Lesson 2: Identifying Stakeholders and Building a Register

Why a register matters

In Level 1 you learned that a stakeholder is anyone who can affect your project, is affected by it, or believes they are affected by it. Knowing the definition is only the start. Most surprises on a project come from people nobody listed.

This level gives you a repeatable method for finding stakeholders and a stakeholder register to record them in. The register is a structured list that you keep updating for the whole project. PMI's PMBOK Guide calls the register a living document: it changes as people join, leave or change roles.

Running example: Priya coordinates the rollout of new expense-claim software at a 400-person logistics company. Her first list has four names: the Finance Director, the IT lead, the software vendor and herself. Below, she uses four discovery techniques to build a fuller list.

Step 1: Brainstorm the obvious and the not-so-obvious

Do this: Book a 30-minute session with two or three people who know the project, such as the sponsor or a team member.

1. Write down every person, group or organisation that comes to mind. Do not judge or filter yet.
2. Prompt the group with categories: who pays, who decides, who builds, who uses, who supports, who approves (audit, legal, compliance) and who is outside the organisation (suppliers, customers, regulators, unions).
3. Record groups as well as individuals, for example "warehouse shift supervisors".

Priya's session adds the payroll team, line managers who approve claims, internal audit and the staff representative forum.

Step 2: Review the organisation chart

Do this: Get the current org chart and go through it one department at a time.

1. For each box, ask: "Does this team touch the process, the data, the budget or the people affected?"
2. Look at the levels above your sponsor. A senior leader may have a view even if they never attend meetings.
3. Note any vacancies, interim managers or upcoming restructures. A new appointee could become a stakeholder overnight.

Priya notices that HR owns the company travel policy, which the new software must enforce. HR goes on the list.

Step 3: Walk through the process

Do this: Follow the work from start to finish as it will run after your change.

1. Choose one realistic transaction, such as "a driver claims a hotel and fuel after an overnight delivery".
2. List every step and ask who does it, who receives its output, and who fixes it when it goes wrong.
3. Include systems and handoffs. Every interface usually has a human owner.

On the walk-through, Priya finds that drivers submit claims from their phones, that the IT service desk will handle password resets, and that the bank file goes to a treasury analyst. None of them were on her list.

Step 4: Ask "Who else should I talk to?"

Do this: End every early conversation with the same question.

1. Ask: "Who else should I talk to about this?" and "Who might be affected that we haven't thought of?"
2. Write down every name you are given, along with who suggested it.
3. Stop when new conversations keep giving you names you already have. That is a good sign your list is close to complete.

The treasury analyst tells Priya that the external auditors review expense controls every year. That is a stakeholder outside the company she would otherwise have missed.

Step 5: Record each stakeholder in the register

Do this: Create a spreadsheet or shared table with these columns. Use one row per person or group.

Tips:

• Write the relationship in plain words. "Affected" on its own tells a reader nothing.
• The source column shows where each entry came from and tells you who to go back to with questions.
• Store contact details only as far as your organisation's data-protection rules allow, and limit who can edit the register.
• Leave room for more columns. Later levels add analysis to this same register.

Step 6: Check for gaps before sharing

Do this: Go through this completeness checklist before you circulate the register.

• Have all four techniques been used, not just brainstorming?
• Are the people who pay, decide, build, use, support and approve all represented?
• Are external parties included (suppliers, customers, regulators, auditors, partners)?
• Are end users included, not only their managers?
• Are people who lose something (work, control, familiar tools) listed, as well as those who gain?
• Does every row have a role, a relationship and a source?
• Are vacancies and upcoming role changes noted?
• Has someone outside the core team reviewed the list?

Priya's check shows that she has listed line managers but not the staff who submit claims. She adds "all claimants" as a group, with drivers as a separate subgroup because they work mainly on mobile.

Your template to fill

Copy the table from Step 5 into your own tool. For your current project:

1. Do one brainstorm, one org-chart review and one process walk-through this week.
2. Add at least ten rows.
3. Ask "Who else should I talk to?" in your next three conversations.
4. Run the Step 6 checklist before you share the register.

Key takeaways

• Use four techniques together: brainstorming, org-chart review, process walk-through and "who else?" interviews. Each one finds people the others miss.
• Process walk-throughs reveal hidden operational stakeholders. "Who else?" questions often reveal external ones.
• Record role, contact, relationship to the project and source of information for every entry.
• Run a completeness checklist before sharing, and pay particular attention to end users, external parties and people who lose something.
• The register is a living document. Date entries and keep reviewing them.