Using Stakeholder Analysis to Drive Sustainable Business Unit Change

Sustainable business unit change is challenging. Fortunately, change leaders can leverage multiple tools to navigate through the process successfully. Stakeholder analysis is a crucial resource to employ when driving sustainable business unit change. A good stakeholder analysis provides a strategic view of stakeholder’s interests as well as their ability to impact and influence the project. It also helps to determine the frequency and method of communication needed to maintain contact with each stakeholder throughout the project. The outcome of a successful stakeholder analysis is the ability to strategically manage communications messaging, resulting in better buy-in from stakeholders throughout the organization.

Accurately Identifying Stakeholders

Work with the project team, program managers, and the project sponsor to identify stakeholders. Stakeholders are personnel/organizations/groups who will be either a) impacted, positively or negatively, by your project or b) able to exert influence over your project.

Additionally, identify potential external stakeholders (e.g. government organizations) that could have an impact on the project. It is important to work with subject matter experts and managers within the impacted organizations to help identify any other stakeholder.

Stakeholder Matrix

The stakeholder matrix helps to determine each stakeholder’s ability to impact the project and level of support to the project. It is important to conduct preliminary research and interview each stakeholder to understand their goals and support of the project (positive or negative). Enter each stakeholder’s requirements, expectations, and assumptions into the matrix developed. The stakeholder matrix provides a strategic view of the influence each stakeholder has on the project or each other to achieve several objectives:

• Prioritization of stakeholders based on influence, interest, and impact on the project
• Identify relationships between stakeholders
• Evaluate their opinions on the project
• Pinpoint what is important to each stakeholder

A stakeholder matrix is useful in that it contains detailed information on your stakeholders. For quick references, the information can be presented in a visual format such as a 2 by 2 influence-interest graph that provides a quick high-level overview.

Example: 2 by 2 Influence-Interest Graph

Communication Plan and Engaging Stakeholders

Any project to drive change requires support and approval from either internal or external stakeholders. Depending on the project, some might even require support and approval from both internal and external stakeholders. Based on stakeholder analysis, you can create an effective communications plan that keeps the key stakeholders engaged and builds trust. With a good stakeholder analysis, you can tailor a communication plan to each stakeholder.

Using Outsourced Project Management Consulting Team to Leverage Stakeholder Analysis

It is possible to manage your projects internally. However, hiring an external project management consulting team to help has additional benefits. One of the biggest advantages of using outsourced resources is your chosen consulting firm delivers a position of neutrality to your initiatives. Outsourced project managers are external to your firm, making it easier for them to proactively navigate through the challenges of change leadership and stakeholder dynamics.

Additionally, competent project manager consultants recognize that the importance of stakeholder management and analysis should not be undervalued. An experienced project manager understands that driving sustainable business unit change is both difficult and complex not because of the logistics of the project but, rather, because of the management of relationships between stakeholders. Research suggests that strategic stakeholder management can even improve the financial performance of a firm (Berman 1999). Your outsourced consulting team can leverage their experience to promote constant stakeholder support and engagement—two essential ingredients to long-term, sustainable business unit change.  

Are You Optimizing Stakeholder Analysis Across Your Business Units?

Enterey’s team of experienced project management consultants help life science organizations prioritize stakeholder analysis to drive sustainable business unit change. Contact us today to hear more. Or, download our PPM assessment tool to pinpoint possible performance lapses in your current portfolios.

References

Berman, S. L., A. C. Wicks, S. Kotha, and T. M. Jones. “Does Stakeholder Orientation Matter? The Relationship Between Stakeholder Management Models And Firm Financial Performance.” Academy of Management Journal 42, no. 5 (1999): 488–506. https://doi.org/10.2307/256972.