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PMP lesson · Stakeholders & Communication · Stakeholders and communication · lesson 1 of 4 · about 7 minutes

Identifying and analysing stakeholders

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Goal: After this lesson you can identify stakeholders early, classify them on a power/interest grid, and use an engagement assessment matrix to plan where to focus.

1The situation

The person nobody invited

The robot cell is half installed when the operators' union representative hears that “automation means layoffs”. Nobody had invited the union to any meeting. Now the representative threatens to oppose the start-up.

Management says no jobs will be lost; operators will be retrained. But nobody told the people affected, and the rumour spread faster than the facts.

Stakeholders you forget do not disappear. They appear later, when they are hardest to manage.

2Who is a stakeholder?

Anyone who can affect the project, or who is affected by it (or thinks they are). Identify them early and keep identifying them: new stakeholders appear when organisations change.

Identify
Early and often
Brainstorm, check the charter, contracts, org charts, lessons learned.
Analyse
Power and interest
How much influence? How much do they care? What do they expect?
Register
Stakeholder register
Name, role, expectations, influence, engagement level, communication needs.

3The robot cell stakeholders on a grid

High
power
Keep satisfied
Divisional VP · plant safety-budget owner
Manage closely
Plant manager (sponsor side) · safety officer
Low
power
Monitor
Canteen supplier · neighbouring line
Keep informed
Machine operators · maintenance technicians
Low interest
High interest
Each box needs a different engagement strategy.

4How it looks on the exam

Exam-style question 1. Midway through the project, the customer reorganises its engineering and maintenance departments under a newly hired director who has not yet been involved. What should the project manager do?
A. Continue working with the previous stakeholders until the structure settles
B. Update the stakeholder register, analyse the new director's interests and influence, and engage the director early
C. Wait for the director to make contact
D. Ask the sponsor to brief the director instead
Show the answer and the decode
Answer: B.
In simple English
A new, influential person now affects the project.
What is the question really asking?
The right response.
Key words / trigger
“newly hired director … not yet been involved”
PMP logic
Stakeholder identification is continuous; new key stakeholders are analysed and engaged early.
Why the wrong answer looks attractive
The sponsor may help, but engagement remains the PM's responsibility.

5Remember this

Your memory card

  • Stakeholders = anyone who affects or is affected; identify early and continuously
  • Grid: manage closely · keep satisfied · keep informed · monitor
  • Engagement matrix: current vs desired; close the gaps step by step
  • Engage resistant people by understanding their concerns, not by orders
The full lesson in the PMCLEAR app also has:
  • the rest of the lesson (The power/interest grid, Current vs desired engagement)
  • a worked example
  • the common traps (wrong vs right)
  • 2 exam-style questions with the decode
  • a 3-question quick check
  • an interactive calculator
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