Stakeholder Engagement Plan Template

This Stakeholder Engagement Plan is a subsidiary plan that becomes a part of the Project Management Plan. Its’ purpose is to reduce or eliminate resistance and create strategies to increase stakeholder support and buy-in.

This template is developed to support a wide range of project types and sizes. Specifically, it:

• begins with a section that captures relevant project information;
• provides for the identification of project roles and responsibilities, as they pertain to stakeholder engagement;
• prompts the Project Manager to identify stakeholders, prepare a stakeholder register, perform stakeholder analysis, specify levels of engagement, and identify stakeholder groups;
• includes a section for planning stakeholder engagement activities, managing stakeholder engagement activities, and distributing communications by stakeholder group;
• provides for monitoring stakeholder engagement and identifies the procedure for requesting changes to the plan;
• includes places for capturing assumptions, issues, and risks that are identified while planning stakeholder engagement;
• provides a section for including relevant project documents for approval; and
• includes a section for capturing plan approval.

Who Creates the Stakeholder Engagement Plan?

Typically, the Project Manager has primary responsibility for developing the Stakeholder Engagement Plan. Effective planning accounts for the input of various project team members, other stakeholders, and the project sponsor.

What Are the Inputs?

There are numerous inputs to the development of a Stakeholder Engagement Plan, including the project charter, the project management plan, various project documents, lessons learned, feedback from project stakeholders, and more.

How Should I Construct the Stakeholder Engagement Plan?

The Stakeholder Engagement Plan varies greatly, depending on project needs. For some projects, the Stakeholder Engagement Plan is developed in detail and becomes formally approved before the start of project work. For some projects, this highly detailed and rigid approach presents too much process.  Lastly, there are some projects for which a Stakeholder Engagement Plan may be irrelevant and therefore, not included in the Project Management Plan. It is the Project Manager’s responsibility to consider all relevant factors and prepare a plan that fits the needs of the project.

Make Work Easier

We know this template will make your work easier. Want an even a better solution? Consider getting The Practitioner’s Book of Project Management Templates. Our e-book contains a complete set of editable, project management templates. It expedites development of project management plans and supports project managers throughout the project life cycle. By the way, it includes this Stakeholder Engagement Plan template.

Consider a Set of Templates