Are You Overlooking Key Stakeholders in Your Project?

Stakeholder engagement can make or break a project. Yet, it’s surprisingly easy to miss critical voices.

A missed stakeholder often means missed requirements, resource challenges, or unexpected roadblocks that could have been avoided with better upfront planning.

So, how do you make sure you’ve accounted for all the right people?

Three Essential Questions for Stakeholder Identification

Use these three key questions as a starting point when mapping out your project stakeholders. Discuss them with your known stakeholders to uncover any hidden ones:

1️⃣ Who needs to do work on this project? These individuals are part of your project team and responsible for execution.

2️⃣ Who needs to give approvals? These stakeholders play a role in requirements gathering and decision-making. If they’re missing, you may hit unexpected delays.

3️⃣ Who will be impacted by the project’s outcome? These individuals (or their representatives) should be involved in requirements gathering and testing to ensure adoption and success.

Why This Matters

Stakeholder identification is a place where an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. It isn’t just a checkbox. It’s a preventative measure against costly project issues. Missing stakeholders means missing requirements, late-stage revisions, and unnecessary friction.

By taking the time to map out stakeholders early, you set the stage for smoother execution, better buy-in, and fewer surprises down the road.