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Stakeholder Analysis & Management
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This section builds on the work done as part of start up where you created a list of key project stakeholders. Effective Stakeholder analysis is based on a process that starts with identification, moves to analysis and finishes with a clear communication strategy. Remember though, as your project develops, your stakeholders may change too.
Identify
When identifying stakeholders, involve as many people as you can. The different perspectives will help you make sure that no-one is overlooked. Remember to think about both internal (within your service and across the council) and external stakeholders.
Map Interest & Impact
Once all the stakeholders have been identified, the next part of the process is to assess each stakeholder’s level of support and commitment, and in some cases, their resistance to the project. Remember, not all stakeholders will support the changes brought about by the project. It can be useful to display the results as a map or network as natural groupings may become apparent.
Plan Communications
The principle is that key stakeholders should be represented on the Project Board. But this is not always possible or practical. Therefore, you may need separate consultation mechanisms, such as:
- A stakeholder consultation group may be set up
- Involve stakeholders in steering groups or on specific issues or tasks
- Establish a separate Stakeholder Group.
One way of analysing your stakeholders and starting to plan appropriate communications is through a simple matrix where you ‘plot’ your stakeholders according to their interest and influence in the project. This helps you identify who your key stakeholders are. Anyone in any of the ‘high’ categories will be a stakeholder you want to manage actively.
The level of communication appropriate to a particular stakeholder is summarised in the following table (although note that this is only a guide, different levels may be appropriate to your particular project).
| Influence | Interest | Strategy |
| Low | Low | Keep in Mind - These stakeholders will benefit from any generic messages you are developing, but do review them in case they change. |
| Low | High | Keep Involved - This is where a stakeholder consultation group might be useful. |
| High | Low | Keep Sweet - These stakeholders could be important. You wont want to overburden them with information, but you will want to keep them informed. |
| High | High | Keep Close - These are the stakeholders you will want on the Project Board or a specific sub-group. They need to be closely aligned with the project. |
Once you have identified your stakeholders, analysed their interest and decided broadly the approach you need to take, this forms the basis of your communications plan.
Review
Remember to review stakeholders regularly. It is possible that an initially disinterested stakeholder becomes very interested in your project. Making sure you are engaging them in the right way will be easier if you review your stakeholder analysis regularly.
The next stage of the Project Definition Workshop is to Conduct an Equalities Impact Assessment.
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