# Next Steps

Shows how to configure Stakeholder user roles, add contact methods, and subscribe stakeholders to incidents so they receive status updates in PagerDuty.

![Next Steps](/images/guides/stakeholder-comms-guide/SHComms-NextSteps.webp)

Although the practices we've talked about are effective no matter what platform you’re using, it can help to see how these concepts are applied in practice. This section shows how PagerDuty can be used to practice the steps recommended in this guide.

> **Tip:** If you are currently searching for a solution and are not a PagerDuty customer, you can sign up for a [14-day free trial](https://www.pagerduty.com/sign-up-free/?type=free).

## Stakeholders in PagerDuty

Any type of user can subscribe to an incident in order to be informed of status updates. However, there are also special [Full Stakeholder](/account-admin/user-roles#stakeholder-users) and [Limited Stakeholder](/get-started/mobile-status-dashboard#section-limited-stakeholder-access-level) user licenses available for this purpose. These users are designed to primarily subscribe to incidents and receive incident status updates. Full Stakeholders have read-only access to other data in your PagerDuty account, while Limited Stakeholders only have access to view and subscribe to the status dashboard, and do not see any other parts of PagerDuty.

To create a stakeholder user in your account, go to the People menu and select Users. On the Users page, select Add Users.

![Add a user](/images/guides/stakeholder-comms-guide/add-user.webp)

With the user created, you'll want to have that user add all of their relevant contact information. That way they will be sure to receive the notifications and status updates when incidents occur. Refer to the [Add a Contact Method](https://support.pagerduty.com/docs/configuring-a-user-profile#add-a-contact-method) section of the [Configuring a User Profile](https://support.pagerduty.com/docs/configuring-a-user-profile) document to help you add the necessary information.

The final step to make sure that your stakeholder users are properly informed is to [add them as Subscribers to an Incident](https://support.pagerduty.com/docs/communicating-with-stakeholders#add-subscribers-to-an-incident)

## Expectations of a Stakeholder

Stakeholders are those who are impacted by an incident but not involved in the restoration of service or remediation of the issue. As the user type in the PagerDuty product implies, the role of the stakeholder is to receive communications from the incident response team on the impact and progress of an incident and then assess how that information affects their area of ownership.