Updated: January 13, 2025- 19 min read
Imagine planning a road trip without knowing your travel companions.
You pack snacks, set the playlist, and map the route — only to realize halfway through that someone is allergic to peanuts, another gets car sick, and one thinks you’re going someplace else entirely. That’s product development without stakeholder analysis.
Stakeholder analysis is the difference between guessing and knowing what your important circle of people needs. You neatly manage their expectations, influence, and concerns throughout this process.
For product managers, stakeholder analysis is a tool that saves you from surprises, eases the decision-making process, and keeps the (already hectic) journey on track. Here’s everything you need to know to master it — what it is, why it matters, and exactly how to do it.
Enroll in Product School's Product Strategy Micro-Certification (PSC)™️
The difference between a good and a great product lies in your Product Strategy, answering vital questions like: Who's the product for? What benefits does it offer? How does it further company objectives?
Enroll for Free
What Is Stakeholder Analysis?
Stakeholder analysis is the process of identifying, understanding, and prioritizing the individuals or groups that can impact — or be impacted by — a project, product, or decision.
At its core, it’s about recognizing who matters, what they care about, and how they influence the outcome. This process-derived clarity allows you to manage relationships strategically and make sure everyone is aligned on goals, expectations, and priorities.
In product management, stakeholder analysis helps you bring together diverse voices — customers, executives, developers, and other teams — while keeping the product on course. It’s a way to anticipate challenges, address conflicts early, and create solutions that satisfy all key players.
What Is the purpose of stakeholder analysis?
Imagine a Director of Product in charge of launching a new internal analytics tool for a company’s sales team. On paper, the task seems straightforward: deliver a tool that simplifies reporting. The PM might assume the key stakeholders to be the sales leads and executives pushing for faster insights.
During stakeholder analysis, a deeper picture could emerge:
The sales reps, who would use the tool daily, were frustrated by overly complex systems.
The Infrastructure raised critical concerns about integrating the tool into their existing stack without disrupting workflows.
The finance team had a vested interest in ensuring the data output aligned with their quarterly reporting needs.
Without stakeholder analysis, the product team would have delivered what the executives asked for, which is great. But would they be able to pinpoint the risks of creating a tool that sales reps rejected or IT couldn’t support?
Instead, by surfacing these concerns early, the product manager:
Streamlined the user interface to address sales reps' pain points.
Worked with IT to phase the integration for minimal disruption.
Collaborated with finance to ensure data reporting met their standards.
The result? A tool that launched on time, earned buy-in from all stakeholders, and boosted adoption across teams.
The purpose of stakeholder analysis isn’t to please everyone — it’s to identify whose needs can make or break the product. By clarifying priorities, uncovering risks, and aligning expectations, product managers can avoid costly surprises and smooth out product launches.
Jay Lee, the SVP of the NBA — the type of association where stakeholders hold immense importance — illuminates this purpose on The Product Podcast.
He says: "What I have found is that relationships are better than roadmaps. Understand who your stakeholders are, who your partners are, what's important for them, and how they’re trying to deliver on the vision that you all share. Establish that first and invest in those relationships to understand what's truly at stake."
Why is stakeholder analysis important in product management?
In product management, stakeholder analysis is the process of identifying and understanding everyone who has an interest or influence in your product's success — both inside and outside the organization.
This includes executives, customers, product teams, product design, developers, product marketing, sales, and even external partners. The goal is to map out their roles, expectations, and influence and make informed decisions that balance their needs without derailing the product vision.
With stakeholder analysis, product managers should:
Prioritize communication: Decide which stakeholders need frequent updates and which ones need to be consulted on key decisions.
Align on goals: Ensure everyone understands the product strategy, roadmap, and desired outcomes.
Manage conflicting interests: Balance different priorities, such as user needs, business goals, and technical constraints.
Secure buy-In: Gain support for product decisions to avoid roadblocks or resistance later in the process.
In product management, stakeholder analysis often focuses on long-term alignment because products evolve over time, and stakeholders’ priorities can shift throughout the product lifecycle.
What is stakeholder analysis in project management?
In project management, stakeholder analysis is a tactical process that identifies and assesses stakeholders to ensure smooth project execution.
Unlike product management, which focuses on continuous improvement and long-term goals, project management is typically more time-bound, with clear start and end points. Stakeholders in project management change a lot, and they carry more leverage over a single project. In product, however, stakeholders are usually larger in numbers and they aren’t as influential over the deadlines and product roadmaps.
For a project manager, stakeholder analysis involves:
Defining stakeholders early: Identifying who is impacted by the project and who can impact its success (positively or negatively).
