Stakeholders are essential individuals within an organization who must be consulted on any issues or any future plans and projects that a company aspires to undertake. Such people must be identified and grouped before the onset of a new project. The process that involves identifying an organization’s stakeholders is what is referred to as stakeholder analysis. This process requires the stakeholders to be classified according to their level of interest in the project and how they will participate and affect the project’s success (Varvasovszky & Brugha, 2000). An organization must determine ways in which it can involve and communicate with each stakeholder throughout the process.
A stakeholder analysis is an essential process in any organization as it helps to outline the key participants in the success of a project (Wagner, Hassanein & Head, 2008). The process helps organizational leaders to gauge the expertise of its players, and this is a guideline to the success of any new project. A stakeholder analysis also helps an organization to align stakeholders on aspired plans and goals. The analysis helps one to determine the individuals to be involved in the project, and this is essential for early preparations (Currie, Seaton & Wesley, 2009). A stakeholder analysis also helps organizational leaders to address any issues and conflicts early enough before the onset of a project.
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Any stakeholder analysis has three key steps: identifying the stakeholders, prioritizing the stakeholders, and outlining the key stakeholders (Rawlins, 2006). Stakeholder identification can be made through a brainstorming exercise so as to come up with a list of all individuals who have an interest in the success or failure of the organization. The identified stakeholders should then be prioritized through an easement which determines their level of interest and influence to the organization. The last step in stakeholder analysis requires leaders to understand the organization’s key stakeholders and inquire about how they feel about the project (Bryson, Patton & Bowman, 2011). Honest reviews about the stakeholders’ opinions about a project can be achieved by asking them questions that help out to open up on their views. Below is a stakeholder analysis of a cleaning company that wants to come up with a new project to boost the growth of the organization.
Stakeholder Analysis for Zed Cleaning Company
The Registrar
The registrar holds the most important stake in the project because he is the initial owner of the organization’s policy and process. He is the individual who determines the administrative policies within the organization and all procedures before they get undertaken. He has a very high impact on the successful implementation of the project, and many reasons make him an important person. The registrar is the most experienced staff member to be involved in the project, and he is fully committed to implementing change. He is the most experienced staff member to be involved in the project, and he is highly committed to implement organizational change.
The registrar’s perceived attitude towards the project is that he lacks adequate clarity about the best approaches to be used in the implementation process, and he views the team as full of technically-oriented individuals. He lacks adequate clarity about the impact that the project would have on all areas of the organization.
The registrar’s management strategy is to involve a steering board to the project and regularly update meetings with other leaders of the project. He is the general head of the project and the owner of the policy, who is in charge of all administrative policies. Blocking the registrar from taking part in the project can lead to negative outcomes of the whole process that could lead to uncontrolled changes.
The Management Team
The management team is essential stakeholders in the project as they are required to guide the rest of the staff members on the new project on a personal level. The organization depends on the managers for data input and extraction concerning the project. They have a medium impact on the organization and not as much as the registrar’s impact.
The organization relies on management as a committed group towards change implementation. The management, however, is not fully interested in the project, and the strategy that will be used to help them fully participate is by ensuring that they are involved in briefing sessions in all meetings that will be held. The responsibility of the management team is that they act as project sponsors. Locking the management from participating in the project could become a big barrier to the ability of the business to adapt to the outcomes of the project (Schiller et al., 2013).
Staff Members
Staff members have an essential stake in the project as they will be expected to operate the new system. They have a high impact on the success of the project, and the organization needs staff members for their contribution to the implementation process and testing the new system. They are an essential part of the project because of their contribution to the recommended changes and are required to help successfully implement the identified and recommended changes.
Their perceived attitude towards the project is that they have raised concerns about the increase in the workload and have worries about the training that they will be required to undertake to fit in the system. Additionally, they have worries about the changes to be implemented in the normal way of working and how they will cope with the new methods of working.
The strategy that will be used by the organization to manage staff members is by involving them in meetings and all user groups. The staff is a big part of the project’s team, and lack of involving them in the project could make them block the new methods that are advocated to implement the project.
When it comes to the stakeholder’s map that indicates the level of impact that the stakeholders have on the implementation of the project, the registrar has high power, strong influence, and interest in the successful implementation of the project (Brugha & Varvasovszky, 2000) . The reputation of the registrar depends on the successful implementation of the project and how employees will adapt to the new changes. The management team has some influence, which is not as high as the registrar’s, and the staff has a strong influence just like the registrar. Staff members have a strong influence but less power and less interest in the implementation process. The staff is looked upon to put additional resources in the project, including working hand in hand with the management team and other workers.
The above stakeholder analysis is important before the implementation of a new project because it indicates the level of interest that different stakeholders have towards the project and its objectives. Additionally, it indicates the stakeholders who would be directly and indirectly impacted by the project. The stakeholder analysis outlines that actual and any potential conflict of interest that could arise.
References
Brugha, R., & Varvasovszky, Z. (2000). Stakeholder analysis: a review. Health policy and planning , 15 (3), 239-246.
Bryson, J. M., Patton, M. Q., & Bowman, R. A. (2011). Working with evaluation stakeholders: A rationale, step-wise approach and toolkit. Evaluation and program planning , 34 (1), 1-12.
Currie, R. R., Seaton, S., & Wesley, F. (2009). Determining stakeholders for feasibility analysis. Annals of Tourism Research , 36 (1), 41-63.
Rawlins, B. L. (2006). Prioritizing stakeholders for public relations. Institute for public relations , 1-14.
Schiller, C., Winters, M., Hanson, H. M., & Ashe, M. C. (2013). A framework for stakeholder identification in concept mapping and health research: a novel process and its application to older adult mobility and the built environment. BMC public health , 13 (1), 1-9.
Varvasovszky, Z., & Brugha, R. (2000). A stakeholder analysis. Health policy and planning , 15 (3), 338-345.
Wagner, N., Hassanein, K., & Head, M. (2008). Who is responsible for e-learning success in higher education? A stakeholders’ analysis. Journal of Educational Technology & Society , 11 (3), 26-36.
