Stakeholders-Study One-Topic 6

Stakeholders

• What influences the way a stakeholder views a plan?
• Once you have an understanding of how and why a stakeholder has a particular viewpoint, what can you do to engage with them?

Stakeholder management is critical to the success of every project in every organisation I have ever worked with. By engaging the right people in the right way in your project, you can make a big difference to its success... and to your career.– Rachel Thompson, Mind Tools.

Stakeholder Analysis is the technique used to identify the key people who have to be won over. You then use Stakeholder Planning to build the support that helps you succeed.

The benefits of using a stakeholder-based approach are that:

• You can use the opinions of the most powerful stakeholders to shape your projects at an early stage. Not only does this make it more likely that they will support you, their input can also improve the quality of your project
• Gaining support from powerful stakeholders can help you to win more resources – this makes it more likely that your projects will be successful
• By communicating with stakeholders early and frequently, you can ensure that they fully understand what you are doing and understand the benefits of your project – this means they can support you actively when necessary
• You can anticipate what people's reaction to your project may be, and build into your plan the actions that will win people's support.

The first step in Stakeholder Analysis is to identify who your stakeholders are. The next step is to work out their power, influence and interest, so you know who you should focus on. The final step is to develop a good understanding of the most important stakeholders so that you know how they are likely to respond, and so that you can work out how to win their support

Key questions that can help you understand your stakeholders are:

• What financial or emotional interest do they have in the outcome of your work? Is it positive or negative?

• What motivates them most of all?

• What information do they want from you?

• How do they want to receive information from you? What is the best way of communicating your message to them?

• What is their current opinion of your work? Is it based on good information?

• Who influences their opinions generally, and who influences their opinion of you? Do some of these influences therefore become important stakeholders in their own right?

• If they are not likely to be positive, what will win them around to support your project?

• If you don't think you will be able to win them around, how will you manage their opposition?

• Who else might be influenced by their opinions? Do these people become stakeholders in their own right?

A very good way of answering these questions is to talk to your stakeholders directly – people are often quite open about their views, and asking people's opinions is often the first step in building a successful relationship with them.