Meaning
Any person, executive, or group who has a direct interest in or is affected by the outcome of a project.
Three examples from work
Alignment meeting
PMWe need to align key business stakeholders before finalizing the roadmap.
LeadEnsure security and compliance teams are included in the review.
Sprint review
POStakeholders were enthusiastic about the new search functionality.
DevTheir feedback on filter placement was very constructive.
Managing expectations
PMHow should we communicate the delay to external stakeholders?
Account LeadBe transparent about the technical blocker and provide a revised timeline.
Collocations: 'key stakeholders', 'stakeholder management', 'align stakeholders'. Stakeholders can be internal (executives, sales) or external (clients, regulators).