Project Planning Fundamentals: Stakeholders, Roles, and Decision Rights

Why stakeholders and decision rights shape the plan

A project plan is only executable when the right people are involved at the right time and when it is clear who can decide what. Stakeholders are individuals or groups who can affect the project or are affected by it. Decision rights define who has authority to approve, reject, or request changes (for example, changes to scope, schedule, or budget). When stakeholder expectations and decision rights are unclear, planning stalls, approvals become unpredictable, and teams end up reworking decisions.

1) Build a stakeholder list

Start by listing everyone who matters to planning and delivery. Keep it practical: you are not trying to document the entire organization, only the people who influence outcomes, provide inputs, or must accept the result.

Common stakeholder categories to include

• Sponsors: fund the work, set priorities, remove blockers, and typically approve major changes.
• Users / customers: people who will use the deliverable; they define needs and validate usability and acceptance.
• Delivery team: project manager, product owner, engineers, designers, analysts, QA, operations—those building and implementing.
• Vendors / partners: external providers delivering components, services, or specialized expertise.
• Governance: steering committee, PMO, architecture review board, security, compliance, finance—groups that set standards and approve exceptions.
• Adjacent teams: teams providing dependencies (data, infrastructure, integrations, customer support, training).

Step-by-step: create a Stakeholder Register

1. Brainstorm names by category (sponsors, users, delivery, vendors, governance). Add “dependency owners” for anything your plan relies on.
2. Capture role and “what they care about” (e.g., cost, timeline, risk, user experience, compliance).
3. Document how they engage: what input you need from them, and what decisions or approvals they provide.
4. Confirm with sponsor and leads: ask “who will block this if surprised?” and “who must sign off?”

Stakeholder Register template (example)

2) Assess influence and interest to prioritize engagement

Not every stakeholder needs the same level of attention. A simple influence/interest assessment helps you focus your time and tailor communication.

How to rate influence and interest

• Influence: ability to change priorities, approve funding, block releases, or shape requirements.
• Interest: how much they care about outcomes day-to-day (impact on their work, KPIs, or risk exposure).

Step-by-step: create an Influence–Interest map

1. List stakeholders from your register.
2. Assign each a rating (e.g., Low/Medium/High) for influence and interest.
3. Place them into one of four engagement strategies.
4. Define a concrete engagement action per stakeholder (meeting cadence, review points, artifacts).

Engagement strategies (practical guidance)

Tip: If someone has high influence but low interest, your job is to reduce surprise. Provide short, decision-oriented updates and escalate early when trade-offs appear.

3) Define responsibilities with a lightweight RACI and clarify change approvals

Roles describe what people do; decision rights specify who can approve changes. A lightweight RACI matrix prevents confusion by clarifying responsibility for key deliverables and decisions.

Continue in our app.

• Listen to the audio with the screen off.
• Earn a certificate upon completion.
• Over 5000 courses for you to explore!

Or continue reading below...

Download the app

RACI basics (keep it simple)

• R = Responsible: does the work.
• A = Accountable: owns the outcome and signs off (one “A” per row is a good rule).
• C = Consulted: provides input before completion/decision.
• I = Informed: kept up to date after completion/decision.

Step-by-step: build a RACI for core deliverables

1. Choose 6–12 core deliverables that matter for planning and control (e.g., requirements baseline, schedule, budget, risk register, rollout plan).
2. List the roles (not individual names) across the top: Sponsor, Project Manager, Product Owner, Tech Lead, QA Lead, Ops Lead, Security, Vendor PM, Finance, etc.
3. Assign R/A/C/I for each deliverable. Ensure exactly one Accountable per deliverable.
4. Validate with stakeholders in a short review meeting. Ask: “Who approves this? Who must be consulted to avoid rework?”

Example: lightweight RACI matrix

Clarify who approves scope, schedule, and budget changes

Beyond deliverables, define change approval thresholds. This prevents “approval ping-pong” and makes planning resilient when trade-offs appear.

Step-by-step: define change decision rights

1. Define what counts as a change (e.g., any change to baseline scope, schedule, budget, or quality criteria).
2. Create thresholds (small/medium/major) based on impact (cost, time, risk, compliance).
3. Assign approvers per threshold (e.g., PM can approve small schedule shifts; sponsor approves budget increases).
4. Document required inputs (impact analysis, options, recommendation).
5. Set the turnaround time (e.g., 2 business days for medium changes) to keep delivery moving.

Example: change approval matrix

Practical rule: If a change affects more than one baseline (e.g., scope and schedule), escalate to the highest required approver among them.

4) Set communication expectations (cadence, channels, artifacts)

Communication planning is not about sending more messages; it is about ensuring the right stakeholders get the right information in a predictable rhythm, and that decisions and changes are traceable.

Define cadence

• Daily/near-daily (delivery team): blockers, progress, immediate coordination.
• Weekly (cross-functional): status, risks, dependencies, upcoming decisions.
• Biweekly/monthly (sponsor/governance): milestones, budget, major risks, decision requests.
• Ad hoc (decision reviews): when a decision is needed within a defined SLA.

Choose channels intentionally

• Meetings for alignment and decisions (with an agenda and decision requests).
• Email for formal approvals and executive summaries.
• Chat (Teams/Slack) for quick coordination (but summarize key outcomes elsewhere).
• Project workspace (wiki, shared drive, project tool) as the source of truth for artifacts.
• Ticketing system for operational work, security reviews, and change requests when required.

Standard artifacts to keep planning executable

• Stakeholder Register (who, why they matter, how to engage).
• RACI (who does/approves what).
• Decision Log (what was decided, by whom, when, and why).
• Risk/Issue log (what might derail the plan and what you are doing about it).
• Status report (progress, next steps, risks, decisions needed).

Communication plan mini-template

Practice: create a Stakeholder Register and a RACI for core deliverables

Practice A: Stakeholder Register (fill-in template)

Stakeholder Register (v1)  | Project: __________________ | Date: ____________ | Owner: ____________

1) Name/Role: ______________________
   Team/Org: ________________________
   Category: Sponsor / User / Delivery / Vendor / Governance / Dependency
   Influence: Low / Medium / High
   Interest: Low / Medium / High
   What they care about: _______________________________________________
   What we need from them (inputs/approvals): __________________________
   Engagement approach (cadence + touchpoints): ________________________
   Preferred channel: _________________________________________________
   Risks if not engaged: ______________________________________________

2) Name/Role: ______________________
   ...

Practice B: RACI for core deliverables (fill-in template)

Roles: Sponsor | PM | Product Owner | Tech Lead | QA Lead | Ops Lead | Security | Vendor PM

Deliverables:
- Integrated project plan
- Requirements baseline
- Schedule baseline
- Budget baseline
- Risk register
- Test strategy
- Rollout plan
- Training/support readiness

For each deliverable, assign: R (Responsible), A (Accountable), C (Consulted), I (Informed)
Rule of thumb: exactly one A per deliverable.

Practice: define a decision log format (with examples)

A decision log is a lightweight record of key planning decisions. It reduces re-litigation (“Why did we choose this?”), supports onboarding, and provides traceability when scope, schedule, or budget changes occur.

Decision log format (template)

Examples of common planning decisions (filled)