188 Project Management
earlier in the book: sched-
ule, cost, performance,
and quality. As mentioned
previously, try to gain an
understanding of which of
these elements is most
important to key stake-
holders, such as the client
and management sponsor.The Rules of Engagement. This item pertains primarily to the
process of communication and, in particular, your personal
interaction with a given stakeholder. It’s probably most relevant
to your interaction with members of management. For example,
consider what type of communication a given manager may
prefer—formal written or informal oral. In other words, would
they prefer that you phone them and follow with a memo or
write them a memo and follow with a phone call? In some
cases, these are not trivial issues.
Whether They Are Friend or Foe.Is a given stakeholder likely
to support you and your project—or more apt to undermine
your efforts? The answer to this question is normally related to
the nature of the person’s stake.
Internal Stakeholders and Their Roles
Let’s begin our examination of stakeholder groups with internal
stakeholders—people within your organization. One of the
things that make internal stakeholders particularly important is
that the perceivedsuccess of your project is often judged by the
perceived satisfaction of internal stakeholders. Even if you meet
the prescribed project targets and run the project efficiently, if
certain internal stakeholders form an unfavorable opinion of
your project, your image will still suffer. In addition, most of the
key decision makers are internal stakeholders.
Let’s look at some of the key stakeholder groups—who they
Get to Know Them
The more you know about
stakeholders, the better
your chances for developing and
maintaining a strong and beneficial
relationship with them. Cultivating
good relationships with stakeholders
may help you in ways you can’t envi-
sion at the outset of the project.