In a world with ever-increasing regulatory and external scrutiny, the criticality of project risk and governance is growing simultaneously. It is important to identify risks and communicate these risks to the sponsors, but is this enough? Project sponsors and executives must now be selected based on not only those who are directly impacted by the project, but those with broader responsibilities as well.

1. WHAT’S THE RISK IN THE STEERING
COMMITTEE?
By Christine Aykac, PMP, PMI-RMP, PMI-ACP

2. 2
We will explore…
 Who should be in the Steering Committee
 What is Stakeholder Management
 Risk & Mitigation Strategies
 Stakeholder Management Framework
 Open Discussion

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Who am I?
 As an Instructor:
Master Instructor at ITpreneurs delivering PMP
and PMI-ACP certification courses
Design and deliver Risk Management courses,
including PMI-RMP certification course
 Consulting Practice
Over 20 years of enterprise scale project and
program management in a variety of industries
Currently, concentrating on Program Risk
Management and Agile Methodologies

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Who is a Stakeholder?
A stakeholder is an individual, group, or organization who may
affect, be affected by, or perceive itself to be affected by a decision,
activity, or outcome of a project.
Page 29 - PMBOK 5th Edition
Some examples of project stakeholders:
 Sponsor and Senior Executives
 Customers and Users
 Business Partners
 Functional Managers
 Help Desk / Customer Support
WHO ELSE SHOULD BE A STAKEHOLDER?

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Additional Stakeholders
 Compliance & Ethics
 Accounting / Financial compliance
 Legal
 Insurance
 Operational Quality Assurance
 Audit
 Strategic Planning

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Stakeholder Roles & Responsibilities
 Provide support; improve relationships with other
departments
 Monitor the project status
 Help to identify opportunities or threats facing project
 Address any issues that may raise
 Increase the factors which will lead to project success
 Reconfirm feasibility of a project

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What is a Steering Committee?
An advisory committee is usually made up of high level
stakeholders and/or experts who provide guidance on
key issues.
The Steering committee acts individually and
collectively as a vocal and visible project champion
throughout their representative organizations.

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Role of a Steering Committee
 Clear understanding of the project scope and
Organization's strategic goals
 Ensures project performance of activities &
approves project deliverables
 Governance of the project; help resolve issues
and policy decisions
 Provide direction and guidance to the project
 Establishes risk tolerances & limits

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Stakeholder Management
Stakeholder Management includes the processes
required to identify the people, groups, or organizations
that could impact or be impacted by the project, to
analyze stakeholder expectations and their impact on
the project, and to develop appropriate management
strategies for effectively engaging stakeholders in
project decisions and execution…
Stakeholder satisfaction should be managed as a key project
objective!
Page 390 - PMBOK 5th
Edition

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What Risks are we Trying to Mitigate?
 Poor satisfaction scores from the sponsors
 Late delivery or over budget
 Issues at closing
 Low team morale
 Improperly identified requirements
 Unidentified key risks
 Negative project reviews

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NOW WHAT?
 Recognition
 Usage
 Cost
 Benefits

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Initiation Activities
 Include Stakeholder Management into the Charter
 Schedule some time for communication activities
 Forecast a budget for resources, travel and other
expenses
 Add Stakeholder Management Framework (SMF)
section into the Project Governance
So, what is SMF?

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Stakeholder Management Framework

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Step 1: Identify
 Project Charter / Governance
 Procurement Documents
 Governmental and Industry Standards
 Enterprise Specific Requirements
Ensure that minimum Regulatory and Compliance
Needs are Satisfied!
… Then
Create a Stakeholder Register

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Stakeholder Register
Name Role Department Contact Info
John VP IT Email
Mary SVP Marketing Phone
Rose Controller Legal Location
Adam SME Sales
This will grow over the life of the project!

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Step 2: Assess
 Assess the potential impact each stakeholder
generates;
 What motivates them?
 Do they have a financial interest?
 What do they want to hear?
 How much do they want to know?
 Are they Regulators or Internal Audit?
 Classify them in groups, such as low, medium, or high
 Define the assessment approach

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Step 2: Assess (Cont.)
 Update Stakeholder Register
Name Fin.
Appr.
Charter
Appr.
Interest Impact Authority
John Yes Yes High High High
Mary Yes Yes Low High High
Rose No Yes Med Med Med
Adam No No High Low Low

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Step 3: Prioritize
There are multiple prioritization models:
 Power & interest
Level of authority (“power”) and level or concern (“interest”)
 Power & influence
Level of authority (“power”) and active involvement (“influence”)
 Influence & impact
Active involvement (“influence”) and ability to effect changes to
the project’s execution (“impact”)
 Salience model
Power (ability to impose their will), urgency (need for immediate
attention), and legitimacy (their involvement is appropriate)

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Step 3: Prioritize (Cont.)
Place them in a chart:
Page 397 - PMBOK 5th
Edition

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Step 4: Manage
 Plan How to Manage Stakeholders
 Develop management strategies
 Have an actionable plan
 Establish Ground Rules
 Develop roles & responsibilities
 Introduce participants prior to the Steering Committee
 Have decision makers
 Establish Communication Protocols:
 Type: Email, Face to Face Meetings, Conf Calls…
 Content: Dashboard, KPIs, Status updates, …
 Relevancy: Generic or Specific to their interest

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Effective Stakeholder Management
 Clearly identified and agreed upon Roles &
Responsibilities which are documented and
communicated to all participants
 Existence and adaptation of a framework is
transparent and repeatable
 Risk Management should be fully embedded in
stakeholder management and consistently applied
 Existence of an organizational culture which supports
well-thought-through stakeholder management
 Status of the stakeholders actively monitored and
regularly reviewed on a constructive basis.

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SUMMARY
 Risks:
 Missing key participants
 Distributing inaccurate information
 Creating unrealistic expectations
 Incorrect image of project
 Uncertainty about the project future
 Mitigations:
 Identifying, Assessing, Prioritizing and Managing
Stakeholders
 Establishing Steering Committee Governance
Steering committees are designed to improve
Communication, Interest and Understanding!

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Thank you!
Christine Aykac, PMP, PMI-RMP, PMI-ACP
Consultant - Program Manager – Trainer
christine@wareness.com
www.wareness.com
Linked in: christineaykac
Twitter: aykac

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CHRISTINE AYKAC, PMP, PMI-RMP, PMI-ACP
Project Manager, Agile Practitioner, Consultant,
Facilitator & Trainer
Key Designations:
 PMP (2001), PMI-RMP (2010), PMI-ACP (2012),
Kepner-Tregoe (2013)
Specializes in:
 Project Management Methodologies
 Agile Project Management
 Risk Management & Risk Maturity Model
 Decision Analysis & Problem Solving
 Project Governance
 Regulatory Compliance (AIRB, PCI, ISO)
 Process Improvements

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WARENESS TRAINING &
CONSULTING
Wareness is a service-oriented consultancy firm solely
focused on the training needs of our customers!
Certification Courses (Classroom, Virtual or eLearning)
 Project Management - PMP, PRINCE2, ACP, CSM
 Service Management – ITIL, COBIT, TOGAF, HDI, TIPA
 Decision Analysis – Kepner-Tregoe
 Governance - ISO/IEC 20000, 27000, 27005, ISO 22301
 Emerging Technologies – Cloud PCA, PCSM, PCSA
Professional Development
 Team Building, Critical Thinking, Risk Management
Customized Learning & Services
 Workshops
 Lunch & Learn Sessions

26. 26
ITPRENEURS
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IT best practice frameworks such as ITIL,
COBIT, ISO/IEC, Project Management,
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