Stakeholder and Communications Management
Stakeholder management identifies who affects or is affected by the project, analyzes their interest and influence, and plans engagement to secure support and reduce resistance. Candidates should know the stakeholder register, power/interest grid, and engagement levels (unaware, resistant, neutral, supportive, leading). Communications management plans who needs what information, when, in what format, and through which channel, and includes the communications management plan and the communication model (sender, encoding, medium, decoding, receiver, feedback, noise).
Traps: assuming more communication is always better - the plan should be tailored to stakeholder needs and the project's complexity. Confusing stakeholder analysis (understanding stakeholders) with stakeholder engagement (building commitment). Questions often describe a conflict; the best answer usually involves direct, timely, two-way communication and, where appropriate, the project manager facilitating rather than imposing a decision. Also watch for the trap of communicating only good news; transparency is expected.
Rule of thumb: identify and analyze stakeholders early, update the register throughout, and tailor both content and channel to each stakeholder's needs and influence.
Worked example: A senior executive with high power and low interest should be kept satisfied with concise, periodic summary reports; a hands-on team lead with high interest and high influence should be managed closely with detailed, frequent updates.