stakeholder-engagement

Skill: stakeholder-engagement

Purpose: Produce the stakeholder intelligence and communications infrastructure a project needs to build support, manage resistance, and escalate cleanly. Used by stakeholder-comms-lead (primary) and delivery-lead (governance/steering context).

When to use

• Project initiation — before the first comms plan is drafted.
• Any project entering a change-intensive phase (scope change, key personnel change, phase transition).
• When a stakeholder has gone quiet, pushed back, or signalled resistance.
• When preparing a steering pack, an escalation memo, or an exec-level status update.

---

Step 1: Build the stakeholder register

For every person or group who can affect or be affected by the project:

Field	Guidance
Name / group	Individual name or defined group (e.g. "End-user community — Sales floor")
Role on the project	Sponsor / Decision-maker / Approver / Influencer / Affected party / Informed only
Organization / function	Where they sit
Power	HIGH (can unilaterally block or approve) / MEDIUM / LOW
Interest	HIGH (outcome directly affects them) / MEDIUM / LOW
Current attitude	Champion / Supporter / Neutral / Resistant / Blocker
Preferred channel	In-person / steering committee / email digest / 1:1 call
Key concern	The specific thing they care about most
Desired outcome at project end	What does success look like for them personally?

Minimum register size: every person with HIGH power + every person with HIGH interest, plus any LOW-power / HIGH-interest groups (users, affected teams) who can generate noise.

---

Step 2: Power/interest grid

Plot the register onto the 2×2 grid:

           HIGH interest
                |
   [Manage      |   [Engage closely]
    closely]    |   (Sponsor, key
   (Decision-  HIGH   stakeholders)
    makers,     |
    approvers)  |
POWER ──────────+────────────── 
    LOW         |   HIGH
    power       |   power
                |
   [Monitor]    |   [Keep satisfied]
   (Interested  |   (High power,
    observers)  |   low active interest)
                |
            LOW interest

Engagement model by quadrant:

Quadrant	Strategy	Comms frequency
High power / High interest	Engage closely — involve in decisions, pre-wire before steering meetings	Weekly or bi-weekly 1:1 or sub-group
High power / Low interest	Keep satisfied — high-level briefings; draw in when their domain is impacted	Monthly or milestone-triggered
Low power / High interest	Show consideration — include in user testing, feedback loops; they amplify sentiment	Fortnightly update; feedback sessions
Low power / Low interest	Monitor — mass-broadcast; no 1:1 investment	Monthly digest

---

Step 3: Communications plan

Build a plan that answers five questions for every stakeholder group:

1. Who — which register segment or named person?
2. What — what information do they need (progress, decisions, risks, milestones)?
3. When — how often, and triggered by what (schedule vs event)?
4. How — which channel?
5. From whom — which role authors and sends?

Communications plan table:

Audience	Information need	Frequency	Channel	Owner	Format
Project Sponsor	Overall status, key decisions, budget vs actuals	Bi-weekly	1:1 call + email summary	Delivery Lead	Narrative summary + RAG
Steering committee	Programme status, risk/issues, change requests	Monthly	Steering pack — live presentation	Stakeholder Comms Lead	Steering pack (see template)
End-user community	Impact on their workflow, change readiness, training timeline	Fortnightly	Email digest + intranet post	Change Lead	Plain-language update
Project team	Task progress, blockers, sprint outcomes	Weekly	Stand-up + sprint review	Scrum Master / PM	Verbal + sprint notes
IT / security governance	Technical decisions, architecture changes, compliance confirmations	As triggered	Email + governance register	Delivery Lead / Architect	Decision log extract

---

Step 4: Steering pack structure

A steering pack is a decision-enablement document, not a diary entry.

Required sections:

1. Status at a glance — RAG indicator + one-sentence narrative (the reader must be able to act on this before reading further).
2. Key decisions required — explicitly labelled; what the committee must decide today, with a recommendation and a "if we don't decide, this happens" consequence.
3. Progress since last steering — milestone delivery vs baseline; EV indices (SPI/CPI) if applicable.
4. Risk and issue summary — top 3–5 items from the register, with response status; nothing new in the meeting that wasn't in the pack.
5. Change requests (if any) — each CR with its impact and the requested disposition.
6. Next period outlook — key milestones and decisions expected before the next pack.

Pack hygiene:

• Pack distributed ≥ 48 hours before the meeting so attendees can read, not just listen.
• No surprises in the room — if a topic needs discussion, the PM pre-wires with the sponsor before the pack goes out.
• RAG must match the numbers: a Green RAG on an SPI of 0.78 is a misreport.

---

Step 5: Escalation memo

When an issue exceeds the PM's authority to resolve (budget overrun, key resource unavailability, scope that requires sponsor decision), escalate in writing within 24 hours of confirming the issue.

Escalation memo structure:

TO: [Sponsor name, title]
FROM: [PM name]
DATE: [YYYY-MM-DD]
SUBJECT: [Project name] — Escalation: [Issue name, one line]

SITUATION (what has happened, factual):
[2–3 sentences. Observable facts only — no spin.]

IMPACT (what it affects, quantified where possible):
[Schedule impact: e.g. +12 days on milestone X]
[Cost impact: e.g. USD +45,000 against current budget]
[Risk to delivery: ...]

OPTIONS EVALUATED (what the PM has already considered):
Option A: [Description, cost, schedule, risk]
Option B: [Description, cost, schedule, risk]

RECOMMENDATION:
[Which option the PM recommends and why. Be direct.]

DECISION REQUIRED BY: [DATE — what happens if the decision is not made by this date]

NEXT STEP IF APPROVED: [What the PM will do within 24 hours of approval]

Do not escalate:

• Without having evaluated at least two options.
• Without a "decision required by" date.
• Via a verbal conversation only — always follow up with the written memo, even after a verbal agreement.

---

Pitfalls

• Comms plan without power/interest map — the plan treats every stakeholder the same depth; the sponsor gets the same update as an observer.
• Steering packs that open with a data table — the committee skips the narrative; the PM must interpret the data, not present it raw.
• Pre-wiring skipped — a decision that is introduced cold in the steering committee almost never gets approved in the room; resistance is not managed.
• Escalation memo sent without options — the sponsor receives a problem report with no path forward; they lose confidence in the PM.
• Resistance mistaken for misunderstanding — a resistant stakeholder often understands completely; they have a different interest. Engagement, not more information, is the fix.