Project Management Essentials For Dummies, Australian and New Zealand Edition

Chapter 3

Knowing the Stakeholders

In This Chapter

Understanding how people can make or break your project

Identifying your project’s stakeholders and making a list

Finding out how to handle opposition from stakeholders

Often a project is like an iceberg: Nine-tenths of it lurks below the surface. You receive an assignment and you think you know what it entails and who needs to be involved. Then, as the project unfolds, new people emerge who may affect your goals and your approach to the project.

You can have a great project idea, be implementing the latest whiz-bang technology and use a great project methodology, but if you don’t get the people side right, you run a very real risk of failure. On the inside of the project are the people involved in project management and then the teams that are actually doing the work. You need these people to be enthusiastic and empowered (see Chapter 10 for more). Then, on the outside, you have a wide array of people with an interest in the project, and who can often make or break it.

Unless your project is one of a small minority that only really affects you and your immediate staff, you need to carefully consider the various stakeholders. This ...