10 CHAPTER 10 - PROJECT COMMUNICATIONS MANAGEMENT 10.1 Identify Stakeholders Identify Stakeholders is the process of identifying all people or organizations impacted by the project, and documenting relevant information regarding their interests, involvement, and impact on project success. See Figures 10-2 and 10-3. Project stakeholders are persons and organizations such as customers, sponsors, the performing organization, and the public that are actively involved in the project, or whose interests may be positively or negatively affected by the execution or completion of the project. They may also exert influence over the project and its deliverables. Stakeholders may be at different levels within the organization and may possess different authority levels, or may be external to the performing organization for the project. Section 2.3 identifies various types of project stakeholders. It is critical for project success to identify the stakeholders early in the project, and to analyze their levels of interest, expectations, importance and influence. A strategy can then be developed for approaching each stakeholder and determining the level and timing of stakeholders' involvement to maximize positive influences and mitigate potential negative impacts. The assessment and corresponding strategy should be periodically reviewed during project execution to adjust for potential changes. Most projects will have a large number of stakeholders. As the project manager's time is limited and must be used as efficiently as possible, these stakeholders should be classified according to their interest, influence, and involvement in the project. This enables the project manager to focus on the relationships necessary to