Session 4 - POPP5052

An Introduction to Stakeholder
Engagement in Projects
Defining stakeholders
Stakeholders and projects
Stakeholder analysis tools
Stakeholder management
Stakeholder engagement
Critical success factors
Learning Outcomes
Critical understanding of the role and impact of
stakeholders on projects
Critical understanding of the mechanisms and tools used
by project managers to manage relationships with
stakeholders
Starting Assumptions
Successful project management increasingly seen
to rest on the effective engagement of those it
impacts upon
Identifying all those who are affected by the
project necessary step in ensuring smooth running
of process
Stakeholder management is about power and
influence on projects
Who are stakeholders in projects?
Talk to your neighbour and share your thoughts with
the bigger group…
What is a stakeholder? (1)
The organisations or people who have an interest or
role in the project, programme or portfolio (APM, 2018)

A stakeholder is either an individual, group or

organization who is impacted by the outcome of a
project. They have an interest in the success of the
project, and can be within or outside the organization
that is sponsoring the project. Stakeholders can have a
positive or negative influence on the project.
 https://www.projectmanager.com/blog/what-is-a-stakeholder
Who are stakeholders? (2)
 A stakeholder is anybody who can affect or is affected by an organisation,
strategy or project.

 Internal – within organisation (individual employees, senior managers, other

departments e.g. Marketing, Corporate PR)
 External – community, government, media, NGO (pressure groups)
 Contractual – contractual/financial (suppliers, shareholders, suppliers,
competitors, customers)

 Stakeholders have different power and influence on projects

Who are stakeholders? (3)
https://www.projectmanager.com/blog/what-is-a-stakeholder

 Project leader
 Senior management
 Project team members
 Project customer
 Resource managers
 Line managers
 Project user group
 Product testers
 Group impacted by the project as it progresses
 Group impacted by the project after its completion
 Subcontractors to the project
 Consultants to the project
 ….citizens….politicians…?)
 Internal and external stakeholders
People directly People outside the
associated with the “project team”
project and part of the
governance structure

Project
 Why is it important to undertake
stakeholder analysis and engagement?
Why we should listen to stakeholders!
 Stakeholder engagement
…the systematic identification, analysis, planning and
implementation of actions designed to engage with
stakeholders (APM, 2018)

The list of who stakeholders are is not universally

agreed and even the definition of a stakeholder remains
contested by some….
 https://www.projectmanager.com/blog/what-is-a-stakeholder
Stakeholders, requirements,
measures (Maylor 2010)

Definition Examples (Maylor 2010)

Stakeholders Any individual or group with Project customers, delivery team,
an interest in the project end beneficiaries of the project,
process or outcome anyone affected by the outcome,
proponents and opponents
Requirements What each individual or Defined requirement: contract or
group wants from the process implicit (legal, moral, commercial,
or outcome competitive) requirements

Measures or The means by which it will be Level of compliance to

Metrics determined during and post requirements, customer
project whether those satisfaction, level of return on
requirements have been met investment
 Stakeholder Relationships and
Type of Project
Stakeholders (not exhaustive list)
New Product Development (e.g. new chocolate bar) Customers
Regulators
Media
NGOs (activists)
Retailers

Construction (single client e.g. University Gym) Council (building/planning)

University
Academics
Support Staff
Neighbours/community

Construction (public infrastructure e.g. Park and Ride Council

Transport Scheme) Government
Media
Community
NGOs (activists)
Service Providers (e.g. Bus company)
Stakeholder Engagement
(Doughty Centre, 2009)
https://dspace.lib.cranfield.ac.uk/bitstream/1826/3801/3/Stakeholder_engagement-2009.pdf

