Reflective Journal on Stakeholder Management

Course Name: EPM 1113_Project Management: Overview and Context

Date 4th February 2024

directly or indirectly involved in the project. Stakeholders can be anyone like employees,

government, or suppliers, who positively or negatively impact the project. It is crucial to identify

these stakeholders and understand their needs and wants as early as possible. In the given

material, there have been mentioned some of the different tools such as stakeholder mapping,

RACI matrix or RACI chart, Onion diagram, and techniques like interviews, brainstorming,

workshops, and organizational chat to identify the stakeholders and their influences on the

project. As soon as the stakeholders are identified, they are categorized based on the level of

involvement and decision-making in the project and it is done through a stakeholder grid or main

map. According to Camilo, “A stakeholder map is a visual, four-quadrant influence-interest

matrix used in project management to identify stakeholders and categorize them in terms of their

influence and interest in the project.” (Tristancho, 2023). It is important to have stakeholder

involvement on board with the project to achieve project objectives and we can achieve this only

by communicating with the stakeholders, participating in a decision-making process, and hearing

their needs and wants.

So What

In this given material, the topic that caught my attention was the utilization of tools and

techniques for stakeholder analysis and involvement such as the RACI matrix, Stakeholder

Mapping, and Onion diagram. The RACI stands for Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, and

Informed. According to Good, “A RACI matrix is a document that clarifies which individuals or

groups are responsible for a project’s successful completion, and the roles that each will play

throughout the project.” (Good, 2024). By clarifying the roles and responsibilities, the RACI
chart enables one to visualize roles and responsibilities in a more detailed manner, so that people

who are involved in the project know what is expected from them to achieve the project success.

For example, in a Data migration project from premise to cloud, the RACI matrix shows, the

person responsible for migrating data from premise to cloud, the stakeholder accountable for the

entire project, some experts who can provide a consultation for data security, and who should be

informed for progress such as clients.

The Stakeholder matrix is also mentioned as a stakeholder grid or stakeholder map. As I

have referenced above, it is a visual, four-quadrant influence-interest matrix used in project

management to identify stakeholders and categorize them in terms of their influence and interest

in the project. Those stakeholders who have a lot of power and have a lot of interest are the ones

whose needs and wants we need to pay close attention to. They can be executive management.

Stakeholders like the government who are powerful but may not be that interested in the project

are the ones who regulate what you do but you are not that important to them, so while executing

any project we must make sure that they are satisfied. The other quadrant can hold a group like

software developers or any other internal team that does not have much power but is very

interested in the project. And the final quadrant holds those people who have low power and low

interest in the project such as the public.

The onion diagram was the one that I found the most interesting because it provides a

multi-layer approach to stakeholder involvement in the project starting from the main project

team and expanding outward to identifying the external stakeholders. The main purpose of using

this diagram is to gain an understanding of who are the stakeholders involved in the project and

to determine whom to reach for the solution to the specific problem. On each layer, different

kinds of activity are performed. For instance, in the innermost layer project team is the ones who
will be collaborating and communicating intensively however on the external layer we have

stakeholders like suppliers, clients, regulators, and developers who engage more in strategy.

Now What

After going through the RACI Matrix, Stakeholder Chart, and Onion diagram it looks

clear that these tools and techniques provide a deeper understanding of stakeholder management

and involvement. Before starting any project, it is crucial to identify stakeholders and some of

the ways to do so is by going through the project charter, brainstorming, stakeholder analysis,

interviews and surveys, external research, and many more (Pavel, 2023). By doing so project

team can receive support from stakeholders which ultimately enhances the project outcomes.

The project team should implement these tools such as the RACI matrix, Stakeholder

matrix, and Onion Diagram into their project management right away. For example, utilizing the

RACI matrix will help in describing the roles of stakeholders and clarify responsibilities to

ensure that everything the project needs to be done is assigned to someone to do it (Kantor,

2023). By implementing these techniques, an organization can remove uncertainties, built strong

relations, and promote project success.

Good, L. (2024, March 6). What is a RACI Matrix? Project-management.com. https://project-

management.com/understanding-responsibility-assignment-matrix-raci-matrix/

Kantor, B. (2023, November 6). The RACI matrix: Your blueprint for project success. CIO.

https://www.cio.com/article/287088/project-management-how-to-design-a-successful-

raci-project-plan.html

Pavel Islam, S. (2023, July 12). How to Identify and Manage Project Stakeholders? Linkedin.

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-identify-manage-project-stakeholders-pavel-pmp-

prince2-mcps/

Tristancho, C. (2023, May 10). Stakeholder Mapping 101: A quick guide to stakeholder maps.

ProjectManager. https://www.projectmanager.com/blog/stakeholder-mapping-guide