Getting the right people involved at the right time on your projects comes down to defining what you need, who can support it, and when you need them. Sounds easy but it’s not when you consider project stakeholder schedules and competing projects. Get some tips for how to get what you need when you need it.

1. Stakeholder Involvement
The Magic of Timing
Your presenter is:
Alison Sigmon, M.Ed., LPC, PMP
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2. What’s on tap for our time together today…
Getting the right people involved at the right time and doing the right work for your
projects comes down to defining what you need, who can support it, and when you
need them. Sounds easy but it’s not when you consider project stakeholder schedules,
competing projects, and uncertain attitudes.
Before you can do any of this, it’s important to understand who the highest priority
stakeholders at key points in the project, their expectations and attitudes about the
project, and role they need to play. Today we’re going to look at Stakeholder Mapping as
a tool to help you determine these things.
Agenda
 Revolving door…reality of today’s project stakeholder
 Collaboration: Power of purpose & recognition
 Stakeholder Mapping: Let the tool work for you
 Wrap it up!
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3. Revolving door: Reality of today’s project stakeholder
Ebb & Flow of
Stakeholders
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4. Having a stake in it
A Guide to the Project Management Body of
Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide) breaks down a
stakeholder as a person or organization that:
• Is actively involved in the project
• Has interests that may be positively or
negatively affected by the performance
or completion of the project
• May exert influence over the
project, the deliverables, or the team
members
Basically, a stakeholder is
anyone (or any other project)
involved in or somehow
affected by the project.
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5. Skipping across the circles…
Stakeholder structure is a lot like concentric circles
The more directly involved in the day-to-day activities of a project, the closer to
the center of the concentric circles the stakeholder will be. Position on the circles
changes over the life of the project based on the type of work needed.
Marketing Graphic artist
Copywriter User experience Sponsor
System architect Content
Analyst
Core team
Programmer
Quality Assurance Product designer Customer
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6. Keeping it tight keeps you flexible
To maximize efficiency and
response to global demands of
business, stakeholders may
come and go at regular intervals
on a project.
For this to be as seamless as
possible, processes must be
streamlined and tight.
And where does this start?
With the project manager
and the tools used
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7. Working together- it’s our nature
Collaboration:
Power of Purpose &
Recognition
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8. Cooperation is in our nature
Given some of the unscrupulous, self-
centered activities in business over the years,
might be hard to believe that it’s actually
human nature to work together.
Study noted in a recent edition of Scientific
Americanmagazine found that of all species
humans can be considered “super-
cooperators.” It’s this cooperation that has
perpetuated the human race. For example:
While we compete to “climb the corporate
ladder,” we still work together to make sure
the company succeeds against competitors.
While we work to provide for our families, we
are still very philanthropic.
When a crisis occurs, we think nothing of
dropping our priorities and even sacrificing
our personal well-being to help others.
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9. Credibility and reputation rule
Research shows our
cooperative tendencies stem
primarily from two things:
• Receiving credible
information about a problem
or issue
• Being generous in an effort
and desire to preserve
reputation
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10. Watch and be watched
So what does this mean to
projects?
Projects mean change, and
people typically resist change.
When there’s authoritative
information about the need for
the change, stakeholders are
more likely to embrace it.
Also, when stakeholders know
they are being observed through
a variety of types of
assessment, they may be more
likely to be cooperative and
supportive.
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11. Cue the tool to engage and influence
Using tools such as Stakeholder Mapping
throughout the project gives project teams
an opportunity to assess and validate the
scope and assumptions of the project to
date.
It also gives project teams a chance to
assess stakeholder
expectations, assumptions, and attitudes
about the project. It’s that analysis that
project managers can use to open (or
reopen in some cases) dialogue with
stakeholders about the project objectives
and deliverables.
It lets stakeholders know you’ve given
consideration for what they are thinking
and care enough to explore their thoughts
with them which creates an opportunity for
cooperation over authoritarian direction.
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12. Right place, right time, right work
Stakeholder Mapping:
Strategy gets the job done
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13. Getting collective action is tricky
Just as a politician pays close
attention to the opinions of
constituents, so must you as a
project manager.
Project politics is about getting
collective action from a group of
people who may have quite different
interests.
Being willing to use conflict
creatively is important to influencing
others. But don’t do it empty-handed.
Take the time to understand the
formal and informal structure and
positions of key groups and
individuals.
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14. Navigating the politics of projects
A big part of navigating project
politics is to get a handle on who
the stakeholders are, what the
stakeholders think the project is,
aligning the project needs with
stakeholder expectations, and
getting clear on project roles.
What’s tough about this is that it’s
fluid. Stakeholders change.
Expectations change. Opinions
about objectives for your project
vary among stakeholders.
An effective way to respond to this
complexity is to use the
Stakeholder Mapping Tool.
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15. What is Stakeholder Mapping?
• Formalizes how you think about
stakeholders at a particular
point in time. It also prioritizes
stakeholders.
• Identifies the web of groups and
individuals whose expectations
and attitudes will determine
whether or not the deliverables
get completed and accepted.
• It also serves as an “early
warning system” by identifying
thosestakeholderswho have
special communication needs.

