How to Identify Key Stakeholders for Client Meetings

Your stakeholder register is lying to you. Because you can’t spreadsheet your way out of sabotage. PMs love stakeholder registers ✔️ Name ✔️ Title ✔️ RACI role ✔️ Comms plan ✔️ Influence level It looks like alignment. It feels like control. But it’s fantasy. And completely out of touch with how power actually moves. Because your spreadsheet doesn’t capture: – The VP who nods in meetings but blocks you behind closed doors – The “low influence” engineer who derails everything with one Slack thread – The exec who only listens when the request comes from his favorite lead – The silent skeptic who’s secretly lobbying against the project – The director who delays initiatives to protect their turf – The architect quietly blocking progress because they weren’t consulted – The sponsor who “supports you” but vanishes when things get political – The “neutral” stakeholder who’s been quietly rallying dissent – The teams that pretend to align, then stall in silence This isn’t project management. This is political warfare, & most PMs are walking into it unarmed. Stakeholder maps lie. They ignore power that isn’t on the org chart. They reduce human complexity to color-coded rows. And here’s the truth: If you’re not actively managing workplace politics, they are actively managing you. ✅ Real stakeholder management means – Reading body language in meetings – Anticipating objections before they’re voiced – Knowing when to elevate & when to backchannel – Earning trust before you need it – Navigating ego and insecurity – Building coalitions before pushback happens – Reading the org chart & the shadow org – Knowing who to ask, who to influence, & who to stay the hell away from 📌 Because not every stakeholder wants you to succeed. 📌 Not every decision is made in meetings. 📌 Power is emotional. 📌 Influence is earned, & lost, off the record. 📌 And not every title equals real power. So how do you navigate the politics? ✅ Map the shadow org: Who really makes decisions? Who can block you informally? ✅ Pre-align before meetings: The real work happens in 1:1s, not in the room. ✅ Identify “ego risks”: Who needs to feel heard, respected, or “right” to stay cooperative? ✅ Speak their language: Translate your project goals into their priorities. ✅ Build alliances early: You don’t win power by asking for it, you earn it through trust. ✅ Know when to go around, not through: Not every fight is worth having head-on. Politics aren’t a side quest. They’re the main event. This is the game behind the Gantt chart. And no spreadsheet will play it for you. If you don’t know who’s holding the real levers, You’re just project managing in the dark. Influence isn’t captured in rows & columns. It’s built in quiet conversations, earned trust, & power you don’t see on the slide deck. Lead the people. Not the list. ♻️ Repost to help other #PMs navigate #officepolitics 🔔 Follow Elizabeth Dworkin for more on #strategicvisibility #TechPM #projectmanagement

Having the wrong stakeholders will definitely kill your project. When your main contact is too low in the organization? You watch your work get filtered through layers of hierarchy before reaching the real decision-maker. Most agencies have rigor around account management (selling new projects) and product delivery… …but not around true partnership. The solution is not complicated, but it requires structure. 💡 First, we use RACI charts to map every stakeholder's role precisely: - R (Responsible): Who handles the day-to-day decisions? - A (Approver): Who makes the final call? (usually the CEO or senior leader) - C (Considered): Who needs to be consulted? - I (Informed): Who just needs updates on outcomes? Then, we put a ton of structure around engaging these different tiers to ensure we are not wasting time. Understanding an approver's vacation schedule in March might seem trivial… but it prevents project slowdowns in July. And here is what most people miss: The agenda and note-taking are the unsung heroes of successful project management. They help us capture everything about our stakeholders' mindset and write the history of the project. Not just their project goals, but the full picture: - How are they looking at the bigger picture? - What other dynamics are happening in their business? - What decisions need to be made? - Who is accountable by when? When we document and understand these details, we can present work in the exact context they need for success. By engaging proper stakeholders at all levels directly, everything runs smoother. We use engagement mapping to make this happen: - Creative directors talk to creative directors - Marketing directors talk to project managers - Executive sponsors talk to C-level stakeholders Because if you are the CEO, you do not you need to be talking to someone with context of the project and the business. That is why we always try to present our work ourselves. So we can: - Hear the feedback directly - Address it immediately - Drive conversations forward - Ask follow up questions for context We are listening for different things than someone internally would. While big agencies might take clients to basketball games and focus on building friendships… We focus on what matters: Overdelivering every metric and keeping laser-focused on business objectives. Because true partnership is not about being friends. It is about delivering value in every single interaction.

Every project has a hidden decision maker Find them fast. On paper, your stakeholder list looks solid. → VP/executive leaders → Team/project leads → Project team/ICs → Sponsors But most PMs learn the hard way that real decisions aren't always made in meetings. They're made in hallway conversations. They're made via text/instant messaging threads. Or even in meetings that you're not in. Every project has a hidden decision-maker. Someone with influence that doesn't match their title. Here's how to spot (and work with) them to make them an ally: ☝ Watch who people defer to In meetings, take note of who gets final nod. Sometimes it's not the one running the show. That's a sign of a VIPP (very important project person). ✌ Listen for "I need to check with ___" Whoever that person is, they need to be on your radar. Even if they're not a decision-maker, they're important to the process. Meaning they're important to your project and its progress. 🤟 Loop them in before key decisions You'll likely need their buy-in. And it could be the difference between progress and re-work. Keep them informed BEFORE you make moves to ensure alignment. Great PMs manage stakeholders. Senior PMs map power dynamics. If you don't know who's actually driving decisions, you're not navigating the project. It's navigating you. 🤙