Here's how you can keep project stakeholders informed and engaged throughout the project lifecycle.

Stakeholder analysis is a process used to identify and assess the influence and importance of key people, groups of people, or entities that may significantly impact the success of a project or an organization. Conducting a stakeholder analysis involves several steps to ensure that all relevant parties are considered, their interests are understood, and strategies are developed to engage them effectively. The steps includes stakeholders identification, categorizing, analyzing ,prioritizing in addition to developing engagement strategies, monitor and review for stakeholder relationships. one of the signifiacant tools use is Power/Interest Grid that helps to map stakeholders based on their level of power and interest in the project.

Establishing clear communication lines, and figuring out the major stakeholders and their expectations with the project execution is extremely important. It is worth spending some time on this planning to avoid misunderstandings and frustrations later. We typically set up daily standup calls for each project and ensure all relevant stakeholders including the client are part of them. The timing and the duration are set based on everyone's preferences for maximum participation.

Establish clear communication channels and regular updates to keep project stakeholders informed and engaged throughout the project lifecycle. Schedule consistent meetings to talk about progress, address any concerns, and gather feedback. Use project management tools to share real-time updates and documents. Provide transparent and concise reports on milestones, challenges, and successes. Encourage active participation and ensure stakeholders' input is valued and considered in decision-making. You can foster strong stakeholder relationships and ensure project alignment by maintaining open and proactive communication.

The daily standups I mentioned in the last section were short update sessions where everyone involved could get a clear picture of what was happening in the project. Strict time limits are set so that long discussions do not waste everyone's time. If there is a problem that is surfaced or an idea suggested, then the relevant people can schedule another call during the day to discuss more. The standups are meant for quick project updates when the team starts their day. During the call, updates are provided usually by showing the status of the JIRA board. The tasks currently in progress or blocked are discussed for maximum visibility.

A release cycle should be discussed and set during the Initial Planning phase. One single delivery of any project is always a bad idea. It should be broken down into multiple deliveries so that feedback can start coming in as early as possible. We usually follow a weekly or bi-weekly cycle where releases are shared with the client every week or every 2nd week. This helps the client get a sense of the progress and also get a feel of the product being built. If there is a course correction that needs to be done, it can be done with minimum impact.

Unforeseen circumstances can happen to anyone. Medical issues, unexpected blockers, natural calamity, anything can derail your plans. It is important to be perceptive of possible bottlenecks or delays and communicate them early on. Nothing shakes trust more than sudden shocks or unpleasant surprises. If you are proactive, you can take countermeasures and precautions to minimize the impact of any of the above.

It is important to decide the decision matrix at the start of the project. Who are the relevant stakeholders, How feedback would come in, and How long to wait for feedback are questions that should be answered at the start to avoid issues later. When decisions need to be made, everyone should be crystal clear about who would be involved and in what timeline would they respond. If these are not set, they can cause confusion and unnecessary delays not to mention stakeholder frustrations.

In the closing stage, close out report should be issued detailing the main aspects of the project engineering. Also the Engineering manager to collect the positive/negative lessons learned from all involved project stakeholders in the propoer register ensuring recommendation and action is assigned to each lesson learned as applicable then moving the lesson to the lessons learned repository to help in improving future projects by avoiding past mistakes and leveraging successful practices.