How do you identify stakeholders by their level of interest and influence?

1 Why interest and influence matter

Interest is the degree to which a stakeholder cares about the project or its results. Influence is the power or authority that a stakeholder has over the project or its resources. By assessing these two factors, you can understand the expectations, motivations, and concerns of different stakeholders, and how they can affect your project positively or negatively.

2 How to assess interest and influence

To assess the interest and influence of stakeholders, various methods and tools can be used such as interviews, surveys, observations, or stakeholder analysis matrices. The power-interest grid is a common tool that divides stakeholders into four categories based on their level of interest and influence. To plot stakeholders on this grid, consider questions such as how much they care about the project goals and benefits, how much they know about the project scope and plan, how much they can affect the project budget and schedule, and how much they can support or oppose the project decisions.

3 How to prioritize stakeholders

Once you have assessed the interest and influence of your stakeholders, you can use the power-interest grid to prioritize them. Generally speaking, high power, high interest stakeholders are the most important and influential ones, so you should manage them closely and communicate with them frequently and transparently. High power, low interest stakeholders can impact your project significantly but may not be very interested or engaged, so you should keep them satisfied and informed, as well as seek their support or approval when needed. Low power, high interest stakeholders are those who care about your project but may not have much authority or influence, so they should be kept consulted and involved, and their needs or concerns should be addressed. Finally, low power, low interest stakeholders have little interest or influence on your project; therefore, they should be monitored and communicated with occasionally to avoid unnecessary interactions.

4 How to engage stakeholders

Prioritizing your stakeholders is an important step for developing a stakeholder engagement plan, which should define how you will communicate and collaborate with each group. Your plan should include the objectives and expectations of each stakeholder, the communication methods, frequency, and channels, the roles and responsibilities of each group, any potential risks or issues that may affect them, and the feedback and evaluation mechanisms. Additionally, it is important to update and revise your plan regularly as the interest and influence of stakeholders can change over time.

5 How to benefit from stakeholder identification

Identifying stakeholders based on their level of interest and influence can be beneficial for building trust, aligning goals and expectations, managing conflicts, leveraging resources, and increasing satisfaction. Doing so will help you create rapport with your stakeholders, manage their expectations, access their expertise, and gain their support.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?