Examples of a company's stakeholders Types of stakeholders

People who will be affected by an endeavor and can influence it but who are not directly involved with doing the work. In the private sector, people who are (or might be) affected by any action taken by an organization or group. Examples are parents, children, customers, owners, employees, associates, partners, contractors, suppliers, people that are related or located nearby. Any group or individual who can affect or who is affected by achievement of a group's objectives. An individual or group with an interest in a group's or an organization's success in delivering intended results and in maintaining the viability of the group or the organization's product and/or service. Stakeholders influence programs, products, and services. Any organization, governmental entity, or individual that has a stake in or may be impacted by a given approach to environmental regulation, pollution prevention, energy conservation, etc. A participant in a community mobilization effort, representing a particular segment of society. School board members, environmental organizations, elected officials, chamber of commerce representatives, neighborhood advisory council members, and religious leaders are all examples of local stakeholders.

Market (or Primary) Stakeholders - usually internal stakeholders, are those that engage in economic transactions with the business. (For example stockholders, customers, suppliers, creditors, and employees) Non-Market (or Secondary) Stakeholders - usually external stakeholders, are those who although they do not engage in direct economic exchange with the business - are affected by or can affect its actions. (For example the general public, communities,activist groups, business support groups, and the media)

Company stakeholder mapping

A narrow mapping of a company's stakeholders might identify the following stakeholders:
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Employees Communities Shareholders Creditors Investors Government

Customers

A broader mapping of a company's stakeholders may also include:

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Suppliers Labor unions Government regulatory agencies Government legislative bodies Government tax-collecting agencies Industry trade groups Professional associations NGOs and other advocacy groups Prospective employees Prospective customers Local communities National communities Public at Large (Global Community) Competitors Schools Future generations Analysts and Media Alumni (Ex-employees) Research centers Each Person

Understanding project stakeholders

Every project has a set of stakeholders associated with it. Project stakeholders are individuals or organizations who are somehow connected to the project and can influence the project's outcome. As the project manager, you need to be able to work with different types of stakeholders in various ways. A stakeholder can do the following:
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Be actively involved in the work of the project. Exert influence over the project and its outcome (also known as managing stakeholders). Have a vested interest in the outcome of a project.

There are a variety of stakeholder categories, each supported in its own way by Microsoft Project. The categories are as follows:
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Project manager Microsoft Project directly supports the project manager with its scheduling, tracking, and communication capabilities. Team members The stakeholders executing the project are supported minimally through email communication with their project manager. In a more comprehensive manner, team members are supported through Microsoft Project Web Access, in which they can view their assigned tasks, send and receive task updates, send status reports, and review the project as a whole.

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Team leads Team leads can use Project Web Access to delegate and manage tasks. Project resource manager A resource manager might work in concert with the project manager to help acquire and maintain necessary resources. Through Project Web Access, a resource manager can analyze resource utilization information. Senior managers, executives, or sponsors People who lead the organization in implementing the project or supply the project budget or other resources can use Project Web Access to review high-level project summaries. In an enterprise environment, executives can review a summary comparing multiple projects being carried out throughout the organization. Such individuals are also known as managing stakeholders.

Managing stakeholders can influence the planning processes of a project and help set the expectations and assumptions of the project. Sometimes the expectations of different stakeholders conflict with one other. It is the job of the project manager to balance and reconcile these conflicts well before project execution begins. Managing stakeholders might also impose new requirements that require adjustments to the finish date, budget, or scope. Even if this happens in the midst of execution, you can use Microsoft Project to make adjustments responding to the new demands.

Project Management Stakeholders

A stakeholder is someone that is involved in your project or has a vested interest in its success or failure. Knowing who your stakeholders are is important and the process begins by developing healthy relationships. They help decide on issues from the beginning, during planning and at execution of the project. Therefore, stakeholders should understand how the project functions, including the project scope, milestones and goals.

There are five major types of stakeholders:

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Project manager Project team Functional management Sponsors Customers

Within the stakeholders, you have both internal and external classifications. Internal stakeholders are those directly affected by the project, such as employees. External stakeholders are not a part of the business, such as vendors or suppliers, but have an interest in its outcome.

Primary and Secondary Stakeholders Primary stakeholders have a major interest in the success of a project because they are directly affected by the outcome. Customers and end users are primary stakeholders as well as some project sponsors, project managers, and team members. Project sponsors are accountable for keeping the project on schedule. They should schedule regular meetings to review timelines, addressing complications that may arise, and assuring that the project manager remains on the task. Sponsors allocate and supply resources and finances to fund the project. The sponsor should have a clear understanding of what's expected in accordance with the scope, schedule, and resources needed for the project. Success of a project is largely dependent on the project sponsors leadership and support. The leadership provided by the sponsor helps identify cost overruns and provides alternatives in order to remain on budget. Secondary stakeholders also help to complete the project. Though their role isn't primary, they assist with administrative processes, financial, and legalities. Communication between primary and secondary types of stakeholders will ensure that everyone is working toward the same goal. Lack of communication can cause a breakdown within the project. Internal and External Stakeholders Project managers are internal stakeholders because they are directly involved in developing the project. They have authority to manage the project by handling responsibility of work performance, organizing and planning; effectively ensuring that all phases of the project are done accurately and efficiently. Vendors, suppliers, and outside organizations are external stakeholders because they supply needed elements for a project's success, they need to stay in communication at all times on goals, milestones and deliverables. Direct and Indirect Stakeholders Direct stakeholders are concerned with the day to day activities of a project. Team members are direct stakeholders as their workloads are scheduled around the project each workday. Indirect stakeholders are not impacted by the project. Those not affected are your customers and end users, because their concern is with the finished project. This would be the quality of merchandise, price, packaging, and availability. The management of stakeholder responsibility is very important to the success of a project. It's important to define the various types of stakeholders, their needs or interests, and communicate them effectively.