Course description

Projects rarely fail because of the plan. They stall when the right people aren't on board: a senior manager who wasn't consulted, a team worried about their workload, a group who only heard about the change from the local paper. This course shows you how to find everyone your work affects, understand what they need, plan how you'll involve them, and influence people you don't manage, so your project keeps moving.

It's a full course, not a quick tour. There are 10 sections and 50 written lessons with clear methods, example wording for real conversations, and templates you can use straight away. You follow a fictional project coordinator at a district council as she introduces a garden waste subscription, working with councillors, union representatives, residents, the press and her own sponsor, including the mistakes she made along the way. Every section has a worksheet, model answers, a cheat sheet and practical tools.

What you'll learn

• Finding your stakeholders: a checklist for spotting everyone affected, and a stakeholder register that stays useful.
• Understanding them: the power/interest grid, attitude scores, influence maps and what's in it for each group.
• Planning engagement: levels of engagement, RACI charts, engagement plans and communication calendars.
• Communicating clearly: key messages, briefing notes, one-page updates and meetings that end with decisions.
• Listening and consultation: one-to-one conversations, running a fair consultation and showing people you listened.
• Influence and trust: influencing without authority, making your case and building champions.
• Resistance and conflict: why people resist, following through, negotiating and escalating well.
• Senior and political stakeholders: working with sponsors and boards, reporting upwards and staying politically neutral.

The final project

You'll build a complete stakeholder management plan for a real project of your own: a register, analysis, engagement plan, key messages, a communication calendar, a RACI chart and the indicators you'll use to check it's working. A plan template workbook and a lessons-learned template are included.

Who this course is for

• Project coordinators, project officers and team leads who need support from people they don't manage.
• Public sector and charity staff working with elected members, partners, unions and the public.
• Anyone leading a change at work who wants fewer surprises and smoother decisions.

How the course works

Read each lesson, then apply the method to a project you're working on, or use the practice files if you don't have one yet. No special software is needed: the templates open in any spreadsheet program or text editor. You keep lifetime access, so you can come back whenever a new project starts.

What will I learn?

• Identify everyone your project affects and keep a useful stakeholder register
• Analyse stakeholders with the power/interest grid, attitude scores and influence maps
• Plan engagement and communication with clear levels, channels, timings and a RACI chart
• Write key messages, briefing notes and one-page updates that busy people read
• Listen well, run a fair consultation and show people what changed as a result
• Influence people you don't manage, build trust and find champions
• Handle resistance, negotiate, follow through and escalate without blame
• Work with sponsors, project boards and political stakeholders, and keep your project on track

Frequently asked questions