...
That said, project managers and participants often underinvest in this external activity. The work on X-Teams (page to come) presents evidence on the importance of this part of your project work, because not only can it help your results to gain acceptance, but the information you gather and relationships you build can help you get your project work done better and faster. A recent paper on stakeholder management, Achieving a Successful Engagement, details a methodology for working with stakeholders effectively.
How does this apply to your project? To get going, you'll want to list the people and groups that you think matter to your project, and then to analyze what you know of each in order to come up with a plan for approaching them and building relationships. You will need to prioritize your list of stakeholders and note who you are targeting and a few words on why; also list who you are not placing at the top of the list, and why. Such notes can be invaluable during your project "post-mortem."
...