If you are new to project management and want to know what makes or breaks a project (beyond just timelines and budgets), there’s one area you can’t afford to overlook: Stakeholder Engagement. That’s exactly what the Stakeholder Performance Domain is all about.
While growing over this performance domain, we will also walk through an example of developing a new eCommerce website to make things practical and relatable.
What Is the Stakeholder Performance Domain?
The Stakeholder Performance Domain refers to all the activities and strategies involved in understanding, engaging, and working with people who are affected by or can influence the project.
Think of stakeholders as anyone who:
- Uses the product
- Approves the budget
- Impacts the timeline
- Benefits from or is disrupted by the project
The ultimate goal is to build productive relationships, align on objectives, and ensure stakeholders are satisfied or at the very least, not actively blocking progress.
Why It Matters
No project exists in a vacuum. You need marketing to promote the product, IT to host it, finance to approve costs, and of course, the users who will actually use it. When stakeholder engagement goes well:
- Everyone works toward shared goals.
- Problems are surfaced early and resolved collaboratively.
- Even potential opponents feel heard and often become allies.
In our eCommerce website example, stakeholders include:
- The marketing team (to align on promotions)
- Developers and designers (to build the site)
- The warehouse manager (to ensure inventory syncs)
- Customers (whose experience shapes design choices)
- Finance (who signs off on payment gateways and pricing rules)
The Five Key Steps to Stakeholder Engagement
1. Identify Stakeholders
Start by listing everyone who might impact or be impacted by the project.
For example, in our online store, obvious stakeholders are the CEO, developers, UX team, and marketing. But don’t forget indirect ones like logistics providers or customer support teams as they’re equally crucial.
2. Understand and Analyze
Go beyond names and job titles. Understand what each stakeholder cares about, what motivates them, and what concerns they have.
For example, the finance team may be worried about discount abuse, while customer support wants a simpler return process. Mapping out their power, interest, and influence helps you prioritize their involvement.
3. Prioritize Stakeholders
You can’t give everyone the same level of attention. Use tools like a Power-Interest Grid to focus your energy on the most critical people.
For example, the CTO (high power, high interest) needs constant updates and involvement. A backend vendor (low interest, medium power) might just need periodic status reports.
4. Engage Stakeholders
This is where the real work happens. This is where you communicate, collaborate, and resolve issues. Engagement isn’t just about sending emails. It includes active listening, co-creation sessions, and quick feedback loops.
For example, the operations manager joins sprint reviews to ensure backend systems sync with warehouse databases. The legal team is looped in during the checkout flow design to ensure GDPR compliance.
Types of communication:
- Push: Emails, reports
- Pull: Dashboards
- Interactive: Meetings
5. Monitor Engagement
Stakeholders come and go, and their influence may change over time. Keep checking if your engagement strategy is working.
For example, after a few missed meetings, you realize the marketing team feels left out. You add them to a weekly demo to rebuild connection and keep them engaged.
How It Connects to Other Performance Domains
Stakeholders shape everything:
- They define scope and requirements.
- They set acceptance criteria.
- Their satisfaction determines success.
In our eCommerce project, if customers find the UX clunky or the payment gateway fails, that’s a direct stakeholder issue regardless of whether the project is on time or within budget.
Are You Achieving the Right Outcomes?
Ask yourself:
- Do stakeholders feel heard and involved?
- Are you seeing frequent changes (a red flag for misalignment)?
- Are stakeholders supportive, or are they quietly resisting?
Check-ins, surveys, and one-on-one conversations can help you find out and adjust accordingly.
Final Thoughts
Managing stakeholders isn’t just a task, it’s a mindset. The Stakeholder Performance Domain teaches us that the human element of projects can’t be ignored. The better you understand and engage your stakeholders, the smoother your project runs.
Whether you’re building an eCommerce platform or launching any new initiative, mastering this domain helps ensure your project isn’t just completed, it’s celebrated.
Check more articles on Performance Domains
