Communications and Stakeholder Management

Intro

Communications and stakeholder management ensures stakeholder needs are understood and addressed through planned engagement. It matters in enterprise architecture because decisions affect many groups, and alignment reduces risk.

Key points:

• Clarifies expectations and reduces resistance.
• Builds trust with transparent updates and feedback loops.
• Common use cases: program updates (EA), change impacts (BPM), data governance roles, application rollouts.
• Pitfall: treating communication as one‑off announcements instead of ongoing dialogue.

Examples:

• Stakeholder map and communication plan for a target architecture change.
• Regular briefings for business owners on process redesign impacts.
• Feedback surveys to validate data stewardship responsibilities.

In practice:

Identify stakeholders early, segment messages by their concerns, and maintain a cadence that invites two‑way feedback.

Related terms: stakeholder; architecture governance; architecture vision

FAQs:

Q: Who are typical stakeholders in EA initiatives?
A: Business owners, IT leaders, compliance, operations, and end users.

Q: How often should updates be shared?
A: Share on a defined cadence, adjusted by stakeholder sensitivity and project phase.

‍