Project Stakeholder Management - Manage Stakeholder Engagement

This process communicates and works with stakeholders to meet their needs/expectations, address issues as they occur, and foster appropriate stakeholder engagement in project activities throughout the project life cycle. It allows the project manager to increase support and minimize resistance from stakeholders, significantly increase the changes to achieve project success.

Some of the activities you will do in this process would include:

• Engage stakeholders at appropriate project stages to obtain or confirm their continued commitment to success of the project
• Manage stakeholder expectations
• Address potential concerned that have not yet become issues
• Clarifying and resolving issues that have been identified

Let's take a look at the Inputs, Tools and Techniques, and Outputs of this process.

1) Stakeholder Management Plan

• Provides guidance on how the various stakeholders can be best involved in the project
• Describes methods and technologies used for stakeholder communication

2) Communications Management Plan

• Provides guidances and information on managing stakeholder expectations and includes:
• Stakeholder communication requirements
• Information to be communicated
• Reasons for distributions of information
• Person or groups who will receive information
• Escalation process

3) Change Log

• Documents changes that occur during the project (Time, cost, risk) 

4) Organizational Process Assets

• May include:
• Organizational communication requirements
• Issue management procedures
• Change control procedures
• Historical information about previous projects

5) Communication Methods

• Based on the stakeholders' communication requirements, you will decide how, when and which of these communication methods are to be used

6) Interpersonal Skills

• Building trust
• Resolving conflict
• Active listening
• Overcoming resistance to change

7) Management Skills

• Facilitate consensus toward project objectives
• Influence people to support the project
• Negotiate agreements to satisfy the project needs
• Modify organizational behavior to accept the project outcomes

8) Issue Log

• Update the log with new issues and current issues are resolved

9) Change Requests

• Change may be to a product or project 
• Include corrective or preventive actions to the project itself
• The interaction with the impacted stakeholders

10) Project Management Plan Updates

• Stakeholder Management Plan - when new or changed stakeholders requirements are identified

11) Project Documents Updates

• Stakeholder Register - when information about stakeholders change, new ones identified or existing ones are removed. 

12) Organizational Process Assets Updates

• May include:
• Stakeholder notifications
• Project reports
• Project presentations
• Project records
• Feedback from stakeholders
• Lessons learned documentation

Source: PMBOK 5th ed.