Summary of the hand of project management | Remco van der Schoot
2.2. HOOFDSTUK 14 – MANAGGING FOR STAKEHOLDERS (P.217-233).
Every project needs financial and non-financial contributions from persons, groups, and entities:
2.2.1. THE ESSENCE OF PROJECT STAKEHOLDER MANAGEMENT
WHO ARE THE PROJECT STAKEHOLDERS?
Project stakeholders = all persons, groups and entities that can affect or are in a position of being affected by the
project.
- Each stakeholder has a help potential and harm potential
- All project stakeholders make their own subjective assessments of the (potential) project success.
Key stakeholders = stakeholders with a high help or harm potential:
- High help potential = the stakeholder can provide significant contributions to the project
- High harm potential has to meanings:
1. The needed contributions from this stakeholder are difficult or impossible to replace
2. The stakeholder can affect other stakeholders’ contributions or perceptions of the project
WHAT IS PROJECT STAKEHOLDER MANAGEMENT?
Project stakeholder management = all purposeful stakeholder-related activities conducted to enhance project
success.
Project stakeholder management consists of two main types of activities:
1. Stakeholder analysis:
a. Contains information about: (key) stakeholders’ requirements, wishes and concerns related to
the project, their project success criteria and potential to help of harm the project.
2. Interacting with the stakeholders in purposeful ways:
a. Contains engaging and disengaging the stakeholders based on information from the
stakeholder analysis
WHAT ARE THE CORE CHALLENGES OF PROJECT STAKEHOLDER MANAGEMENT?
- Identifying the (key) stakeholders
- Acquiring proper knowledge about the stakeholders’ requirements, whishes, concerns and success
criteria
- Conflicts between requirements, whishes, concerns, and success criteria from various stakeholders
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, Summary of the hand of project management | Remco van der Schoot
- No unlimited resources for making stakeholder analyses and interacting with the stakeholders
2.2.2. STAKEHOLDER MANAGEMENT APPROACHES
Two approaches two stakeholder management:
1. Management of stakeholders
2. Management for stakeholders
Management of stakeholders Management for stakeholders
Approach Instrumental Ethical
Stakeholders’ assessed on their potentials for helping and All stakeholders are valuable in their own right
importance harming the project and are entitled to receive management
attention
Purpose of is to procure contributions needed by the
stakeholder project and to prevent stakeholder from
management undertaking actions against the interests of
the project
View on means to obtain project success for the
stakeholders project investor and the members of the
project organization (making stakeholders
comply with the needs of the project).
Conflicts trade-offs between stakeholders are based Search for a win-win situation. If that is not an
between on their help and harm potential (more option, the negative side effects for each
stakeholders important for project success = higher stakeholder are minimized as well as making
chance in getting top priority) the decision process transparent
Values Fairness, transparency, and participation
Downsides Manipulative orientation, lack of ethical Lack of focus on the most important
considerations and narrow focus on the stakeholders, delay of the project due the
interests of the project (may only give short long-lasting searches for win-win situations
sighted benefits, if any at all). and non-ambitious solutions due to not
accepting conflicts and unpleasant trade-offs.
Integrating The instrumental focus to enhance the The ethical focus to ensure that the
the two project progress by giving most attention to requirements, whishes, concerns, and success
the key stakeholders so that they will help criteria for a broad range of stakeholders are
and not harm the project determined and incorporated in the project
plan
2.2.3. PROJECT STAKEHOLDER MANAGEMENT PROCESS
Stakeholder management process consists of three sub processes:
1. Project stakeholder analysis:
a. Identify project stakeholders
i. Who can affect or be affected by the project
b. Assess project stakeholders
i. Needed contributions, help and harm potentials,
needs, expectations and success criteria
ii. Information and communication needs
c. Prioritize project stakeholders
i. Prioritize the stakeholders
ii. Agree upon strategies how to treat stakeholders
d. Plan stakeholder engagement and disengagement
i. Plan how and when to engage and disengage each
stakeholder
2. Project stakeholder engagement:
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