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Stakeholder analysis

Stakeholder analysis is a structured technique to identify stakeholders, understand their interests, influence, potential impact, and attitudes, and determine how to engage them. It helps tailor communication and engagement strategies to maximize support and reduce resistance.

Key Points

  • Start early and update throughout the project, especially at phase changes and when new stakeholders emerge.
  • Assess interest, influence, power, impact, legitimacy, urgency, and current versus desired engagement levels.
  • Use visual tools like power-interest grids, salience models, onion diagrams, and stakeholder cubes to prioritize.
  • Produces stakeholder profiles, maps, and engagement strategies that inform communication and risk approaches.
  • Maintain confidentiality and be aware of bias; validate insights with the sponsor and core team.
  • Tailor the depth and methods to the project’s complexity, culture, and delivery approach.

Purpose of Analysis

Stakeholder analysis aims to clarify who can affect or be affected by the project, how they might influence outcomes, and what they need to stay engaged. It supports targeted communication, risk management, decision-making, and change adoption.

Method Steps

  • Plan the approach: define attributes to assess, confidentiality rules, and update cadence.
  • Identify stakeholders: review the charter, contracts, org charts, and consult the sponsor and team.
  • Collect data: conduct interviews, surveys, workshops, and review historical information.
  • Analyze attributes: interest, influence/power, impact, attitude, networks, and expectations.
  • Map and prioritize: use appropriate models (e.g., power-interest grid, salience model).
  • Define strategies: decide how to engage each stakeholder or group, by channel, frequency, and message.
  • Document and assign: record profiles in a stakeholder register and assign relationship owners.
  • Monitor and adapt: revisit analysis regularly and adjust as context and behaviors change.

Inputs Needed

  • Business case, project charter, contracts, and statements of work.
  • Organizational charts, governance structures, and decision rights.
  • Scope and requirements (or early drafts), roadmap, and key milestones.
  • Historical data, lessons learned, and prior stakeholder registers.
  • Enterprise environmental factors and organizational policies (communications, legal, compliance).
  • Risk register, issue log, and change strategy if available.

Outputs Produced

  • Stakeholder register or profiles with roles, interests, influence, impact, and engagement levels.
  • Stakeholder maps and matrices (e.g., power-interest, salience, influence networks).
  • Engagement assessment comparing current versus desired engagement states.
  • Targeted engagement and communication strategies and plans.
  • Assumptions, constraints, and updates to risks and issues related to stakeholders.

Interpretation Tips

  • Differentiate formal power from informal influence; informal networks often drive outcomes.
  • Identify champions, neutrals, and potential blockers to focus engagement energy.
  • High influence but low interest often needs concise, decision-focused updates.
  • Reassess after major decisions, escalations, or changes in leadership.
  • Validate sensitive judgments with the sponsor or a small steering group to reduce bias.
  • Use more than one model when needed to see different dimensions of stakeholder dynamics.

Example

A project team conducts interviews and surveys to profile stakeholders. They map a regulatory group as high power, moderate interest, and cautious attitude, while end users show high interest and medium influence as potential champions.

The team sets monthly briefings for the regulator focused on compliance risks and approvals, and biweekly demos and feedback sessions for end users. They assign a team member to manage each relationship and track engagement shifts over time.

Pitfalls

  • Treating analysis as a one-time task instead of a living process.
  • Relying only on org charts and ignoring informal influencers and external parties.
  • Generalized strategies that do not specify message, channel, frequency, and owner.
  • Sharing sensitive assessments too widely, causing distrust or political issues.
  • Confusing access or seniority with actual influence on project decisions.
  • Failing to assess current versus desired engagement, limiting targeted actions.

PMP Example Question

During initiation, a project manager places a stakeholder with high power, low interest, and a negative attitude on a power-interest grid. What is the best engagement strategy?

  1. Send detailed weekly status reports to increase their interest.
  2. Engage selectively on key decisions and provide concise, periodic updates.
  3. Defer engagement until execution when more information is available.
  4. Exclude them from communications due to low interest.

Correct Answer: B — Engage selectively on key decisions and provide concise, periodic updates.

Explanation: High-power, low-interest stakeholders should be kept satisfied with focused involvement and brief updates. Over-communicating or ignoring them increases risk.

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