Have you been having trouble keeping track of your stakeholders? You seem never be able to remember all their details, and what are they responsible for? Well then, there is a way of getting ahead of this issue. Now you can identify stakeholders with no problems whatsoever.

Introducing or presenting if you’re familiar with this concept – a stakeholder register. A stakeholder register is an excellent way of keeping track of all the essential information on most of the people who are part of the project's success. It also lets you understand their responsibilities and who they report to. It’s a great tool that will be helpful in many ways.

In this article, we will show you what this register is and the best stakeholder management strategy. You’ll learn how to approach the issue of identifying project stakeholders and what are some of the most exciting templates you should keep an eye out for. Some of the answers may surprise you! With that in mind, let’s get into some details about the stakeholder register!

But first, let’s talk briefly about what kind of software will ensure the project's success. When it comes to this kind of issue, there can be only one answer – Microsoft Office. It’s just an all-encompassing package with lots of tools to improve your communication and overall productivity.

The best thing about this package is that it is so easy to use! With solutions that took decades to perfect, it’s intuitive, full of possibilities, and an overall great system that can make your everyday work much easier. Additionally, it’s a globally recognized software, so you do not need to worry about people being unable to open or edit your documents.

You may say that it is just too expensive for what it brings to the table. Well, that is just not true anymore. Thanks to the fierce competition and lots of resellers' work, you can find Microsoft Office for an affordable price in no time!

If you have the stakeholder interest in mind, invest in a great Microsoft Office package that will allow you to optimize your workflow. With that in mind, let’s look at some stakeholder register templates.

Stakeholder Register Template #1

This template is best if you want to identify project stakeholders in the most straightforward way possible. As you can see, it’s one of the most obvious and easy-to-analyze templates, where everything is right there to grab.

There are no decorative or additional elements, just pure and simple data. If you are looking for something basic, this is definitely the template to look out for. However, that may not be enough if you’re looking for more complex stakeholder identification.

Either way, you can download this template for free at Tools4Dev.org.

Stakeholder Register Template #2

The second template on our list is something much more sophisticated. Here, you can see each stakeholder classification in a different place, with lots of details and helpful information on what they are doing, how you can contact them, etc. You can even find other groups of interest divided into categories if you want to find something quick.

It’s a great tool if you want to have everything organized in the best way possible with all the information in the right places. This template is a sure win if you are doing a more advanced project. You can download this template for free at ProjectManager.com.

Stakeholder Register Template #3

Is stakeholder registration in project management an essential element? Of course! That is why, if you want to have a clear overview of the stakeholder work, this template will suit you well. Keeping a digital stakeholder register template in check can be demanding, but using this one will make it so much easier.

It’s appealing, it’s clear, and it’s divided into very interesting categories. It’s an all-rounder, for sure! If you are counting on successful project completion and want to accomplish the project objectives as soon as possible, this template will surely help you. You can download this template for free at SmartSheet.com.

So now that we know all about what we should use to capture stakeholder interest, let’s find out what exactly the stakeholder register is. In short, it’s a registry. A full specification of the project’s stakeholders with their responsibilities listed, who they are working with, how to communicate with them, and, depending on the scope of a project, lots and lots of additional information.

There is no strict way of drafting such a document, but some things should be included in the project life cycle. The most important things are titles, names, responsibilities, contact information, influence, contribution, and aspirations.

If you want to create a working stakeholder register, it’s great to start by understanding the project itself and working backwards from there. If you have a clear understanding of what you are trying to accomplish, you will quickly notice that you will need to focus on different elements when it comes to creating a stakeholder registry, depending on what the project is all about.

Your main concern is the stakeholder satisfaction. Whomever they may be, so be sure to have that in mind while creating your document. Each stakeholder assessment will be more straightforward if you have it in the stakeholder engagement plan.

Speaking of the ideas behind stakeholder registration, let’s talk about the benefits that it can bring to the company. As we’ve stated before, stakeholder satisfaction is the essential element for the company. Whether you pick the internal or external group, stakeholders, as the name suggests, have a stake in the company, so it is crucial to try to satisfy their needs.

Creating a well-crafted stakeholder registry will show you not only how you can optimize each stakeholder role but also how you can customize the product or service itself to better understand the project overall. That way, you will improve the business itself and your customer’s satisfaction as well.

As you probably know, the organization will also help you in the long run. Whether you have to move someone, someone got laid off, or just overall – you have a blueprint on how they can contact everyone in the company, how they can get ahead in the workflow, and how to interact with the team. A stakeholder register will shorten the transferring process significantly.

So, the main question is this – how should you go about the stakeholder registry? Well, first of all, if you are the manager at this company, you can just simply start complying with the data of all the stakeholders and start putting that information into an Excel spreadsheet or Word document.

The stakeholder analysis is critical to keep the whole thing running smoothly. The first thing you need to do is to establish all the stakeholders that should be taken into consideration. Of course, some of them will not be apparent from the get-go, but as a project manager, you must find a way of at least describing them in your document. For example, instead of a particular client, you can just put “customers,” and you will be ready.

Stakeholder registers are often full of detail, so identifying stakeholders in the project team is crucial. That is why you should evaluate all their strengths and weaknesses, power, and influence over the project. If you can do it correctly, you will then be able to assign tasks more efficiently.

