Instructional Videos

Stakeholder Engagement Overview



One of the most important factors in the success of a project is the level of stakeholder engagement. This video is a brief overview of stakeholder management processes to help you improve the level of stakeholder engagement on your projects.

A stakeholder is defined as anyone who has an affect on or is affected by the project, and the affect can be positive or negative.  The nature of stakeholder management is to engage stakeholders proactively.

Stakeholder management can be divided into four major processes:

  1. Identifying the stakeholders;
  2. Analysing stakeholders;
  3. Planning stakeholder engagement; and
  4. Engaging stakeholders.

We start with identifying stakeholders. When we identify stakeholders, we are first trying to determine who they are, their position, their role in relation to the project, and their responsibilities.  We also need to identify their expectations and interests, any issues or concerns they have, how they are affected by the project, and how can they affect the project.

Once we have identified the stakeholders, then we must analyse the stakeholders.  Analysis involves determining their level of commitment to the project, establishing how much influence or power they have, and gauging how much they support the project.  This analysis allows us to map the different stakeholders on a grid or stakeholder matrix to determine how to approach the various relationships.

Once the stakeholders have been plotted on a stakeholder matrix, we can start to plan different strategies to engage them.  Planning the engagement will develop different engagement approaches, determine various communication strategies, and create strategies to build stakeholder satisfaction.

Finally, once we have a plan, we will implement that plan to engage the stakeholders.  Engaging the stakeholders means implementing an active engagement approach, monitoring the relationships, evaluating our approaches, and making adjustments as necessary.

Following this four-phase process of identification, analysis, planning, and engagement will help us satisfy our stakeholders' expectations, and achieve project success.