Stakeholder Management

What can Stakeholder Analysis and Management do to help ensure a successful change effort within your organization? A Stakeholder Analysis helps program managers assess the environment around projects and initiatives that are ready to be implemented. It brings out the interests of the stakeholders and compares them to the purpose of the project. It relates each stakeholder to the project at hand, and points out potential conflicts to assign a level of risk or challenges to the project’s success. It also helps identify existing relationships between stakeholders that can be leveraged to build coalitions and potential partnerships to further champion the effort. These mutually supportive relationships help build valuable trust and collaboration among the stakeholders.

About Stakeholder Analysis & Management

Stakeholder Management is the overall process in which key stakeholders are identified and their support is obtained through a variety of actions directed specifically toward them. Stakeholder Analysis is the first level of Stakeholder Management, and is an integral step in identifying and building the relationships necessary to ensure the successful implementation of change efforts in an organization. The term “stakeholder” implies the individual has a “stake” in the project or initiative -- they have something at risk. Consequently, they have something to gain or lose with the outcome of the project. After the stakeholders have been identified and their levels of interest, importance and influence have been determined, a strategy can then be developed for approaching each stakeholder and determining the appropriate level of involvement each stakeholder will have. The involvement of key stakeholders at the onset will pay dividends down the road for your project.

At APCG, we believe a Stakeholder Analysis will help anticipate individual and group objections to the project and allow you to propose the appropriate actions to overcome these objections. This first step in the process of using the opinions and insights of the most powerful stakeholders in your organization will increase your chances of receiving their support and possibly benefiting from their expertise. A subsequent Stakeholder Management Plan is then developed. It is strategic in nature and contains critical functions such as a communication plan that addresses both individuals and program-wide groups. It establishes realistic goals and objectives to ensure that stakeholders remain actively engaged in the process.  It also prioritizes the relative order of issues deemed most critical to the project’s success.

APCG has a talented and experienced team of experts to work hand in hand with program managers throughout the Stakeholder Management process. We have demonstrated our proficiency by delivering services to the Department of Defense’s U.S. Transportation Command, the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller), and to the Department of Homeland Security’s U. S. Coast Guard.  And, with its full spectrum of Change Management services, APCG also has a unique ability to provide continuity, beginning with the Stakeholder Analysis and Management through the subsequent phases of the project.