What is Stakeholder Analysis?

A very useful technique at the beginning of any major programme involving any kind of change is to perform a Stakeholder Analysis (or Stakeholder Mapping) on the key Stakeholders (i.e. Actors) who might be impacted by or have an interest in the programme.

The purpose of such a exercise is to help you identify who you need to influence, in what way and in which priority.

Stakeholder Mapping involves constructing a simple 3x3 matrix showing Influence (Organizational or Social) on one axis and the Stakeholder's Attitude to the programme (Supporter, Neutral or Opponent) on the other axis.

Organisational Influence is influence due to a person’s formal authority, such as their position in the Organisation, whereas Social Influence is influence due to a person’s informal authority and is usually a combination of their reputation and the extent of their social network.

In terms of Social Influence you are looking for people with good reputation AND good social reach than those just with good reputation (e.g. a very knowledgeable person or guru or maven or nerd) or those with just strong social networks (e.g a socialite or chatterbox).

In terms of assessing Attitude you are looking for the person’s attitude to the programme NOT to you personally.

This extra dimension, the Stakeholder's Relationship with you or your team, can be represented as an optional 3rd Dimension to a Stakeholder Map.

You can classify the Relationship you have with the Stakeholder as either Strong, Neutral/Unknown or Weak.

For more on Stakeholder Mapping, Influencing and Change Management see our resource: Change Management & Stakeholder Analysis

OR if you need help using this tool please contact us.