Crisis Stakeholder Stakeholder

Management Management Engagement

Reactive Proactive Interactive

Vulnerable Anticipate Encourage

Episodic Regular Inclusive

Hostile Defensive Prepared to change

Managing Stakeholder
Requirements: Process Flow (Doughtey 2009: 9)
What might stakeholder analysis
offer to projects?
 Improved identification of local priorities and needs
 Identification of solutions built on local knowledge or personal
understanding of the issue
 More likely to produce sustainable change
 Overcome imbalance of power between providers and
recipients of services
 Shorter time to market (regulatory requirements)
 CSR management (media / NGOs)
 Enhance legitimacy of and support for decision-making
 Contextual factors
 Specific Drivers (needs of service users, policy plans or strategies,
service priorities, service performance)
 Contextual drivers (belief in the value of consultation, desire to
reach a consensus, developing greater ‘ownership’ amongst
consultees, securing public support for a proposal)
 Instrumental Drivers (resolving disputes/avoiding decisions, insuring
against future challenges, compliance with legal requirements and
others)
What we need to know
How many different stakeholder groups
What they want
Previous reactions
Likely impact of project on stakeholders
Possible conflicts between stakeholders
Is this a project where you should primarily manage
or engage your stakeholders?
Stakeholders: the public sector
NHS 9 ‘C’ Stakeholders
(http://www.institute.nhs.uk/quality_and_service_improvement_tools/quality_and_service_improvement_tools/stakeholder_analysis.html)

 Commissioners: those that pay the organisation to do things

 Customers: those that acquire and use the organisation's products
 Collaborators: those with whom the organisation works to develop and
deliver products
 Contributors: those from whom the organisation acquires content for
products
 Channels: those who provide the organisation with a route to a market
or customer
 Commentators: those whose opinions of the organisation are heard by
customers and others
 Consumers: those who are served by our customers: ie patients, families,
users
 Champions: those who believe in and will actively promote the project
 Competitors: those working in the same area who offer similar or
alternative services 
 Stakeholder co-production
Developing more equal partnerships between people who use services, carers and
professionals.

Agreeing definitions between everyone taking part in any co-production activity.

Key principles for co-production - equality, diversity, access and reciprocity (and
trust?)

Help make the best use of resources, deliver better outcomes for people who use
services and carers, build stronger communities and develop citizenship.

To do co-production, organisations need to make changes to their culture, structure

and practice and to regularly review progress.
https://www.scie.org.uk/publications/guides/guide51/

(UK Social Care Institute of Excellence)

 Examples
Community development
Urban planning
Social care and health services:
 Adults
 Children
Austerity savings
 UK Local authority reduction in budgets
 Emergency services (e.g. changes to fire station
provision)
Example: Disabled Children’s Caravan Purchase
 Aiming High for Disabled Children Policy
 Capital grant (£150,000)
 Original plan to purchase motor homes
 Parental and children’s participation built into process
 Failed attempts to implement original plans
 Commissioning, procurement and contracting
 Problems; power; perceived risks
Stakeholder analysis tools
Managing stakeholders

In some cases
defined as
“POWER”
Stakeholder Power/Impact for change project to implement
source coding by consultants to improve NHS clinical coding. 
High    
power Chief executive Consultant medical staff
Finance director Clinical coding manager
BMA rep Finance creditor staff
  Medical director
  Primary Care Trust
Clinical governance lead
 
Low    
power Medical records staff Clinical coding staff
Medical secretaries Clinical audit
  Junior doctors
  IT systems manager
 
 
 
  Low impact/stake holding High impact/stake holding
Place stakeholder groups for car manufacturer if
manufacturer planning to launch a hybrid (fuel efficient)
car
High

Low

Low High
 Stakeholder power and interests

Power/Interest Matrix (adapted from Eden and Ackermann, 1998)

 Stakeholder Salience Analysis (adapted from Mitchell et
Power al., 1997)

A
D B

Legitimacy
G
E F

C
Urgency
 Types of stakeholder
Types of Segment
Stakeholder
Latent A: Dormant Stakeholders
B: Discretionary Stakeholders
C: Demanding Stakeholders

Expectant D: Dominant Stakeholders

E: Dangerous Stakeholders
F: Dependent Stakeholders
G: Definitive Stakeholders

Types of Stakeholder (adapted from Mitchell et al., 1997)

 Actors and their issues

Key Issues Actors

A B C D E
Personal gain x
Team loyalty x
Organisational preservation x x
Political agendas x x

Actor / Issue Matrix (Adapted from Lee and Lawrence, 1985)

Stakeholder Management Strategy
Assessment Action Plan
Stakeholder How important to What level of
Which member of
Key issues the success of support for the What do you How
When engage? project team is
concerns project project need from them? engage?
responsible?
(L-M-H)? (L-M-H)?
Questions to ask in stakeholder
analysis (NHS institute and mindtools.com)

