Lessons · Project management · stakeholders and who decides
Stakeholders: everyone the project touches, and the few who decide
A stakeholder is anyone who is affected by the project or can affect it; the job is to find them early and know who has the power to decide.
Hone is a place to practise a career, one idea a day. This is one of its lessons, written out in full and free to read without an account.
What it is for
The system launches, and the finance director, who was never asked, refuses to sign off because the reports do not match her month-end. She was a stakeholder from day one; nobody wrote her down. Finding her in week one costs a meeting. Finding her at launch costs the launch.
How to think about it
List everyone who is affected, who pays, who uses the result and who can stop it. Then sort by power and interest: the high-power, high-interest few are managed closely; everyone else is kept informed.
Worked example
Sponsor: pays, can stop it, decides scopeHigh power, high interest. Manage closely: a short conversation every week.
Warehouse staff: use the result all dayLow power, high interest. Keep informed and listen; they know what will break.
Finance director: signs off the reportsHigh power, low interest until month-end. Keep satisfied: one review of the report design, early.
Neighbouring team: shares the serverLow power, low interest. Monitor; tell them when the cut-over is.
Your turn
Write the two questions that sort a stakeholder.
How much do they have, and how much interest?
Solve one, graded on the server
The trap
Listing only the people who want the project. The ones who can stop it, or who will have to live with it, matter more to the plan than the ones who asked for it.