CPL Stakeholder Engagement & Communication Strategies 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A program manager discovers a key sponsor has low interest but high influence over the program. Which engagement strategy is most appropriate?
- Ignore them since they show little interest
- Monitor them with minimal communication
- Keep them satisfied with targeted, infrequent updates (Correct answer)
- Engage them intensively with daily status reports
Correct answer: Keep them satisfied with targeted, infrequent updates
High-influence, low-interest stakeholders should be kept satisfied with periodic, relevant updates to prevent disengagement from becoming a risk.
Question 2: During a program status meeting, a stakeholder raises a concern outside the meeting's scope. What should the program manager do?
- Dismiss the concern as off-topic
- Resolve it immediately during the meeting
- Acknowledge the concern and schedule a separate follow-up (Correct answer)
- Escalate directly to the steering committee
Correct answer: Acknowledge the concern and schedule a separate follow-up
Acknowledging the concern and scheduling a follow-up respects the stakeholder while keeping the meeting on track.
Question 3: Which communication artifact best supports tracking whether stakeholder concerns have been addressed over the program lifecycle?
- Risk register
- Stakeholder issue log (Correct answer)
- Communications management plan
- RACI matrix
Correct answer: Stakeholder issue log
A stakeholder issue log records raised concerns, owners, and resolution status across the program lifecycle.
Question 4: A program includes a component project whose deliverable is controversial among community stakeholders. What is the program manager's best first step?
- Proceed and address complaints reactively
- Delay the project until controversy resolves
- Conduct stakeholder impact analysis for the affected community (Correct answer)
- Transfer responsibility to the component project manager
Correct answer: Conduct stakeholder impact analysis for the affected community
Conducting a stakeholder impact analysis identifies concerns early, enabling proactive engagement before controversy escalates.
Question 5: When is a formal communication escalation path most critical in program management?
- During routine status reporting cycles
- When stakeholders have competing interests that cannot be resolved at the program level (Correct answer)
- When the program manager wants to bypass the sponsor
- During the program initiation phase only
Correct answer: When stakeholders have competing interests that cannot be resolved at the program level
Escalation paths are essential when competing stakeholder interests exceed the program manager's authority to resolve.
Question 6: A program manager wants to assess the overall health of stakeholder relationships. Which technique is most effective?
- Reviewing only written complaints
- Conducting periodic stakeholder satisfaction assessments (Correct answer)
- Relying on sponsor feedback alone
- Checking project completion rates
Correct answer: Conducting periodic stakeholder satisfaction assessments
Periodic stakeholder satisfaction assessments provide structured insight into relationship health across all stakeholder groups.
Question 7: Which of the following best describes 'active listening' in the context of stakeholder engagement?
- Taking notes during every conversation
- Paraphrasing and asking clarifying questions to confirm understanding (Correct answer)
- Remaining silent while a stakeholder speaks
- Agreeing with all stakeholder requests to build rapport
Correct answer: Paraphrasing and asking clarifying questions to confirm understanding
Active listening involves paraphrasing and clarifying to confirm accurate understanding of stakeholder messages.
CPL Stakeholder Engagement & Communication Strategies 2
A program manager discovers a key sponsor has low interest but high influence over the program.
Which engagement strategy is most appropriate?