Project Initiation and Stakeholder Engagement
What this domain tests
This domain tests initiation: building the business case, obtaining the charter, identifying stakeholders early, and choosing engagement strategies that fit influence and impact.
Core rules
- The business case justifies the investment; the charter authorizes the project and the PM. The charter should include purpose, measurable objectives, high-level scope, risks, milestones, budget, and approval requirements.
- Stakeholders are people or groups affected by or able to affect the project. The stakeholder register records identification, role, interest, influence, expectations, and engagement classification.
- Power/interest grid: high power/high interest = manage closely; high power/low interest = keep satisfied; low power/high interest = keep informed; low power/low interest = monitor. Salience can also depend on power, legitimacy, and urgency.
- The engagement plan defines desired vs current engagement and tailored actions. Communication planning is a subset: who needs what, when, in what format.
Worked example
A hospital project has a regulator (high power, high interest), a clinical council (high interest, low formal power), and a facilities team (low interest, high operational power). The PM schedules monthly regulator reviews, weekly clinical workshops, and targeted facilities briefings before disruptive work. The reasoning: engagement effort follows influence and impact, not job title.
Traps
- Producing a stakeholder list without analysis or owners.
- Treating the register as static; stakeholders change through phases.
- Confusing a communication plan with an engagement strategy.
- Letting the sponsor remain passive; sponsors approve scope and remove escalations.