Mapping influence and power: Understanding which stakeholders have decision-making authority, who controls resources, and who might present challenges.
Building engagement plans: Strategically determining how to involve, inform, or consult each stakeholder during key project phases.
Managing risks: Proactively addressing resistance or misalignment to keep the project on track and within scope.
In project management, stakeholder analysis ensures stakeholders are managed effectively within the timeline roadmap, avoiding delays, feature creep, and conflicts.
Key terms and related concepts for stakeholder analysis
While the following terms may seem similar, each plays a distinct role in understanding and managing stakeholder dynamics:
Stakeholder research: This is the investigative phase. It involves gathering information about stakeholders—who they are, their needs, interests, and expectations. It’s about creating a foundation of knowledge to inform your strategy.
Stakeholder assessment: Once you have the data, stakeholder assessment evaluates the level of influence and interest each stakeholder has in your project. This helps prioritize efforts and decide where to focus engagement.
Stakeholder evaluation: Takes the assessment one step further. It focuses on analyzing the performance, role, and impact of stakeholders throughout the project lifecycle. Are stakeholders actively contributing to project goals, or are they creating bottlenecks? Evaluation ensures that stakeholder relationships are delivering value and identifies adjustments if a stakeholder’s role or engagement level needs improvement.
Stakeholder analysis: This ties it all together. Stakeholder analysis combines research and assessment into actionable insights. It maps stakeholders based on their power, interest, and impact, giving you a clear strategy for managing relationships and communication.
Stakeholder management: This is where the work happens. Stakeholder management is the ongoing process of engaging, communicating, and building relationships with stakeholders. It’s about executing the strategies developed through analysis—keeping stakeholders informed, addressing their concerns, and maintaining alignment throughout the project lifecycle.
Now, imagine building a new product feature. This is how all of these related concepts would connect:
Stakeholder research helps identify who cares about the feature (customers, engineering, executives) and what they expect.
Stakeholder assessment determines who holds the most influence — like a VP who signs off on the feature or a customer whose feedback could impact its direction.
Stakeholder evaluation tracks progress. Is the VP aligned? Are the engineers delivering on their commitments? If not, adjustments are made.
Stakeholder analysis provides the roadmap, identifying risks, opportunities, and priorities.
Stakeholder management puts the plan into action, ensuring clear communication, collaboration, and follow-through.
Step-by-Step Guide to Conducting Stakeholder Analysis
Solid stakeholder analysis could be the difference between steering a project smoothly or running straight into unnecessary roadblocks. To help you execute it successfully, here’s a detailed step-by-step guide.
1. Identify Your Stakeholders
Before you can align your project goals with stakeholder expectations, you need to know exactly who your stakeholders are. This step lays the foundation for every decision and interaction that follows.
Start by (1) gathering your core team for a (1) brainstorming session. Write down every individual, group, or organization that could influence — or be influenced by — your project. Stakeholders often fall into two broad groups: those working within your organization and those outside it. Think executives, team leads, engineers, customers, and external partners.
Don’t stop at the obvious players. ‘Hidden stakeholders’, like finance teams tracking budgets or IT teams managing integrations, may not always raise their hands, but their input could make or break your progress. Consider every angle.
Who approves decisions?
Who uses the end product?
Who owns the processes that intersect with your work?
Also, make sure you’re doing it alongside the team of individuals who wear different thinking hats. Perhaps, (2) use the “Six Thinking Hats” method, developed by Edward de Bono, to approach the challenge of listing stakeholders from different angles and perspectives.
Once you have a solid list, take it one step further and (3) personalize it. Instead of writing down generic roles like "VP of Sales," use real names — “Sarah Thompson, VP of Sales.” People are far more than their titles, and identifying them individually makes stakeholder analysis practical, and actionable for everyone looking at the document.
To bring this step to life, map relationships and dependencies visually. Tools like a (4) Stakeholder Context Diagram can help you see connections, gaps, and potential risks at a glance.
This process might seem basic, but it’s a crucial first step. After all, you can’t manage relationships with people you haven’t yet identified. The sooner you pinpoint every voice in the room, the sooner you’ll be able to align them and move forward with clarity.
2. Prioritize Stakeholders with a Power-Interest Grid
Now it’s time to figure out who really matters and to what degree, as harsh as it sounds.
Not all stakeholders are equal — some can make or break your project with a single decision, while others are interested but should have very little influence. This is where the Power-Interest Grid comes into play. It’s a practical tool that helps you focus on the right people, at the right time, and avoid wasting energy where it doesn’t count.
