One way of aligning the stakeholders and dependencies is to understand their expectations from the project. The data and outcomes they visualize and hope to realise as a measurable metric.

In my approach, identifying stakeholders is step one, followed by a deep-dive analysis to understand their influences and needs. Early engagement, through workshops or interviews, is vital especially in a multi-market, or Global project, as is learning from past project patterns. Clear communication lines and regular feedback loops are essential in foreseeing and mitigating potential risks. Drawing from my technical background, I address system-related risks during the architectural phase, ensuring performance, security, and data integrity are not compromised. Fostering a collaborative space where stakeholder input is valued is central to mitigating dissatisfaction and fostering project harmony.

I believe this is also the stage to determine whether the stakeholder requirement falls in the “needs” or in the “wants”. This may affect his/her determination to that requirement and may help us to perform a better assessment of the individual requirements weights in the overall picture.

by identifying all the relevant stakeholders involved in the project. These could include end users, customers, project sponsors, regulatory bodies, developers, testers, etc. and then analyzing and brainstorming the stakeholder requirements, assessment and monitoring of the risk identified during the above exercise.

In my experience defining the problem is only half way through the process. One must fully understand the value the stakeholders are looking for and validate the outcome with then prior to moving forward in the process

Few points to consider when planning stakeholder mitigation strategies: Not all stakeholder risks carry the same weight. Using tools like risk matrix to prioritize them based on impact and probability is a good approach. This ensures that resources are appropriately allocated to the most critical risks. Also, engage in "what if" exercises to simulate potential stakeholder challenges and practice responses. This can help in preparing the team for real-world scenarios and refining mitigation strategies. With this, we could plan for adaptive mitigation strategies that are dynamic in nature. As a project progresses, the external and internal environment can change, which might necessitate an alteration in the originally planned strategies.

The most important one is communication of status of project to all stakeholders. To avoid any impacts on project success project managers need to know possible conflicts early in game. This will allow for mitigation planning.