ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on processes dealing with stakeholders outside the project team. It highlights issues involved in managing stakeholder communication and is concerned more as viewed from their impact than in just general communication theory. In this view, the project manager (PM) must negotiate issues the stakeholder raises in such a manner to keep the internally defined project plan requirements aligned with this population's dynamic views. If a PM wants effective communication with relevant stakeholders it must be planned. The key to effective stakeholder relations lies in the definition of items contained in the Communication Management Plan. If the project drifts away from a desired requirement, the management process becomes one of negotiating or informing that segment of the current status. If the external organizational goal environment drifts, it is up to the project to capture those new expectations and decide how to move forward.
