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PMP Practice: Leverage social skills to build relationships and trust

Question 5 of 5 in Engage Stakeholders

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Marisol Santos-Reyes has just been assigned as project manager for a fourteen-month initiative at Fjord Analytics Group to develop a new laboratory information management system. The project will affect five departments across the organization. Marisol has received the approved project charter and a preliminary list of twenty-three people identified as stakeholders. Before beginning formal planning activities, Marisol wants to ensure she understands each stakeholder's level of influence and interest to tailor her engagement approach. What should Marisol do FIRST?
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Correct answer: Analyze each stakeholder's power, influence, interest, and impact on the project to determine appropriate engagement strategies

Explanation

Before Marisol can effectively engage stakeholders, she needs to systematically analyze and categorize them based on their characteristics such as power, influence, interest, and potential impact on the project. This analysis allows her to understand which stakeholders require close management, which need to be kept satisfied, which should be kept informed, and which require monitoring. By categorizing stakeholders first, Marisol can then tailor her engagement strategies appropriately — investing more time with high-power, high-interest stakeholders and adjusting her approach for others. This foundational analysis drives all subsequent stakeholder engagement decisions, including who to meet with first, what communication approaches to use, and how frequently to engage each stakeholder group. The scenario specifically states Marisol wants to understand each stakeholder's level of influence and interest to tailor her approach, which directly describes the stakeholder categorization process.

**Why not A:** Reviewing the organizational chart identifies formal reporting relationships but does not capture the full picture of stakeholder influence, interest, and potential impact. Informal power, political dynamics, and personal stake in project outcomes are equally important and cannot be determined from an org chart alone.

**Why not C:** Scheduling individual meetings with all 23 stakeholders before analyzing them is inefficient. Without first understanding each stakeholder's power and interest level, Marisol cannot prioritize whom to meet first or tailor the conversation appropriately. Analysis should inform engagement, not the other way around.

**Why not D:** Creating a detailed communication plan before understanding stakeholder characteristics puts execution before analysis. Effective communication plans depend on knowing each stakeholder's information needs, preferred communication methods, and level of engagement required, all of which emerge from stakeholder analysis.

Key Concept

This question covers Leverage social skills to build relationships and trust under Engage Stakeholders (Process).

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