Question

Explain the purpose of stakeholder analysisin project planning.Discuss the purpose ofstakeholder engagement during the various stages of the project life cycle

Answer 1

The purpose of stakeholder analysis is to understand the impact of the project for the key parties involved. In order for a project to be successful, the project manager needs to understand the purpose of the project. In addition, it is also important to know the end product and users of the product. Stakeholder analysis allows you to understand the key players in the project. This could include the project owners, sponsors, customers, departments with interest in the project, etc.

A stakeholder analysis reveals how the success or the failure of the project impacts each parties directly or indirectly.

A standard practice among project management professionals is the waterfall model. We can use this to understand the different stages of the project lifecycle and also try to analyze how stakeholder engagement impacts the project.

Requirement: During this phase, the project management and development team collects requirement from stakeholders. It is key to engage the stakeholders at this point and also to make sure that the requirements are finalized and documented for reference. During this phase, stakeholder engagement provides the details of the project’s purpose and execution plan.

Design: During the design phase, the requirements are already documented and finalized. The project management team designs the execution plan and gets the stakeholder approval. Depending on the project type and complexity level, the stakeholder may or may not be heavily involved at this stage.

Development: This is the execution phase of the project and the stakeholder engagement is done through timely updates and progress reports. During this phase, the development and the project management team execute and create the project. However, the stakeholders are usually notified about the progress, challenges, solutions etc.

Testing: During this phase, the quality analyst or test department check the project in order to measure its specification. In case, the project is not as per the specified requirement, there may be more work involved for the execution team. The test reports are shared with stakeholders and in some cases, some of the stakeholders can also act as testers.

Deployment and maintenance: This is the final phase. At this point, the project is delivered to the clients (stakeholders). There is usually a sign off from different stakeholders acknowledging that the project is complete.