According to the Project Management Institute (PMI), the term project stakeholder refers to, ‘an individual, group, or organization, who may affect, be affected by, or perceive itself to be affected by a decision, activity, or outcome of a project’ (Project Management Institute, 2013). ISO 21500 uses a similar definition.
Project stakeholders are entities that have an interest in a given project. These stakeholders may be inside or outside an organization which:
- sponsor a project, or
- have an interest or a gain upon a successful completion of a project;
- may have a positive or negative influence in the project completion.
The following are examples of project stakeholders:
Rather than focusing on one subset of stakeholders, Lynda Bourne advocates prioritizing all stakeholders and focusing your attention on the ‘most important’ at this point in time. Her view of importance encompasses an assessment of the power, proximity and urgency associated with each stakeholder. The Stakeholder Circle methodology is described in her Doctoral thesis: Project Relationship Management and the Stakeholder Circle.
The rationale for this emphasis on decision makers is part of project stakeholder management and a key component in affecting change in an organization. As John Kotter, a professor at the Harvard Business School and the author of numerous books on corporate culture, change and leadership such as "Leading Change" proposes, project management and change management are intrinsically linked. In order to enable organizational change, identifying and understanding how to interact with project stakeholders is key.