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Institute of Advanced Technological and Commercial Studies

Glossary

Stakeholder: everyone the project touches

A stakeholder is a person or group the project affects, or who can affect it. Listing them early and knowing what they expect is the single move that most secures a project. Identification happens at framing, before the first version of the plan.

Listing before planning

A stakeholder holds an interest in the project: the client who funds it, the user who will live the change, the team who produces, the department who will operate it afterwards, the authority who oversees. Each carries an expectation and a degree of influence. Identification comes before planning, because an expectation discovered in month three always translates into a reworked plan.

  • Client, user, team, operator, oversight authority
  • Every stakeholder carries an expectation and an influence
  • Identification comes before planning, never the reverse

Four profiles, four ways to work

The Management and Project Management programme has candidates build a stakeholder map, then the communication plan that follows from it. The Multi-site Management certification pushes the exercise further: the same expectations, several locations, and trade-offs taken at a distance.

The client

They fund and arbitrate. They expect regular visibility on progress and on what remains to be committed.

The user

They will live the change daily. Consulting them early avoids discovering a different real usage late.

The operator

They will take the product over after delivery: their maintainability requirements belong in the specification.

The oversight authority

They check compliance: their expectations are known in advance and are handled as design constraints.

Programmes that work the relationship

2 catalogue programmes put “Stakeholder” to work: 132 credits and 1320 taught hours in total. The official rule holds throughout — one credit stands for 25 hours of work, 10 of them taught. Every line below is recomputed from the programme page: level, duration, credits, taught volume and fees in Guinean francs appear exactly as filed in the official catalogue.

ProgrammeLevelDurationVolumeFees
Management and Project Management programme — Bac+5 levelMaster's degree2 years120 credits · 1200 taught hours6 500 000 GNF per year
Certificate in Leading Distributed TeamsProfessional certification4 months12 credits · 120 taught hours2 800 000 GNF in total

Before you apply

When should stakeholders be listed?

At framing, before the first version of the plan. The map is then updated at every milestone.

How do you handle diverging expectations?

By making them explicit and arbitrating before the client, who decides and owns the choice made.

Is the exercise worth it on a small project?

Yes, and it takes an hour. A short project has less room to absorb an expectation discovered late.

Stakeholder: everyone the project touches — Glossary | IHETC — IHETC