What are the best practices for identifying and engaging stakeholders in the charter process?

1 Project charter elements

A project charter is a document that outlines the purpose, scope, objectives, deliverables, organization, schedule, budget, risks, and approval process of a project. It summarizes the project's name, purpose, and scope in a clear and concise way, defines the specific and measurable outcomes that the project aims to achieve and how they will be evaluated, outlines the boundaries, assumptions, constraints, and requirements of the project, as well as the expected products or services that the project will produce, identifies the key stakeholders, sponsors, and team members of the project, as well as their roles, responsibilities, and authority levels, estimates the time, resources, and costs needed to complete the project, as well as the major milestones and dependencies, analyzes the potential threats and challenges that the project may face and how they will be managed or mitigated, and specifies the criteria and process for approving and closing the project, as well as the signatures of the authorized parties.

2 Stakeholder identification

Identifying stakeholders is an essential part of the project charter process, as it helps to comprehend their needs, expectations, and concerns, as well as their power and interest in the project. To do this, there are several methods that can be used, such as brainstorming, stakeholder analysis, and stakeholder mapping. Brainstorming involves creating a list of potential stakeholders based on the project objectives, scope, and deliverables, as well as the organizational and environmental factors. Stakeholder analysis involves classifying and prioritizing the stakeholders based on their impact, influence, and interest in the project, as well as their attitude, expectations, and communication preferences. Lastly, stakeholder mapping involves constructing a visual representation of the stakeholders and their relationships, such as a matrix, a diagram, or a chart, that shows their position, role, and level of involvement in the project. It is important to remember that stakeholders can be internal or external, positive or negative, active or passive.

3 Stakeholder engagement

Stakeholder engagement is a critical process for successful project management, as it involves communicating and collaborating with stakeholders throughout the project lifecycle. This is essential for building trust, rapport, and support, as well as for managing expectations, resolving conflicts, and obtaining feedback. To ensure successful stakeholder engagement, it is important to involve them early and often, tailor the communication to suit the needs, preferences, and characteristics of each stakeholder group, seek input and feedback, manage expectations and changes, and recognize and reward contributions, achievements, and support. By following these best practices, the project charter process can be successful and beneficial for all stakeholders.