Week 6

Week 6 - Identifying Stakeholders & Problem Set #3

Posted on: Monday, February 7, 2022 11:56:26 AM EST

As previously discussed, the Initiating phase of Project Management has two processes: Developing the Project Charter and Identifying Stakeholders. The course is designed to work toward the first process as each Problem Set completed will aid in creating the Final Project Charter to be submitted at the end of the term.

 

Problem Set #3 will cover the second process of Identifying Stakeholders. Be sure to watch the video in the Content folder to see a basic guide on how to Identify Stakeholders using a very basic project. We will continue to use this basic Townhouse Kitchen Remodel project for future Problem Set guides.

 

Identifying Stakeholders

 

There are many ways that stakeholders can be identified and the textbook explains many of these. The video demonstrates two ways to complete this task. One is to identify sub-projects or Key Deliverables and then determine what stakeholders will be needed to complete these sub-projects. The second is then to determine what other stakeholders may be involved that are not necessarily specifically completing the hands-on work.

 

Lowest Stakeholder ID Possible

 

In mathematics, there is a process where you reduce a fraction to the lowest (or smallest) term possible. If you have the fraction 45/100 you would need to reduce this to its lowest term which would be 9/20. The same principle exists in project management. You will need to identify you stakeholders in the lowest (or smallest) group possible. We will see this in a couple of weeks when you will identify the smallest work packages (or tasks) possible for the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS).

 

Using the Townhouse Kitchen Remodel project from the video we identified two groups (Neighbors and Townhouse Owners). However, we needed to break these down into smaller groups and there were smaller groups (or individuals) within this larger group that had different roles. For example, our Townhouse Owners has Mr. Elder and Mrs. Elder. Mr. Elder was serving in the role of Project Manager so he had a different role than Mrs. Elder so the Townhouse Owners needed to be broken down to reflect these two different roles. If Mr. Elder had not been the Project Manager, then they would have been in identical roles and could have been identified at the Townhouse Owner level.

 

For the category of Neighbors, we identified three smaller groups that had to be identified as they had differing roles in relation to the project. These were Immediate Neighbors, Non-immediate Neighbors and HOA Board (which could overlap with either of the other two, but since those specifically on the Board would have a different role than these other two then it is a separate stakeholder category). Immediate Neighbors and HOA Board were left in the stakeholder list as they fit into one of the four categories (I/K, I/S, E/K, ES). We ignored the Non-immediate Neighbors as the project would have very minimal if any impact on them. Though they would potentially fit in the E/S category, once again, there is not enough impact to list them.

 

Internal vs. External & Key vs Secondary

 

After developing your list of stakeholders, the next step is to figure out in which category they would fit. These are Internal & Key (I/K), Internal & Secondary (I/S), External & Key (E/K) and External & Secondary (E/S).

 

Keep in mind the brief definition provided in the video. Internal means within the project and External means outside of the project. You must focus on the project and not the business or overall organization that is completing the project. If a city is completing a road project, just because the city treasurer pays the invoices does not mean they are internal to the project. They may be internal to the city government working on the road but they are not internal to the road project.

 

Once you have identified Internal vs. External, you will identify whether they are Key or Secondary. Key means the stakeholder directly impacts the project, while Secondary means very minimal impact to the project or the project impacts them. In our Townhouse example, the Immediate Neighbors are External and Secondary. They are outside the project and Secondary because the project of remodeling would impact them through noise and perhaps some workers going in and out of the neighboring unit could be a minor nuisance. However, in the city road project above, even though the city treasurer was External to the project, they are Key as they impact the project. If they do not pay the invoices, contractors may quit or work stop. So, they impact the project even though they are External.

 

As you develop your initial Stakeholder List to complete your Stakeholder Register and Communication Matrix, keep this in mind:

1. Identify smallest Stakeholder group (or possibly individual)

2. Properly categorize each stakeholder (I/K, I/S, E/K, ES), and

3. Ensure that 6 of your 10 identified stakeholders for Problem Set #3 are (I/K)

 

If you have any questions on this after reviewing this full Announcement and watching the video, please email me.

Video