A winning change management strategy must include a stakeholder engagement strategy as part of it. A thorough stakeholder analysis is a critical requirement.

What is Stakeholder Analysis?

Stakeholder analysis is a process used to identify key individuals that have a stake in a project, program, or transformation change. Stakeholder analysis involves identifying managers, business leaders, employees, and groups that will be impacted by a change initiative.

Why is Stakeholder Analysis Important?

A stakeholder analysis is particularly important because allows you to document and determine each stakeholder's level of commitment to the change (negative or positive), so you can effectively plan on how best to enlist their buy-in and support, or how to mitigate their resistance.

Stakeholder analysis can help a project to identify:

• The interests of all stakeholders, who may affect or be affected by the project.
• Groups that should be encouraged to participate in distinct stages of the project.
• Ways to reduce potential negative impacts and manage negative stakeholders.

Some benefits of a detailed stakeholder analysis are:

• Increased role clarity and focus.
• Increased engagement.
• Reduced risk.

A proper stakeholder analysis will allow your change management team to do the following:

• Identify and document each stakeholder's role and impact.
• Prioritize stakeholders (Power and Interest Chart).
• Develop a communications plan for stakeholders.

Oftentimes, on large organizational change initiatives it may be necessary to discuss and agree on the level of detail captured for your stakeholder analysis: basic, standard or complex.

• A basic stakeholder analysis might include name, title and position and ID
• A standard stakeholder analysis would contain more detail.
• A complex stakeholder analysis might contain information requiring in-depth inquiries and assignment by third parties

Conclusion

Once the stakeholder analysis is complete, the information derived therefrom informs your stakeholder and sponsorship engagement strategies.

‍