Project managers spend their days managing budgets and following timelines, focusing primarily on completing a project as swiftly and cheaply as feasible. While it is true that project managers are frequently concerned with project timetables and budgets, a genuinely good project manager considers other issues as well. Communication management, risk management, and stakeholder engagement are all critical aspects of the work. This third point\u2014stakeholder engagement\u2014is frequently missed, particularly by novice project managers. They do not always appreciate the power that stakeholders have over the success or failure of a project. So below, we’ll look at the stakeholder engagement plan, discuss the components of the strategy, and lead you through the steps you can take to write one for the first time. You’ll also learn how to manage your stakeholder engagement strategy effectively. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Certain organizational actions will have an impact on and interest many distinct stakeholder groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For example, if a council wished to create a memorial to honor local war soldiers, they could confer with relatives about the idea. They can also engage with a local sculptor on the design, and notify the media to help publicize its introduction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, all stakeholder groups are not equal. Some may need to be kept up to date on changes regularly. For others, you have to keep occasional contact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A stakeholder engagement strategy will assist you in determining how frequently you need to communicate with each group and which technologies to employ for each.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Depending on the industry, good stakeholder engagement can result in more customers, better-formulated policies, well-managed projects, innovation, and more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A stakeholder engagement plan is a subsidiary document that is frequently developed alongside the main project plan for a specific body of work. It is a written document that is created before the start of a project. It’s kept on file and you can modify it when you need it throughout the project. So, its goal is to identify a project’s main stakeholders and to describe a technique and approach for how the project team will interact and communicate with those stakeholders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\u201cStakeholder engagement is simply figuring out how to successfully communicate, collaborate, and connect with key people who have a positive or negative influence and may impact the outcome of your project,\u201d<\/p>\nSource: Tim Mills<\/em><\/a><\/strong><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
The Importance of a Stakeholder Engagement Plan<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
All projects have stakeholders. These are the persons, generally in management, who have a personal and professional stake in the project’s success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Stakeholders can have a large influence on how a project moves forward. They authorize and provide resources to the project. Also, they may even decide to delay or terminate a project entirely if they believe it is not achieving the expected or intended results. The project team must specify a method for managing these expectations. This is because all stakeholders will be involved to varying degrees and may have their own motivations or expectations for a project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cCommunicating with the primary client differs from communicating with the project team, who may be more concerned in what they need to do to effectively execute the project,\u201d Mills explains. The stakeholder engagement plan enables the project manager to develop a systematic approach to ensuring that expectations, decisions, risks\/issues, and project progress information are provided to the right person at the right time with the most efficient and effective level of information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n