Project Relationship Management and the Stakeholder Circle: A guide for developing stakeholder management maturity in organisations

Project success and failure is related to stakeholders' perceptions of the value created by the project and the nature of their relationship with the project team. It is strongly influenced by both the expectations and perceptions of the stakeholders, and the capability and willingness of project managers to effectively manage these relationships within the organisation's political environment. The Stakeholder Circle® is based on the premise that a project can only exist with the informed consent of its stakeholder community. The methodology supported by the tool provides an effective mechanism for assessing the relative influence of a project's stakeholders, understanding their expectations, and defining appropriate engagement procedures to influence the key stakeholders' expectations and perceptions for the benefit of the project. The new approaches to project relationship management implicit in the Stakeholder Circle® methodology and visualisation tool will benefit organisations and their managers at all levels through improving the chances of project success.

Lynda M Bourne DPM, obtained her Doctor of Project Management at RMIT University. She is the CEO of Stakeholder Management Pty Ltd., focused on developing commercially effective methodologies and tools to help organisations successfully manage their stakeholder community.