 What financial or emotional interest do they have in the outcome of your work? Is
it positive or negative?
 What motivates them most of all?
 What information do they want from you?
 How do they want to receive information from you? What is the best way of
communicating your message to them?
 What is their current opinion of your work? Is it based on good information?
 Who influences their opinions generally, and who influences their opinion of you?
Do some of these influencers therefore become important stakeholders in their
own right?
 If they are not likely to be positive, what will win them around to support your
project?
 If you don't think you will be able to win them around, how will you manage their
opposition?
 Who else might be influenced by their opinions? Do these people become
stakeholders in their own right?
Stakeholder engagement

Interactive
Encourage
Inclusive
Prepared to change
Give some power away
Critical Success Factors for
Stakeholder Management (Yang et al. 2010)

 Managing stakeholders with social responsibilities economic, legal, environmental, and

ethical
 Formulating a clear statement of project missions
 Identifying stakeholders properly
 Understanding area of stakeholders’ interests
 Exploring stakeholders’ needs and constraints to projects
 Assessing stakeholders’ behaviours
 Predicting the influence of stakeholders accurately
 Assessing attributes power, urgency, and proximity of stakeholders
 Analyzing conflicts and coalitions among stakeholders
 Compromising conflicts among stakeholders effectively
 Keeping and promoting a good relationship
 Formulating appropriate strategies to manage stakeholders
 Predicting stakeholders’ reaction for implementing the strategies
 Analyzing the change of stakeholders’ influence and relationships during the project process
 Communicating with and engaging stakeholders properly and frequently
Expectations about the project’s long-term impact
What will be different one year after this project is
completed?
How does this project support the mission of the
department, division, and/or company?
In what ways do you see the project helping you achieve
your mission?
What problems do you see this project solving? What is the
evidence of the problems?
In what ways will this project be a solution to the
problems?
Which of these problems is the most important to solve?
What happens if this project is not done?
 Expectations about project completion
 What, precisely, do you expect the project team to create or implement
as part of its responsibilities?
 What are the most important immediate outcomes you see for this
project?
 What tangible changes do you expect to see at the completion of this
project?
 What, specifically, do you expect to be different when this project is
completed?
 If the project team could accomplish just one thing, what would that
be?
 How will you know if this project has been successfully completed?
 When this project is officially completed, what will make you say: “This
project was right on target?”
 Expectations about the process of carrying out the project
 What do you think could go wrong with this project?
 What are the major risks to the project’s success?
 What are the most important problems to avoid in completing
this project?
 What suggestions do you have regarding how the project team
should approach its job?
 What concerns you most about this project?
 If you were to identify the major problem to be faced by the
project team, what would it be?
 What are the major obstacles or impediments to the success of
this project?
Stakeholder Management
References
 APM (2018) Starting out in Project Management. APM: Princes Risborough.
 Doughty Centre (2009) Stakeholder Engagement. Cranfield University: Cranfield.
 Eden, C., Ackermann, F., 1998. Making Strategy: the Journey of Strategic Management. Sage:
London.
 Gifford, D, (2018) 21 Questions: understanding project stakeholder expectations. Available at:
https://infoworks.com/21-questions-understanding-project-stakeholder-expectations/ Accessed:
14.10.19.
 Maylor, H. (2010) Project management: 4th edition. Pearson: Harlow.
 Mitchell, R., Agle, B. and Wood, D. 1997. Toward a Theory of Stakeholder Identification and
Salience: Defining the Principle of Who and What Really Counts. The Academy of Management
Review, 22 (4), pp. 853-886.
 NHS Institute (no date) Stakeholder Analysis
http://www.institute.nhs.uk/quality_and_service_improvement_tools/quality_and_service_impr
ovement_tools/stakeholder_analysis.html
 https://www.projectmanager.com/blog/what-is-a-stakeholder Accessed: 14.10.19
 www.scie.org.uk
 https://www.stakeholdermap.com/stakeholder-analysis/stakeholder-salience.html
 Yang, J. et al (2010) Critical Success Factors for Stakeholder Management: Construction
Practitioners’ Perspectives Journal of Construction Engineering and Management DOI:
10.1061/asceco.1943-7862.0000180
Stakeholder Management Group Exercise
Leicester is a friendly city, bursting with heritage and
culture. This year the residents in Leicestershire have
decided to host the first cultural festival to showcase
their diversity. You task is as follows:

•Identify and list stakeholders linked to this event

•Complete a Stakeholder Management Strategy for the

project