A Stakeholder refers any party who may have an interest in an organization’s activities or could be affected by its outcomes. Stakeholders can be any internal or external individuals, groups, departments, business units, or organizations. Primary stakeholders are those directly involved in the economic transactions of the business, while secondary stakeholders are those who may be affected by or have the ability to influence the organization in some manner.

Stakeholder analysis is a systematic process aimed at identifying and analyzing individuals or groups that are likely to affect or be affected by a particular project or other organizational activities. This analysis can be conducted periodically or on a regular basis to monitor stakeholder attitudes and behaviors over time. Stakeholder analysis is widely used in project management, conflict resolution, organizational transformation and change management.

In the context of project management, stakeholder analysis serves to foster engagement and collaboration between the project team and relevant stakeholders. This, in turn, mitigates conflicts and encourages cooperation during project implementation. It helps in determining the individuals who should be involved, consulted, or informed about project activities and issues. Additionally, it helps in identifying other parties who might be impacted positively or negatively by the project’s outcome.

The first step involves identifying the stakeholders associated with the project. This can be achieved by brainstorming and compiling a list of individuals and groups who have a stake in the project. Subsequently, these stakeholders are organized into logical categories such as external stakeholders, process teams, senior managers, etc. Affinity mapping can be utilized to organize and make sense of the various stakeholder groups.

Power-Interest Matrix

One of the most widely used tools for analyzing stakeholders is the power-interest matrix. This matrix comprises four quadrants that categorize stakeholders based on their level of power and interest in the project. The four stakeholder groups identified by the power-interest matrix are key players, context setters, defenders, and the crowd.

Once the level of involvement for each stakeholder is determined, any gaps between their current and desired involvement levels should be identified. Subsequently, actions should be devised and implemented to bridge these gaps. To assess stakeholder current involvement in the project as well as where they need to be in terms of project involvement, you may utilize to the involvement planning worksheet provided below.

The final step involves creating a comprehensive communication plan to effectively convey the appropriate messages to each stakeholder at the most suitable time. This plan should include details such as the designated communicator for each stakeholder, key messages to be delivered, and the communication method to be employed (e.g., informal conversations, invitations to team meetings, emails, etc.). For assistance in devising your communication actions, you can refer to the communication action worksheet provided below.