Project Stakeholders

A project stakeholder is a person or organization that is actively involved in the project, or whose interests are affected by the project. They have an interest (stake) in the project. If a stakeholder benefits from the success of the project, they are a positive stakeholder; whereas if a stakeholder benefits from the failure of the project, they are a negative stakeholder. The members of the project team and performing organization are expected to be positive stakeholders. A competitor is an example of a likely negative stakeholder. Stakeholders can be both internal (belonging to the organization performing the project) or external (not belonging to the performing organization). A given stakeholder may or may not exert influence over the outcomes of the project. Examples of stakeholders include the project sponsor, project manager, project management team, project team, as well as any PMO office or customers. The fourth edition PMBOK® has added a process called Identify Stakeholders which emphasizes knowing who the stakeholders are early in the project, and understanding their interests, expectations, and level of influence over the project. The Stakeholder Register and Stakeholder Management Strategy are outputs to the Identify Stakeholders process that document information concerning the project’s stakeholders.