---
reference_type: Principle
reference_id: P03
name: Effectively Engage with Stakeholders
version: "1.0.0"
status: Deprecated
edition: PMBOK7
pmbok8_source: "PMBOK8 Standard §3.3 — Effectively Engage with Stakeholders"
authority: PMI-derived
---

# P03 — Effectively Engage with Stakeholders
**Type:** Principle
**PMBOK8 Source:** PMBOK8 Standard §3.3 — Effectively Engage with Stakeholders
**Version:** 1.0.0

## Definition
PMBOK 8 Standard §3.3 establishes that stakeholder engagement is a continuous, proactive discipline — not a one-time identification exercise performed at project initiation. Stakeholders include any individual, group, or organization that can affect or be affected by the project, its process, or its outcomes. Effective engagement requires practitioners to identify and understand stakeholders' interests, needs, concerns, and potential influence throughout the full project lifecycle; to build trust through authentic communication and follow-through; to manage expectations proactively; and to adapt engagement strategies as stakeholder dynamics evolve. Engagement failures are a leading cause of project underperformance and value erosion.

## Key Characteristics
- **Proactive and continuous identification:** Stakeholder identification is not completed at initiation — new stakeholders emerge throughout the project, and their relevance and influence may shift as the project evolves (§3.3).
- **Interest and influence understanding:** Effective engagement requires genuine understanding of each stakeholder's interests, expectations, concerns, and capacity to affect or be affected by the project (§3.3).
- **Trust-based communication:** Engagement goes beyond information dissemination — it requires building and maintaining trust through honest, timely, and appropriately tailored communication (§3.3).
- **Expectation management:** Practitioners must proactively shape realistic expectations, address misalignments early, and prevent the accumulation of unresolved expectations that create project risk (§3.3).
- **Adaptive engagement strategies:** Engagement approaches must be tailored to stakeholder characteristics — different stakeholders require different levels of engagement frequency, formality, channel, and depth (§3.3).
- **Lifecycle-spanning discipline:** Stakeholder engagement is a through-thread of the entire project lifecycle — from initiation through benefits realization — not a phase or process group activity (§3.3).

## Relationship to Other Principles
| Principle | Relationship |
|---|---|
| P01 — Be a Diligent, Respectful, and Caring Steward | Stewards are accountable to the full range of stakeholders whose resources, interests, and wellbeing are affected by project decisions — stewardship requires authentic, not performative, stakeholder engagement. |
| P06 — Demonstrate Leadership Behaviors | Effective leaders engage stakeholders with clarity, empathy, and accountability; leadership skills directly determine the quality of stakeholder relationships and the team's ability to influence and manage expectations. |
| P12 — Navigate Complexity | Stakeholder engagement is essential for successful change — understanding, managing, and building commitment among affected parties is a prerequisite for change acceptance and benefit realization. |
| P04 — Focus on Value | Stakeholder engagement ensures that the definition and delivery of value remains aligned with stakeholder needs and expectations — without engagement, projects risk delivering outputs that stakeholders do not recognize as valuable. |

## Artifact Connections
| Artifact | Connection |
|---|---|
| A07 — Stakeholder Register and Engagement Strategy | The primary artifact for this principle — documents all identified stakeholders, their interests, influence levels, engagement status, and the planned strategies for building and sustaining effective engagement relationships. |
| A10 — Communications Management Plan | Defines the communication channels, formats, frequencies, and responsibilities that operationalize the stakeholder engagement strategy — translating engagement intent into structured communication practice. |
| A28 — Communications Reporting Record | Captures the history of stakeholder communications — providing evidence of engagement activity, informing adjustments to communication approaches, and supporting accountability for engagement commitments. |
| A29 — Change Readiness and Adoption Record | Tracks stakeholder readiness and resistance to change — a critical engagement artifact when the project is delivering organizational change that requires stakeholder adoption for value realization. |

## Skill Connections
| Skill ID | Skill Name | Connection |
|---|---|---|
| SKL-02-02 | Identify Stakeholders | The foundational skill for this principle — establishes the initial and ongoing process for identifying all relevant stakeholders, assessing their characteristics, and building the Stakeholder Register. |
| SKL-04-06 | Manage Stakeholder Engagement | The execution skill for this principle — implements engagement strategies, builds stakeholder relationships, resolves engagement issues, and adapts approaches based on ongoing engagement feedback. |
| SKL-05-07 | Monitor Stakeholder Engagement | Provides the ongoing visibility into engagement effectiveness — tracking engagement status, identifying disengagement risks, and recommending interventions to maintain productive stakeholder relationships. |

## Questions to Ask in Practice
1. Have I identified all stakeholders who can affect or be affected by this project — including those who are absent, silent, or not yet visible?
2. Do I genuinely understand each key stakeholder's interests, concerns, and expectations — or am I making assumptions about what they want and need?
3. Are my engagement strategies appropriately tailored to each stakeholder, or am I using a one-size-fits-all communication approach that may not be effective?
4. Have I proactively managed stakeholder expectations about scope, schedule, cost, and benefits — or are there gaps between what stakeholders expect and what the project will actually deliver?
5. What signals indicate that my stakeholder engagement is losing effectiveness, and what is my plan to re-engage stakeholders who are withdrawing or becoming resistant?

*Authority: PMBOK8 Standard §3.3 — Effectively Engage with Stakeholders · Source type: PMI-derived*
*Repository: https://github.com/fakhruldeen/PMOSkills*
