Stakeholder Analysis

What is stakeholder analysis?

Stakeholder analysis is the systematic identification, evaluation, and prioritization of everyone
who can influence, or has an interest in, a project, program or business. It assists with the
development of an effective stakeholder communication and engagement strategy and is a
fundamental element of an organization’s stakeholder management plan.

A simple but effective stakeholder analysis technique is stakeholder mapping. Interested parties
(stakeholders) are plotted against two variables, most commonly Interest and Influence. The resulting
stakeholder matrix clearly identifies key players who can have the greatest impact on the success of an
initiative. This map assists with prioritization of resources and provides a foundation for a
communications and engagement plan.
Stakeholder analysis can be done once at the beginning of a project or regularly throughout
implementation to track changes in engagement.

Why perform stakeholder analysis?

Understanding who your stakeholders are and the impact they may have on your business or project is
crucial to success. Not engaging key players in the right way at an early stage can have disastrous
results for a project.. The development of a stakeholder map:

 Creates a shared understanding of the key people who can impact on your success.
 Provides a foundation for your communications and engagement strategy.
 Identifies potential risks from negative stakeholders or those who feel they are not being heard.
 Prioritizes stakeholders so the appropriate amount of resources can be assigned and the right
engagement strategy is applied.
Who can use stakeholder analysis?
Stakeholder management is critical to the success of every organization, program, and project.
Stakeholder analysis is useful for:

 All industries
 All levels of an organization
 All departments
 Existing businesses
 New businesses
 Projects
 Business processes
Use stakeholder mapping:

 In regular organizational reviews

  When assessing changing business conditions
 When developing new initiatives
 As part of a broad environmental scan for initial planning
The process is especially important in the early stages of development and for projects that:

 Impact on the community

 Span across multiple teams or organizations
 Cross cultural boundaries
 Have external investors

Facilitation tips
 Carefully select participants to provide expert knowledge but also a fresh perspective.
 Use technology to involve critical people in different locations rather than miss their contribution.
 Be specific rather than broad when defining stakeholders.
 Provide adequate time in the session to position and rate stakeholders.
 Communicate outcomes and regularly update throughout the project.

Stakeholder analysis template

A stakeholder analysis template, (aka stakeholder map) provides a visual representation of the
importance of your stakeholders. Common dimensions used for a stakeholder map are:
 Level of Interest – How much a stakeholder cares about the outcomes. Are they beneficiaries or
will there be negative effects?
 Level of Influence – The degree in which a stakeholder can make or break the project. For
example through funding, legislation, protests, etc.
Other dimensions may be more relevant for some organizations. For example, level of investment, level
of positive/negative commitment, level of support (advocate or adversary), need for outcomes etc.

Satisfy Manage
High Influence, Low Interest High Influence, High Interest
These stakeholders are highly influential but they don’t have a lot These are your key stakeholders. They have a lot of influence and a
of interest, nor are they actively engaged in your project. Consider strong interest in the outcomes. Manage these stakeholders well to build
their objectives and keep them satisfied to ensure they remain strong strong relationships and ensure you retain their support. Involve them in
advocates. Getting them off side poses a risk. decisions and engage regularly.
Examples: Examples:

 Regulators (eg. EPA, FDA, Tax)  Trade Unions

 Administrators (ie. with discretion over budgets)  Politicians and senior officials
 Investors
 Senior Management
 Project Sponsors
Monitor Inform
Low Influence, Low Interest Low Influence, High Interest
These stakeholders sit on the periphery of the project. They are These stakeholders have a strong interest in your project but
neither interested or have much influence. Monitor their activity from very little power to influence it. Anticipate their needs and keep
time to time to stay on top of their involvement. Their relevance may change these stakeholders informed to ensure their continued support. Consult on
over time. Communicate to keep them informed and encourage their interest. their area of interest and use their input to improve your chances of
Examples: success.
Examples:
 Support/Complementary Services
 End users of a program or product
 Members of the community
 Community Action groups
 Media outlets

The resulting stakeholder matrix gives an indication of what kind of engagement strategy is useful for
each group of stakeholders.

How to create a stakeholder map

Assemble a cross-functional group of people with a range of perspectives on the business, product,
service, or project to create the stakeholder map. The quality of the outcomes is dependent on the
insight of the participants, and a diverse group helps to identify key stakeholders from across the entire
spectrum of the business.

There are six general steps for a stakeholder mapping workshop. The time required will vary on the
organization, the size of the group, and the focus of the session. However, there is no reason why the
map can’t be completed within an hour. A comprehensive communications plan in response to the map
will require further effort.

Scope
Give context and identify the scope of the stakeholder analysis
 Brainstorm
Gather a comprehensive list of stakeholders.

Position
Position stakeholders according to their influence and interest.

Rate
Rate each stakeholder based on their level of support – from adversaryto advocate

Action Plan
Identify actions, assign responsibilities and timeframes
 Share
Report on the outcomes and monitor as part of your communications strategy
 Scope
 Brainstorm
 Position
 Rate
 Action Plan
 Share
The first step in building a stakeholder map is to create a categorized list of the people or groups who
are interested or affected by your work and its outcomes, or who have influence or power over what
you do.

Stakeholders usually fall into two main categories. Those that contribute to the initiative and those that
are affected by it. Some stakeholder may fit into both categories.

Examples of stakeholder groups include:

 Owners and investors

 Direct and indirect customers
 Employees and beneficiaries
 Suppliers, competitors, and industry associations.
 The community including residents and special interest group
 Government authorities and regulatory bodies
Questions to consider:

 Will the stakeholder be affected by this project?

 Can they influence the project?
 Do they control or have influence over any necessary resources?
 Do they have special skills or capabilities that you need?
 At what stage does this stakeholder have the most impact?
Gather ideas using a whiteboard, sticky notes, poster paper or an online collaboration tool such as
GroupMap. Using an online tool greatly reduces the time and effort to collate and organize the
information in subsequent steps.