Purpose The purpose of this assignment is to research, evaluate, and discuss the

Purpose
The purpose of this assignment is to research, evaluate, and discuss the skills required by Project Managers to engage today’s project stakeholders.
Background
The definition of “stakeholders” continues to evolve and expand beyond the traditional categories of employees, suppliers, and shareholders. Stakeholder categories now include such groups as lobbyists, environmentalists, financial institutions, media, and those who just believe they are impacted by the project. According to PMI, trends and emerging practices for project stakeholder management include:
Identifying ALL stakeholders, not just a limited set.
Ensuring that all team members are involved in stakeholder engagement activities.
Reviewing the stakeholder community regularly, often in parallel with reviews of individual project risks.
Consulting with stakeholders who are most affected by the work or outcomes of the project through the concept of co-creation.
Capturing the value of effective stakeholder engagement, both positive and negative.
Assignment Prompt
Once you have read this week’s assigned reading, respond to the following assignment prompts:
Using the University’s Academic Library, conduct a search of the literature related to stakeholder engagement and project manager skills used to effectively manage stakeholder engagement.
Identify and discuss at least two skills that are essential for the project manager to manage stakeholder engagement.
In your discussion, explain what these skills are and why they are important to managing stakeholder engagement. How can these skills positively affect project stakeholder engagement? How can the lack of these skills negatively affect project stakeholder engagement?
Provide at least two suggestions to improve upon the two skills you have discussed in this essay.
Assignment Instructions
Follow these instructions to complete and submit your assignment.
Review the grading rubric attached to this assignment to understand how you will be graded on this assignment.
Compose a short essay (800–1000 words; two-to-three pages in length) that provides a critical and thoughtful response to the prompts presented above.
Review the literature that will serve as evidence to support your response to the prompt. The literature reviewed will meet the following criteria:Use UMGC’s library of online academic databases or PMI’s website to locate at least three scholarly/professional journal articles.
Articles must be contemporary (within the last two years).
Follow APA (7th ed.) style and formatting guidelines to prepare your essay. This will include in-text citations and a References page. The essay will be organized in a logical sequence and include at a minimum level 1 headings.
Demonstrate the mastery of technology skills by meeting the following criteria:Prepare your essay in MS Word with one-inch margins on the sides/top/bottom, double line spacing, and 12-point Times New Roman font. Insert page numbers as required in APA.
Upload your completed essay in MS Word to the Assignment folder.
The assignment is due no later than 11:59 p.m. Eastern time on Tuesday of Week 1.