| |
Identify stakeholders on the basis
of their power and interest in the project. Broadly speaking, stakeholders
can be organized into four groups:
- High Influence, High Interest:
Some stakeholders might have a lot of influence over the project,
and also be very interested in the project. It is vital to understand
the viewpoints of such stakeholders—specifically what potential
objections they might raise. Spend most time on these stakeholders.
- Low Influence, High Interest:
Other stakeholders might have a lot of interest, but little real
influence. Such stakeholders (if they are in favor of your project)
can be valuable sources of information: they can get you access
to documents relevant to your project, fill you in on the institutional
history of past efforts in your project domain, and help you identify
what the organizational challenges to the project will be. These
are good stakeholders to meet with first, since each interaction
is relatively low-risk.
- High Influence, Low Interest:
Stakeholders with high power, but low interest need to be broadly
satisfied. They won’t pay attention to the fine print of your
project, since they perceive the project as not affecting them.
However, they have influence on whether the project will be a
success: for example, they may have a vote during the approval
process of a project. The goal of your interactions with this
type of stakeholder should be to give them enough information
about the project that they will not create obstacles for your
project.
- Low
|
