Expectations Management

Abstract

As stated in the The 5th edition of PMBOK from the Project Management Institute (PMI), "It is critical for project success to identify the stakeholders early in the project or phase and to analyze their levels of interest, their individual expectations, as well as their importance and influence." This article will focus on the individual expectations aspect mentioned. To do so, some basic concepts on stakeholder management will be introduced and explained as a basis for the core of the article

How different stakeholders will have different expectations within a project, how these stakeholders need to be categorized based on the interest and influence on the project, and how to successfully manage the expectations of different types of stakeholders.

Different methods and tools on how to align and manage expectations are introduced and explained. Furthermore, those methods are categorized based on when in the process they are relevant and for what type of stakeholder they are relevant. Limitations and weaknesses of each method are examined and suggestions on how to avoid them given.