Who is a stakeholder? Simply anyone with a stake in the project either direct or indirect.
PMBOK says that stakeholders for a project are persons or organizations –
- who are actively involved;
- whose interests may be positively or negatively affected by the performance or completion of it.
Stakeholder analysis is a process of systematically gathering and analyzing qualitative information to determine whose interests should be taken into account when developing and/or implementing a policy or program.
Remember that the more complex your project is, the more attention you need to pay to manage stakeholders. You can do all the right things for a project, but mismanaging a stakeholder with power, influence, and interest can cause the project’s failure.
Mitchell, Agle and Wood (1997-99) have come up with a stakeholder analysis model, that can help a project manager in the early phase of the planning process to identify stakeholders and classify them according to three major attributes –
- Power – to influence the organization or project deliverables (coercive, financial or material, brand or image);
- Legitimacy – of the relationship & actions in terms of desirability, properness, or appropriateness;
- Urgency – of the requirements in terms of criticality & time sensitivity for the stakeholder.
Based on the combination of these attributes, priority is assigned to the stakeholder.
| Level 3 (High Priority) |
7 – Definitive Power, Legitimacy & Urgency |
||
| Level 2 (Medium Priority) |
4 – Dominant Power & Legitimacy |
5 – Dangerous Power & Urgency |
6 – Dependent Legitimacy & Urgency |
| Level 1 (Low Priority) |
1 – Dormant Power |
2 – Discretionary Legitimacy |
3 – Demanding Urgency |
Keep in mind that –
- These three attributes can be gained or lost during the time period of the project, so pay attention when it happens.
- Level 1 (Low Priority) stakeholders can increase their salience through coalition building, politics, or media influence.
- Power alone is insufficient to classify a stakeholder high priority, but sometimes it does, for example – the CEO’s favorite project.
- Stakeholder analysis requires careful planning, standard guidelines for selecting stakeholders, resourceful team members with background information, and a standard set of questions that feed into the worksheet.
More resources on stakeholder analysis are at –
- http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newPPM_07.htm
- http://www.brighthub.com/office/project-management/articles/3713.aspx
References –
-
PMBOK Guide- 4th edition, PMI. 2008
-
Schmeer, Kammi. 1999. Guidelines for Conducting a Stakeholder Analysis. November 1999
Leadership and Management 
For an updated model built on Mitchell, Agle and Wood (1997-99) and others, see the work of Dr. Lynda Bourne at http://www.stakeholder-management.com/ . The Stakeholder circle® introduces the concept of movement – stakeholders are not static and effective communication can change attitudes.
Great summary there