project management
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PRPJ6000 Assignment 2A Sample Completed Assignment
Stakeholders are individuals, groups or organizations who may be affected either directly or
indirectly by the project (Project Management Institute, 2013). Depending on the scale and scope of
the project the identified stakeholder register can be substantial with many having the control or
authority to exert influence over the project. As such a recurring theme in the project failure is
project managers who have not taken sufficiently into account the interests and motivations of the
project stakeholders (Eskerod, 2013).
Once a project manager has established a stakeholder register they need to plan stakeholder
engagement. This planning stage is the most important part of stakeholder management as it’s
during this process where the project manager will address the motivation of each stakeholder
group. In doing this the project manager should consider what success looks like for that
stakeholder group? If we assume that stakeholders will contribute to a project if they find that this is
in their self-interest, then understanding what their success measure is, will enable the project
manager to create an informed engagement plan (Eskerod, 2013).
As an example, take an infrastructure project that involves building a new transport link that runs
through a residential area. The residents of the area will be an influential stakeholder group to this
project who are essential to engage with. They will no doubt have significant concerns about the
impact of the project on their quality of life, for example noise and traffic pollution. However, it may
be possible to engage with this group if the project manager can demonstrate that the improved
transport links substantially increase property prices in the area, or that a scheme of urban
regeneration will take place as part of the project which will in fact improve their living conditions.
It may be true that through this process the project manager may identify groups where success to
them is in fact the failure of the project. Take the same infrastructure project and a conservation
group as a stakeholder. Let’s assume the project will have an environmental impact or effect a
natural habitat. In this circumstance it may be concluded that there is no way to encourage this
stakeholder group to engage and contribute to the project, as their motivation is not one of self-
interest. Even though this creates a challenge for the project, having knowledge of this and being
able to plan in advance is essential to keeping the project on track. In this circumstance the project
manager may choose to make direct contact with the group and consider making specific provisions
for their concerns or variances to the project scope to adequately manage that relationship. This will
substantially reduce the likelihood of the group derailing the project.
In summary, stakeholder management is essential to the success of a project but, within that, failure
to consider the motivations of each stakeholder group and create a plan to address these is
ultimately the biggest risk to the project.
References
Eskerod, P. &. (2013). Project Stakeholder Management. Burlington, VT: Routledge.
Project Management Institute. (2013). A guide to the project management body of knowledge
(PMBOK guide) (5th ed.). Newtown Square, PA: Project Management Institute.