Picture a crowded room. You can’t talk to everyone at once, so you instinctively look for the people who hold the most sway and those who seem most engaged. The Power-Interest Grid does exactly that — systematically sorting stakeholders so you know who to prioritize and how to communicate with them.
The grid works by evaluating each stakeholder on two simple dimensions:
Power: How much authority or influence does this stakeholder have over decisions, resources, or outcomes?
Interest: How invested or impacted are they by the project? Will they actively engage or remain on the sidelines?
Here’s how it breaks down:
High power, high interest: These are your key stakeholders. They have the most at stake and the most influence, so close engagement is essential. Pay close attention to them, consult them frequently, and make sure they’re aligned with your project’s progress.
High power, low interest: These stakeholders hold decision-making power but aren’t deeply invested in day-to-day details. Keep them satisfied with high-level updates at appropriate intervals to ensure they don’t derail the project.
Low power, high interest: These are often end-users or team members who care deeply about the project but don’t control outcomes. Keep them informed—they can become strong advocates, provide valuable feedback, and help drive adoption.
Low power, low interest: These stakeholders have minimal influence and limited investment in your project. Monitor their needs and keep communication to a minimum unless their situation changes.
Let’s make this actionable. Start by listing each stakeholder you’ve identified—use a spreadsheet, a whiteboard, or a digital tool like Miro. Next, plot them onto a Power-Interest Grid, placing their names in the quadrant that best matches their level of influence and interest.
For example, let’s say you’re launching a new product feature:
When managing stakeholders for a project, it’s important to tailor communication based on their roles and influence:
Strategic Stakeholders (e.g., Executive Sponsors, Senior Managers): High power, high interest. They require detailed updates and regular consultations to ensure the project aligns with strategic goals.
Compliance Stakeholders (e.g., Legal, Risk Management Teams): High power, low interest. Periodic updates to confirm compliance are sufficient; they don’t need involvement in design discussions.
Operational Stakeholders (e.g., End Users, Frontline Teams): Low power, high interest. They are invested in the usability and functionality of the deliverable, so regular feedback sessions are crucial to keep them engaged.
Support Stakeholders (e.g., Finance, Admin Teams): Low power, low interest. A final summary report is often all they need to confirm alignment with budgets or other administrative requirements.
3. Analyze stakeholder needs, interests, and expectations
This step is all about digging beneath the surface to uncover their needs, motivations, and concerns — both the ones they talk about openly and the ones they don’t. Intriguing, right?
Think of it this way: every stakeholder brings their own perspective to the table. A Sales VP might focus on revenue growth, while a lead developer worries about feasibility. If you don’t take the time to align these perspectives, you risk building a product no one fully supports — or worse, one no one can use.
The first step is to gather real insights. Don’t assume you know what stakeholders want—ask them. Conduct (1) stakeholder research through interviews, surveys, or workshops. Keep the questions simple, direct, and tailored to each stakeholder’s role. For example:
“What are your expectations for this project or product?”
“How does the outcome of this project affect you or your team?”
“What does success look like to you?”
The goal here is clarity. You’re looking to separate assumed priorities from actual priorities.
Stakeholders will usually tell you what matters most to them — but only some of the story. Their concerns often go deeper. Pay attention to their interests (2):
Overt Interests: These are openly stated needs and goals. For example, an executive may clearly say they care about ROI.
Hidden Interests: These are unspoken or indirect concerns, like fears about risk, workload impact, or personal accountability. For instance, an engineer might focus on technical feasibility while privately resisting changes to workflows that disrupt their routine.
A well-placed follow-up question can often uncover what’s beneath the surface:
“Is there anything about this project that concerns you?”
“What challenges do you foresee as we move forward?”
Now, connect what you’ve learned to the project’s success or failure. For each stakeholder, (3) document their needs and note how their expectations—if met or unmet — will impact the project. A simple system works well:
+ (Positive Impact): Meeting this need will move the project forward.
– (Negative Impact): Ignoring this need could cause delays or resistance.
? (Unknown Impact): Further clarification is needed.
Once you’ve mapped stakeholder needs and their impact, lastly, (4) look for patterns:
Where do needs align? Shared priorities are opportunities to build support.
Where do needs conflict? These are risks you’ll need to manage proactively.
Who holds critical needs? Focus on stakeholders with high influence or high importance.
4. Document and score stakeholders
To make this actionable, create a simple table or spreadsheet to document your findings. Use scores like High, Medium, or Low, or assign numeric values (e.g., 1–10) for influence and importance. For example:
This simple exercise takes the guesswork out of engagement. You’ll know exactly where each stakeholder stands and how to maintain their support without overloading them—or yourself.
