Managing stakeholders can often turn out to be the ‘make’ or ‘break’ aspect in a project. What makes it really important is that, one has to be cognizant of this through all cycles of the project. Right from project initiation to closure, the project manager cannot afford to ignore the key stakeholders.
Interestingly, stakeholder management is looked at as synonymous to communication management itself, although one may argue that communication is just one part of it. For some, it may be the most natural thing to do, while for some, it is a cause for migraine. There is no need to fret because with enough experience and by asking the right questions, it is definitely possible to master this skill.