Stakeholder Management: Mapping, Engaging and Reporting

What's inside

1. Level 1: Who Counts as a StakeholderFree
   Learn what a stakeholder is: anyone who affects, is affected by, or believes they are affected by your project or change. Understand why leaving someone out is the most common reason projects get surprised by people.
2. Level 2: Identifying Stakeholders and Building a RegisterFree
   Use a step-by-step method to find every stakeholder and record each one in a stakeholder register you can keep using for the rest of the project.
3. Level 3: Mapping Power and Interest, with Salience
   Plot stakeholders on a power/interest grid to decide how much attention each needs. Use the salience model (power, legitimacy, urgency) in outline to sharpen your priorities.
4. Level 4: Understanding What Each Stakeholder Wants and Fears
   Analyse each key stakeholder's goals, concerns, success criteria and likely objections so you can predict how they will react before it happens.
5. Level 5: Engagement Levels: From Unaware to Leading
   Rate each stakeholder's current and desired engagement as unaware, resistant, neutral, supportive or leading. Then find the gaps you need to close.
6. Level 6: Building the Engagement and Communication Plan
   Turn your register, map, profiles and engagement gaps into one written plan: who needs what, why, from whom, and when.
7. Level 7: Choosing Channels and Frequency
   Choose the right channel and frequency for each audience, from one-to-one meetings to newsletters, so messages land without overwhelming people.
8. Level 8: Running the First Conversation
   Prepare for and run a first meeting with a key stakeholder that builds trust, surfaces their interests and agrees how you will work together.
9. Level 9: Managing Expectations and Saying No
   Set clear, realistic expectations about scope, time and quality, and decline or redirect requests without damaging the relationship.
10. Level 10: Influence Without Authority
    Win support from people you do not manage by using credibility, reciprocity, shared goals, coalitions and well-framed requests.
11. Level 11: Handling Resistance and Concerns
    Find the real causes of resistance, such as loss, uncertainty, workload or distrust, and respond in a structured way that addresses the concern instead of fighting it.
12. Level 12: Resolving Conflict Between Stakeholders
    Mediate between stakeholders whose interests compete, using interest-based negotiation and clear decision rights to reach workable outcomes.
13. Level 13: Working with Sponsors and Steering Groups
    Understand the roles of sponsors and steering groups (for example the PRINCE2 Project Board), and work with them so you get timely decisions and active backing.
14. Level 14: Status Reports and Dashboards People Read
    Design short, decision-focused status reports and dashboards with honest RAG ratings, clear trends and explicit requests for action.
15. Level 15: Delivering Difficult News and Escalating
    Report bad news early and clearly: state the facts, the impact, the options and a recommendation. Escalate through the right route at the right time.
16. Level 16: Stakeholders in Agile and Hybrid Projects
    Adapt stakeholder management for agile and hybrid delivery: the Product Owner's role in Scrum, Sprint Reviews as an engagement point, and connecting to PRINCE2 or PMI-style governance.
17. Level 17: Virtual and Cross-Cultural Stakeholder Working
    Engage stakeholders across locations, time zones and cultures by adjusting communication style, meeting design and ways of building trust.
18. Level 18: Final Challenge: Review, Update and Run the Plan Exam
    Apply the whole course to a changing project scenario. Review and update the stakeholder register, map, engagement levels and plan, then handle resistance, conflict, reporting and escalation from start to finish.

Access

The first 2 levels are free with a free account. Every level, the podcast edition and the AI tutor come with All Access at £4.99/month or any Creator plan — see pricing.

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