During planning the project manager finds a standard stakeholder engagement approach won't work. A client representative who is not a key decision maker is very opinionated and could block progress because of perceived authority in meetings. How should the project manager handle this?

The best approach is to allocate time to gain buy-in from the stakeholder prior to key decision meetings. This proactive engagement addresses the stakeholder's influence by involving them early, allowing their input to be considered and mitigating potential disruptions during critical meetings. Simply asking only key decision-makers to attend meetings might alienate the stakeholder and exacerbate the problem, as their perceived authority could still be exercised outside the meeting. Updating the project schedule to accommodate one stakeholder's opinionated nature is an inefficient and potentially costly solution without addressing the root cause. While updating the risk register is a good practice for documenting potential issues, it's a reactive measure and doesn't solve the immediate problem of managing this stakeholder's influence.