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check on how they’re feeling about things. What do they need more of? Less of? What’s going on in
their world that may affect their stakeholder position? Monitor continuously to keep balance in check.

Want to learn more? Take a deep dive…
Blanch, A. (2013, August 5). How to manage difficult stakeholders. Business Think Tank.

Hack, N. B. (2012, May 30). Improving stakeholder engagement increases productivity, profit and
sustainability. The Huffington Post.

Merrett, R. (2012, July 31). Want project success? Engage stakeholders. CIO.
ProjectManager.com. (2013, November 11). Project stakeholder communication tips. Project
Manager.

Job assignments
• Take on a project with a wide variety of internal and external stakeholders. Rise to the challenge of
juggling priorities, preferences, and needs.
• Design a communications plan to inform stakeholders about a change that is not likely to be well-
received.
• Get a group of stakeholders together who were involved in a recent project. Gather information from
them regarding what worked well for them and what didn’t.
• Present the strategic imperatives of the organization to your team, explaining where their efforts fit into
the larger goals.
• Volunteer to rescue a project with unhappy stakeholders. Find out what’s gone wrong. Engage them in
moving forward in the right direction.

Take time to reflect…
If you focus purely on results and forget about people…

…then understand that stakeholders can help you get there faster, but they can also hold you
back. Get them on board. Understand them. Engage them.

If you think that having a multitude of stakeholders will slow progress…
…then remember investing time up front can save you time later on. It’s less about the number of
stakeholders and much more about taking the right approach. The more stakeholders in your
corner, the more your ideas will gain traction.

If you think you can predict what each stakeholder group needs…
…then tread carefully. Making assumptions can be dangerous and lead you down the wrong path
entirely.

© Korn Ferry 2014-2015. All rights reserved. WWW.KORNFERRY.COM

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