PMP Certification: Identify Stakeholders (based on PMBOK® Guide, 6th Edition)


  • WHAT Identify Stakeholders Is. Identify Stakeholders implies creating a stakeholder register that includes all of the key stakeholders and describe their interests, interdependencies, and potentially positive or negative impacts on the project.
  • WHY Identify Stakeholders Is Important. Identifying stakeholders and understanding their needs are critical to meet their expectations and, consequently, to the success of the project.
  • WHEN Identify Stakeholders Is Executed. The stakeholder register is a living document – stakeholders join and leave the project or their levels of interest and influence change – and, even if stakeholder identification occurs at the beginning of the project, the process continues throughout its life. Likewise, the stakeholder analysis and strategy are reviewed on a very regular basis throughout the project and updated as needed.
  • HOW Identify Stakeholders Operates.

pmp 2018 identify stakeholders pmbok guide 6th edition tipsographic main

Identify Stakeholders 101

What Does Identify Stakeholders Involve and When Do You Perform It in a Project Life Cycle?


  • WHAT Identify Stakeholders Is. Identify Stakeholders implies creating a stakeholder register that includes all of the key stakeholders and describe their interests, interdependencies, and potentially positive or negative impacts on the project.
  • WHY Identify Stakeholders Is Important. Identifying stakeholders and understanding their needs are critical to meet their expectations and, consequently, to the success of the project.
  • WHEN Identify Stakeholders Is Executed. The stakeholder register is a living document – stakeholders join and leave the project or their levels of interest and influence change – and, even if stakeholder identification occurs at the beginning of the project, the process continues throughout its life. Likewise, the stakeholder analysis and strategy are reviewed on a very regular basis throughout the project and updated as needed.
  • HOW Identify Stakeholders Operates.
InputsTools and techniquesOutputs
  1. Project charter
  2. Business documents
    • Business case
    • Benefits management plan
  3. Project management plan
    • Communications management plan
    • Stakeholder engagement plan
  4. Project documents
    • Change log
    • Issue log
    • Requirements documentation
  5. Agreements
  6. Enterprise environmental factors
  7. Organizational process assets
  1. Expert judgment
  2. Data gathering
    • Questionnaires and surveys
    • Brainstorming
  3. Data analysis
    • Stakeholder analysis
    • Document analysis
  4. Data representation
    • Stakeholder mapping/representation
  5. Meetings
  1. Stakeholder register
  2. Change requests
  3. Project management plan updates
    • Requirements management plan
    • Communications management plan
    • Risk management plan
    • Stakeholder engagement plan
  4. Project documents updates
    • Assumption log
    • Issue log
    • Risk register

Source: PMBOK® Guide, 6th ed., Chapter 13, section 13.1, p. 507.

Identify Stakeholders Key Terms

What Are the Key Terms to Fully Understand the Process of Identifying Stakeholders?


  • Salience Model. A stakeholder classification model for charting  stakeholders power, urgency, and legitimacy.
  • Stakeholder. An individual, group, or organization involved in or affected by project activities, such as project manager, sponsor, and customer.
  • Stakeholder Analysis. A three steps technique – identification, analysis, and classification – for documenting and prioritizing the project stakeholders and their expectations and requirements.
  • Stakeholder Classification Grid. A stakeholder classification model that plots stakeholders by their power/interest, power/influence, or influence/impact.
  • Stakeholder Register. A prioritized list of all of the project’s stakeholders and the pertinent information about them, such as their interest in the project, the power they have to influence the project, their expectations, and how their expectations will be managed.

Identify Stakeholders Tips

pmp 2018 101 free online course tipsographic (1)

What Are the Best Tips to Answer Correctly the PMP Cerification Exam Questions on Identify Stakeholders Process?


  • External Project Stakeholders. The external stakeholder group generally includes external project’s end users, competitors, suppliers, government officials, and other external groups potentially involved in the project or affected by it.
  • Influencing of Stakeholders. The PMP exam places a great emphasis on stakeholder influencing.  Influencing is the process of managing and changing stakeholder expectations and requirements of the project so that they support the project, or at least do not oppose it.
  • Internal Project Stakeholders. The internal stakeholder group generally includes sponsor, project manager,  project team, internal customers, functional or operational managers, project management office (PMO), program office, and many more.

Click here for a detailed analysis of each project management process group and knowledge area.

SOURCES: Project Management Institute (2017). A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide). 6th ed. Newtown Square: Project Management Institute. Project Management Institute (2016)

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