Steps to building a social licence – analyse your stakeholders

Stakeholders are a critical part of any project, and it is important to understand the informational and engagement requirements of different stakeholders at each stage of the project.

A stakeholder analysis will allow you to identify your supporters, your critics, and those who might be ambivalent or neutral about the project. Once you understand these stakeholders, you can develop ways to leverage your supporters while alleviating the concerns of critics. In this step, you will complete a stakeholder map and use this information to complete your analysis.

Undertake stakeholder mapping

A stakeholder map is a visual tool that identifies and categorises individuals, groups, or organisations affected by a project. It shows their influence, interest, and relationships to help prioritise engagement, manage expectations, and address their needs effectively.

There are 2 steps to mapping your stakeholders:

1. Create a register

A stakeholder register is a list of people and organisations that are involved in a project or have an interest in a project. The register will include sections such as:

• Name
• Contact
• Role
• Organisation
• Category (eg internal / external / community / industry)
• Expectations
• Requirements
• Frequency
• Status
• Interest
• Influence

In the learner toolkit create your stakeholder register.

At the conclusion of stakeholder register, you should have a long list of stakeholders who are involved and interested in the project.

2. Analyse your stakeholders according to interest and influence

Once you have analysed your stakeholders you will understand their levels of interest and influence on your project. You can then match your communication messages, methods and frequency accordingly. For example:

• Stakeholders with high interest and influence require close management by providing detailed and frequent updates.
• Stakeholders with high influence but low interest need to be kept satisfied with relevant information at regular intervals.
• Stakeholders who have high interest but low influence should be kept informed but are not critical to project success.
• Stakeholders who have low interest and low influence can be monitored and require limited updates.

Watch the video for a detailed explanation.

In the learner toolkit complete the interest and influence grid.

Your task

Continue to complete your learner toolkit.