HKSM

Create a practical approach for how the team will involve stakeholders, set engagement goals, and define actions, channels, and responsibilities to build support and address concerns throughout the project.

Purpose & When to Use

This process sets a clear, tailored plan for how to work with stakeholders, turn them into supporters, and reduce resistance. Use it during project planning and refresh it at phase gates, after major changes, when new stakeholders appear, or if engagement results are not meeting expectations.

Mini Flow (How It’s Done)

• List stakeholders and analyze their interests, influence, expectations, and current attitude toward the project.
• Define desired engagement levels for key stakeholders and set measurable objectives for moving from current to desired states.
• Select strategies, messages, and channels (e.g., workshops, demos, one-on-ones, dashboards) that fit stakeholder needs and culture.
• Plan concrete actions, owners, and cadences, including two-way feedback loops, decision forums, and escalation paths.
• Align with other plans and baselines, such as scope, schedule, budget, risk responses, communications, and change management.
• Document the Stakeholder Engagement Plan with who is engaged, how, when, by whom, and how success will be measured.
• Review with the sponsor and core team, gain agreement, then integrate into the project management plan and update through change control.

Quality & Acceptance Checklist

• Stakeholder list is complete and categorized by impact, influence, and interest.
• Current versus desired engagement levels are defined for key stakeholders.
• Clear, measurable engagement objectives exist for each priority stakeholder or group.
• Specific actions, owners, timing, and channels are documented and realistic.
• Two-way feedback methods, decision rights, and escalation paths are included.
• Constraints, cultural and time-zone factors, and confidentiality needs are considered.
• Engagement metrics and monitoring methods are defined and feasible to track.
• Plan aligns with the communications, risk, schedule, resource, and change plans.
• Approvals from the sponsor and project manager are recorded, and distribution is controlled.

Common Mistakes & Exam Traps

• Confusing this process with Identify Stakeholders; here you plan how to engage them, not just list them.
• Relying only on one-way communications instead of designing interactive, feedback-based actions.
• Ignoring resistant or high-influence stakeholders instead of tailoring strategies to address concerns.
• Not updating the plan when stakeholders change, when phases shift, or after major scope changes.
• Failing to integrate with risk responses and change management, causing surprises and pushback.
• Assuming the sponsor alone will handle engagement instead of assigning clear ownership across the team.
• Writing vague actions without cadence, metrics, or accountability, making the plan unusable.

PMP Example Question

After completing stakeholder analysis, you find several influential stakeholders have low support for the project. What should you do next during planning?

1. Escalate to the sponsor and ask them to handle those stakeholders.
2. Develop targeted strategies and actions to move them toward the desired engagement level and document them in the Stakeholder Engagement Plan.
3. Increase the frequency of the weekly status report to all stakeholders.
4. Add these stakeholders to the issue log and proceed with execution.

Correct Answer: B — Develop targeted strategies and actions to move them toward the desired engagement level and document them in the Stakeholder Engagement Plan.

Explanation: After analysis, the next planning step is to define tailored engagement strategies and actions and capture them in the plan, not to delegate, broadcast more reports, or treat it as an execution issue.