Understanding People Before Projects

Every Agile project lives or dies by its relationships. Before any sprint, roadmap, or release begins, it’s essential to know who your stakeholders are, what they care about, and how to communicate effectively with them. This isn’t just project management, it’s empathy in action.
Our upcoming session, Stakeholder Analysis, focuses on helping Agile practitioners and project leaders identify, prioritize, and engage stakeholders in ways that drive alignment, reduce resistance, and build lasting trust.

Why Stakeholder Analysis Matters in Agile

In Agile environments, where change is constant and collaboration is key, stakeholder misalignment can quietly derail progress. Agile frameworks like Scrum and SAFe emphasize transparency and continuous feedback, but none of these work if the right people aren’t informed—or worse, aren’t on board.
According to the Project Management Institute (PMI), up to 56% of project failures can be traced back to poor communication and stakeholder engagement.

By conducting a stakeholder analysis early, teams gain clarity on:

• Who holds influence and decision power

• What their motivations and concerns are

• How to tailor communication and collaboration strategies

The result is a shared vision, better engagement, and fewer late-stage surprises.

Core Components of Stakeholder Analysis

1. Identify Your Stakeholders

Begin by listing everyone who might be affected by the project—customers, internal teams, executives, suppliers, and even regulators.
Harvard Business Review provides an excellent guide on mapping organizational influence.

2. Understand Their Interests and Influence

Classify stakeholders using a simple matrix of Power vs. Interest. Those with high influence and high interest (such as executives or clients) need close management, while those with lower involvement may simply require updates.
Smartsheet offers a visual example of how to build this matrix.

3. Determine Communication Preferences

Each stakeholder group communicates differently. Some prefer concise dashboards, while others want detailed reports or 1:1 updates.
An effective communication plan respects these differences, ensuring each group feels informed and valued.
Check out Atlassian’s best practices for Agile communication.

4. Reassess Throughout the Project

Stakeholder dynamics shift as teams evolve. Agile encourages frequent feedback loops, which naturally lend themselves to re-evaluating stakeholder influence and priorities.

Agile Techniques for Stakeholder Engagement

• Sprint Reviews: Invite key stakeholders to see progress and contribute feedback in real time.

• Backlog Refinement Sessions: Include stakeholders periodically to align business goals with technical priorities.

• Retrospectives: Use feedback from stakeholders to improve processes and relationships continuously.

The Agile Alliance emphasizes this ongoing collaboration as part of “customer collaboration over contract negotiation”.

Common Pitfalls and How to Avoid Them

Stakeholder management is not about hierarchy, it’s about connection.

What You’ll Learn in This Session

• Practical templates and frameworks for stakeholder mapping
• How to balance stakeholder influence with Agile team autonomy
• Tips for communicating complex updates with clarity
• Real-world case studies on successful stakeholder alignment

This event goes beyond theory, it helps you strengthen relationships that accelerate project success.

If your projects involve multiple departments, leadership layers, or clients, this session will help you navigate the human side of Agile delivery.
Join Stakeholder Analysis this November 2025 and learn how to turn alignment into momentum.

Register today

Secure your spot and empower your next Agile initiative.