16. Stakeholder mapping process
• Series of categories supported by a facilitation process that helps
analyze project stakeholder expectations and attitudes about the
project
• Answers help identify stakeholder priority at that point in the
project
• Can be used repeatedly throughout the project in keeping with
the ebb and flow of stakeholders
• Supports strategy development for engagement
• Helps the team see their blind spots in planning

17. How does it work?
Stakeholder Mapping:
Assessment and engagement
magic
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18. Stakeholder GROUP identification
For each objective ask the questions below. Each time a stakeholder is
repeated as an answer, place an asterisk next to the name. This will establish
stakeholder group priority.
 Who will receive the product or service delivered by meeting this objective?
 Who will use it?
 Who will approve it?
 Who provides input to the deliverables?
 Who is accountable for the deliverables?
 Who could kill this project or significantly slow it down?
 Who should be committed early in order to sell the project to others?
 Are there any projects underway that should be considered as a stakeholders?

19. Stakeholder expectation assessment
For each group consider the following:
What do we believe each group wants from the
project?
How might this group specifically measure success?
How will they know their expectations are being met by
the project?

20. Determine stakeholder contact and next steps
Ask the following to determine if stakeholder expectations align
with the project scope as currently defined:
• Does alignment exist between this group’s expectations and the
current scope?
• Are the expectations of this group in or out of scope?
• What are the implications for action?
For expectations not aligned with scope, determine the following:
• Should scope be modified to include those expectations?
• Should expectations be modified?
• Should the expectation be “parked” for consideration at a later time?

21. Stakeholder attitude assessment
Make assumptions about each stakeholder’s attitude, but be
sure to investigate your assumptions.

22. Stakeholder role assessment
For each stakeholder group consider what role the
project needs them to commit to do.
Sponsor? Core team member?
One time contributor? Evaluator?
Subject matter expert? Champion
Liaison? No role?
Team lead? Others?
Vendor?

23. Determine stakeholder contact and next steps
This is where you pull it all together. Leverage your
analysis to determine the following:
• Who is the best person to recruit?
• What involvement strategy will we use?
• What’s the best way to involve him/her? Who on our team will
contact them?
• What tools or models are available to gain stakeholder support
and involvement?”
• What information are we missing about this stakeholder?

24. When can Stakeholder Mapping be used?
Stakeholder Mapping can be used
throughout the project and for a
variety of project activities.
• Develop a project charter
• Create a project plan
• Develop a communications plan
• Establish support when
implementing a change
• Consider who should be involved
in the project
• Address expectations and consider
possible areas of conflict
• Identify project
assumptions, constraints, and risks
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25. Wrap up…
Getting the right people involved at the right time and doing the right work for your
projects comes down to defining what you need, who can support it, and when you
need them. Sounds easy but it’s not when you consider project stakeholder schedules,
competing projects, and uncertain attitudes.
Before you can do any of this, it’s important to understand who the highest priority
stakeholders at key points in the project, their expectations and attitudes about the
project, and role they need to play. Stakeholder Mapping is a tool to help you determine
these things.
What we considered:
 Revolving door…reality of today’s project stakeholder
 Collaboration: Power of purpose & recognition
 Stakeholder Mapping: Let the tool work for you
Questions???
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26. Thank you!
www.systemation.com
Alison Sigmon, M.Ed, LPC, PMP
asigmon@systemation.com
Twitter @alisonsigmon
www.slideshare.net/ahsigmon
www.mindscraping.com
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