Additionally, be sure to include all the financial elements that are crucial for the project’s run, with the cost of each stakeholder in the company if it’s necessary. Just remember that if you do that, you may need to keep all those information confidential, as many project managers have fallen because they lacked enough care to protect their employee's data.

It is essential in European Union countries, where there are stringent rules about privacy.

Let’s now look at who can be a stakeholder after all. We’ve spoken a bit about that previously, but it seems like a good idea to explain the subject a bit more. A stakeholder is, in essence, a person who has any interest in a particular company and can influence it or be affected by it.

What does it mean? Well, there are different levels of stakeholders for sure. For example, a customer may be affected by a sale in a shoe store and can influence it by buying shoes there. So, they have little to no influence on the company, but the company has a lot of interest in them and wants them to be highly interested in the company.

You can imagine how it changes depending on the person acting in a particular situation. The CEO may have a lot of influence over the company and interest in it, and other people will place in different spots.

So, now that we know who the stakeholders are, let's go over some of the types you need to look out for when drafting a stakeholder register for your company. They will vary depending on the influence, insight, and interest in the company.

Of course, this list is not exhaustive, but it can show you who can be a stakeholder and how you should discuss the project with them.

Investors 

Each project stakeholder register needs investors! The overall company's existence is on their backs, so if you have a project sponsor, keep them as happy as possible. They put their hard-earned (or not) money into this project, and they would surely like to see some results from it.

There are plenty of different investors; some are just putting the money into the company, some are inside the company working with everyone to get the project running, and some are somewhere in the middle between those two groups.

In most cases, their main goal is financial, so if the company brings them money, they will be happy. Optimizing the project for them would mean increasing sales in most cases. Sometimes it can even suggest some layoffs or quality drops if they would want to save some costs.

Employees

The next group is the people on the ground floor, running this whole project and ensuring everything runs smoothly. If the company's existence is on the back of investors, the backs of employees ensure that that existence is in motion.

As a manager, the most important thing you must remember about your employees is to treat them with respect. A job is one of the essential elements in our society, and if that element is full of stressful situations and miscommunication, it can lead to some pretty tragic events.

Additionally, poor workforce morale will affect the business and can lead to shutting it down entirely. So, to keep the employees happy, keep the workplace as lovely and welcoming as possible. Make the wages fair and do not forget about holidays and bonuses.

Customers

Another high-value entry on our list. Customers are usually the key to running a business, and their happiness is what most of the company think about. Customer satisfaction can make or break any business, so to keep them happy, make your product or service the highest quality or the best price. Preferably – somewhere in between these two.

Customers leave the company their money, so they expect to get something pretty interesting themselves out of it.

Ultimately, it’s all about them, so if you have a preference or your employees have some ideas that are not in line with the customer demand, you need some excellent reasoning to push that through. Businesses are done for money first, so they will fail to exist in the long run if they do not bring any profits.

You can lure customers in with reasonable prices, quality products and services, and a good marketing strategy.

Suppliers 

People often miss out on the importance of suppliers, and it is not the best thing to do for sure. Suppliers can change the outcome of most of the company’s strategy. Getting the right supplies will have much to do with how the service or end product will behave in the marketplace.

That is why keeping a good relationship with suppliers is essential for most businesses. To keep them happy, you usually need to have some kind of formal/informal relationship and pay them for the goods they provide. It’s nothing fancy, but it can sometimes be tricky if the end product is delayed and you don’t have enough money to pay them off. Everything is starting to get messy – that is when suppliers will not be ecstatic about this partnership.

As you can see, there are many different types of stakeholders. We can also divide them into a few different categories. Let’s quickly go over some of the most important ones.

Direct or indirect

As the name suggests, internal stakeholders are present within a business. Project stakeholders, including such personnel, are directly influenced by the project.

Internal/External Stakeholders 

External stakeholders are those not connected to the project but contribute to the overall success. Those could be suppliers or loan givers.

An internal stakeholder is directly involved in the project and wants it to succeed. Employees, investors, and even customers can be considered as such.

Primary Stakeholders

Next on our list are the primary stakeholders. Those are the people who are the most important for the project. Every single action made in the company will affect them tenfold, and they are very much interested in making everything run smoothly.

Secondary Stakeholders 

On the other hand, your secondary stakeholders do not play some significant role but contribute in different ways. Those would be all the people in the assisting roles who contribute to the overall project, like HR, legal, of finance.

Direct Stakeholders 

Next are the direct stakeholders who are in charge of the flow of the project. They are mostly interested in making everything work smoothly, and most things depend on them.

Indirect Stakeholders

Indirect stakeholders, on the other hand, are most interested in the project’s outcome. If everything is ok in this specific project, everything also goes well for them. Those would be investors or customers.

Thanks for checking out this article on the stakeholder register. As usual, reviewing all the nitty gritty details about the topic with you was a great pleasure. We hope we can provide you with all the answers to your questions. In the end, the happiness of our key stakeholders is very important to us, so if you’re happy, then we’re also happy.

Also, we would greatly appreciate it if you could spread the word with a like, share, or comment on this article. Every little interaction helps, so we would certainly be grateful if it is not too much to ask. Please let us know if you have any questions or ideas for articles you would like to read. We’ll be more than happy to prepare something for you. See you at the next one!