Inform stakeholders before they ask, not after they complain
I’s are one-way — they receive information; the cost of surprising them is always higher than the cost of telling them.
Why it works
Stakeholders who are Informed but surprised feel disrespected and excluded, even when they have no formal input rights. The psychological mechanism is expectation violation: they knew they were affected but weren’t told. Proactive, regular information updates prevent the stakeholder management crisis that comes from a well-intentioned but silent project team.
How to do it
- For each I, agree upfront on format and cadence: email digest, dashboard link, or meeting agenda item.
- Send updates on the agreed schedule, even when there’s nothing new — "no change" is information.
- Never ask an I for approval; that’s a C. If they keep trying to weigh in, either promote them to C or have the authority conversation.
Evidence
Stakeholder communication research in project management consistently identifies inadequate communication as a top cause of project failure. Proactive information flow prevents stakeholder interference and builds the trust needed to let the project team execute. Expectancy-violations research explains why the surprise itself stings: when people expect to be kept informed and aren’t, the unmet expectation triggers a distinct negative reaction beyond the missing information. (observational)
The PMI report is an industry survey, not a controlled study. The directional finding — that poor communication drives project failure — is consistent across multiple sources.
Sources
- PMI (2021). Pulse of the Profession: Beyond Agility (Project Management Institute). Reports communication failure as a top driver of project underperformance.
- Burgoon, J. K. (1993). Interpersonal expectations, expectancy violations, and emotional communication. Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 12(1–2), 30–48.
Common mistake
Treating I as "optional" and only informing people when asked — which means the first communication happens when a stakeholder is already frustrated.
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More practices for The RACI Matrix, Made Practical
- Assign exactly one Accountable per decision
Every decision or deliverable must have exactly one A — not zero, not two.
- Separate the doer (R) from the owner (A)
The person who does the work is often not the person who owns the outcome — make this explicit.
- Limit Consulted to people whose input genuinely changes the decision
Every C is a two-way conversation that costs time; over-consulting is as dangerous as under-consulting.
- Review the RACI when scope or team changes
A RACI built at kickoff and never updated is out of date the moment the first change happens.
- Pair the RACI with a decision log
Knowing who decides is only half the system — recording what was decided closes the accountability loop.
Related concepts
- Tuckman’s Stages of Team Development
Why every team hits turbulence — and what to do at each stage
- The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Made Practical
The seven habits, their real mechanisms, and an honest read on the evidence
- OKRs for People, Not Just Companies
Objectives, Key Results, cadence — the mechanism behind each move