Identify Stakeholders

Stakeholder Identification

“The identify stakeholders process is the second and final process in the initiating process group.(Litten, 2015).” It is the process in which all persons with interest in the project are defined. Those interested parties are called stakeholders.

Stakeholders are people and organizations that are actively involved in the project, or whose interests may be positively or negatively affected by the project (PMBOK, 2013). They may be internal or external to the organization but they must be identified early on, but after development of the project charter. When identifying these stakeholders project managers should be cognizant of their roles, interests, expectations, levels of influence and power, and communication needs.

“Stakeholder identification is a continuous process throughout the entire project life cycle (PMBOK, 2013).” The process not only pinpoints the parties that have interest in a project but it also categorizes them and clarifies their needs, power, and influence. That information is critical in order to meet final project requirements, as a complete and clear understanding of stakeholder needs is necessary to prevent the project from failing or cancellation. The stakeholder identification process can also alleviate potential errors that can cause delays, additional expense, or other unexpected issues.

Although the Stakeholder Identification Process is the final process in the initiating process group, it is amongst the earliest steps taken in the project management planning process. As previously stated, the justification for this is that “identifying stakeholders, understanding their relative degree of influence on a project, and balancing their demands needs and expectations are critical to the success of the project (PMBOK, 2013).” Once the basic identification of these persons is complete the next step is to delve into their needs and categorize these stakeholders based on their interests. Know who are...