Stakeholder Management
Stakeholder management looks to take care of and manage all individuals involved in the project. The individuals can be directly or indirectly involved in the project. Moreover, they can influence or be influenced by the project.
The project’s main roles are, for example, the project manager, sponsor, steering committee, scrum master, product owner, functional manager, project management team, developers, project coordinator, program manager, portfolio manager, client, and end user. A stakeholder can not only be a person, it can also be a group. And there is nothing that says, that it must belong to the organization, because, it’s not. Another major characteristic is that the stakeholders can influence the project but can also be influenced by it. Therefore, one of the main objectives of stakeholder management is to manage the stakeholders’ engagement in the project. This is important because stakeholders may finance, and authorize the project, influence decisions, define requirements, and so on.
Another important aspect of the stakeholders is that they can have a formal role in the project, like the project team, sponsor, or project manager, or not like the end users.
Following, let’s see in more detail some of the major stakeholders.
Project Management Courses
The project manager is one of the major roles in stakeholder management. The project manager is responsible for managing the project as well as for guaranteeing that the project achieves its objectives. The PM is also responsible for guaranteeing that the project receives the resources necessary to perform the work. Finally, the PM also needs to manage the relationship between the stakeholders and funders of the project. Therefore one of his major tasks is to communicate.
Sponsor
The sponsor is first responsible for the project. He works with the project manager to guarantee that the project is progressing. He is also responsible for helping the PM to exceed major impediments. The sponsor also participates in high-level project planning, especially in the initiation phase.
Steering Committee
The steering committee is a group that supervises the project, helps to solve problems, and helps to change the project direction when is not going in the right direction. They are also responsible for approving changes to the budget.
Project Manager
The project manager is one of the major roles in stakeholder management. The project manager is responsible for managing the project as well as for guaranteeing that the project achieves its objectives. The PM is also responsible for guaranteeing that the project receives the resources necessary to perform the work. Finally, the PM also needs to manage the relationship between the stakeholders and funders of the project. Therefore one of his major tasks is to communicate.
Scrum Master, Agile Coach, or Facilitator
The scrum master is a role of an agile framework, scrum. He is responsible for a well-implemented framework. He is also responsible for enlightening the team, organization, or any stakeholders regarding the framework scrum.
Product Owner or Business Representative
The product owner is responsible for the product. In other words, is responsible for defining requirements, clarifying requirements with stakeholders, prioritizing requirements, providing acceptance criteria, and confirming the product meets requirements. Finally, he is also responsible for guaranteeing that the product delivers value to the organization or client and suites its purpose.
Functional Manager
The functional manager usually doesn’t work on the project. Therefore, its main responsibility is to provide resources for the project. Moreover, the functional manager is normally someone who manages a specific area, that has the knowledge required to work on the project.
Project Team Members
The project manager is not the only one who manages the project. The project team can also help the project manager to fulfill project management activities. They can also perform technical activities.
A portfolio is an aggregation of programs, projects, and sub-portfolios that need to be managed in a coordinated way to meet strategic objectives. So, the portfolio manager is the person responsible for guaranteeing that the program, projects, and sub-portfolios included in the portfolio maximize the strategic objectives of the organization.
A program is a set of projects and operations that need to be managed in a coordinated way to guarantee its value is maximized. Likewise, the program manager is responsible for guaranteeing that the programs achieve their goals.
Client or Customer
This role is responsible for requesting the product. But this doesn’t mean that they are the ones that will use it.
End user
The end user is the person or persons that will use the product. But this doesn’t mean they requested.
To sum up, stakeholders are essential to the project. Moreover, they can help to meet project objectives. Finally, the stakeholder management role is to guarantee that the rules and procedures are defined, stakeholders are managed and everything is under control. See also the post on Project Management Office.