Identify: The first step is to identify which stakeholders are relevant to your project. In a new project you might have to do this from scratch and use techniques such as looking at company org charts, speaking to colleagues, looking at websites etc… If you are in an organization familiar to you then you may be able to identify the majority of stakeholders youself.
Assess: Next you must assess which stakeholders are the most important and which ones can have the most impact, either negatively or positively on your project. You can use a Stakeholder Management Grid which allows you to position stakeholders according to their power and interest, and whether they are for or against the project. Those stakeholders with the high power and high interest are the most important stakeholders to manage.
Plan: Next you have to plan how to communicate with them and what the best methods could/would be to influence them. This should be documented in the communication plan and/or a stakeholder management strategy.
Execute: Execute the activities based on your plan and then assess whether this has gone to plan. If this doesn’t initially work then try a different method
Reasses and re-plan: Reassess the attitudes and position of your stakeholders on a regular basis and update your stakeholder management plan and approach appropriately.
