How To Use A Stakeholder Analysis Matrix
Analyzing your stakeholders is an important task, however it is something that can be difficult when not equipped with the right matrix. One of the reasons a matrix is so helpful is because it can help you simplify a challenge.
Turning the value and importance of your stakeholders into something more concrete is a great way to accurately analyze their value to your project or company. While you can sit down and discuss your opinion of each stakeholder and how you think they will play into the final interests of the project, it is much easier to pass this information onto someone else when you've taken your information and translated it to numerical terms that can be easily understood.
The best stakeholder analysis matrix is one that will give you a solid percentage that translates to the stakeholder's interest in the project. The stakeholder analysis matrix will take the information that you input and will provide you with a numerical ranking for the stakeholder's influence over the project. This refers to both the interest of the stakeholder and the financial buy in of this individual. With this information in hand, you can create any number of graphics that will make the data even more visual. Depicting each stakeholder as a bubble on a chart, with those who have a larger influence showing up as bigger bubbles, will clearly show you where the majority of your attention should be directed.
Pie charts and bar graphs can also help you display the importance of various stakeholders. Those who are the most interested and who provide a greater amount of support should naturally be high on your list of individuals to communicate with about developments in the project. You shouldn't neglect those who are lower on the list, though. These stakeholders may actually need some extra attention so you can get them onboard with your project in a reasonable amount of time. By working with a reliable and well-built stakeholder analysis matrix, you can accurately assess your support at any stage and make the best and most strategically sound decisions for the future.
