approach can be updated to achieve higher stakeholder satisfaction.

2.1.2 INTERACTIONS WITH OTHER PERFORMANCE DOMAINS 

Stakeholders permeate all aspects of the project. They define and prioritize the requirements and scope for the project team. They participate in and shape the planning. They determine acceptance and quality criteria for the project deliverables and outcomes. Much of the project work is around engaging and communicating with stakeholders. Throughout the project or at its closure, they use the project deliverables and influence the realization of project outcomes. 

Some stakeholders can assist in lowering the amount of uncertainty present on a project while others may cause an increase in uncertainty. Stakeholders such as customers, senior management, project management office leads, or program managers will focus on measures of performance for the project and its deliverables. These interactions are samples of how the Stakeholder Performance Domain integrates and interweaves with other performance domains, though they are not inclusive of all the ways stakeholder concerns interact throughout the performance domains.

2.1.3 CHECKING RESULTS 

Table 2-2 identifies the outcomes on the left and ways of checking them on the right.