5. Plan stakeholder engagement and communication
It’s time to determine (1) how you’ll engage with stakeholders effectively. A well-thought-out communication and engagement plan ensures no one is left in the dark. It also prevents you from overloading stakeholders with unnecessary updates. The goal is to keep everyone informed, aligned, and invested without wasting time or energy.
Start by (2) grouping stakeholders with similar needs or levels of influence. This allows you to tailor your approach while keeping the communication manageable. For example, stakeholders with high influence and high interest — like executive sponsors — may require regular check-ins and strategy sessions. On the other hand, stakeholders with less direct involvement might only need periodic updates or milestone summaries. This is where the prioritization matrix can help you.
Next, think about how to (3) engage each group effectively. Key stakeholders benefit from direct, hands-on involvement in critical decisions and milestones. Support teams may prefer structured updates, such as weekly progress reports or sprint reviews to stay aligned without micromanagement. For lower-interest stakeholders, quarterly updates or high-level overviews are often enough to maintain their support.
(4) Map out which stakeholders should be involved at each phase of the project — whether it’s during initial planning, execution, or delivery. It ensures you’re involving the right people at the right time without overwhelming them or the project team. (5) Clear communication is the backbone of stakeholder engagement. Plan out what information each stakeholder needs, how it will be delivered, and how often.
Let’s say you’re building a customer portal. Your marketing team might need updates about the portal’s features for messaging and customer outreach, while your IT team requires detailed integration plans to ensure smooth implementation. Each team gets the communication they need, in the format that works for them, and at the right frequency to avoid misalignment.
6. Monitor and adjust throughout the project
Stakeholders’ needs, priorities, and influence can shift throughout the project lifecycle. Regularly reassessing and adapting your stakeholder strategy helps you stay ahead of these changes and ensure continued alignment. Here’s how to do it effectively:
Set Regular Checkpoints
Review stakeholder influence, interest, and alignment at key milestones or on a recurring schedule (e.g., monthly or quarterly).
Identify changes in their engagement levels or priorities to adjust your strategy as needed.
Track Feedback and Involvement
Monitor whether stakeholders are actively participating or becoming disengaged.
Note any changes in their concerns, expectations, or support for the project.
Adjust Communication Frequency and Format
Scale updates up or down based on current stakeholder needs.
For example, shift from detailed weekly updates to high-level summaries if their interest decreases.
Reprioritize Stakeholders When Needed
Elevate stakeholders who become more critical due to shifts in project focus or external pressures.
For example, bring compliance officers into the loop as the project nears regulatory reviews.
Use Dynamic Tools
Leverage dashboards, influence grids, or simple charts to visualize shifts in stakeholder roles and engagement levels.
Quickly identify stakeholders who need additional attention or whose influence has increased.
Anticipate Changes
Keep an eye on organizational shifts that may affect stakeholder priorities, such as leadership changes or new company goals.
Be ready to pivot and address emerging concerns before they escalate.
Stakeholder Analysis Tools
Stakeholder analysis becomes far more effective when you use the right tools to organize data, visualize relationships, and track engagement. These tools not only streamline the process but also provide clarity for managing stakeholder expectations and ensuring alignment throughout your project. Here are six top tools to consider:
1. Power-interest grid
A Power-Interest Grid is a simple yet powerful framework that helps you categorize stakeholders based on their influence and interest levels.
How it works: Stakeholders are placed into one of four quadrants—high power/high interest, high power/low interest, low power/high interest, or low power/low interest.
Why it’s useful: This tool clarifies who needs close attention, who requires periodic updates, and who can be monitored from a distance. It ensures your communication efforts are targeted and efficient.
If you’re launching a product, the VP of Marketing (high power, high interest) gets regular updates, while the IT support team (low power, low interest) receives only essential notices.
2. Stakeholder map
A Stakeholder Map is a visual representation of all stakeholders and their relationships to each other and the project.
How it works: It shows stakeholders as nodes connected by lines that indicate relationships, dependencies, or communication flows.
Why it’s useful: This tool highlights key connections, potential gaps, and areas where collaboration is critical. It’s particularly valuable for complex projects with multiple stakeholders.
A stakeholder map for a new software product could show direct dependencies between developers, IT, and product managers, while external stakeholders like customers and regulators are mapped on the periphery.
3. Stakeholder impact table
A Stakeholder Impact Table organizes stakeholders’ needs, concerns, and potential project impact into a structured format.
How it works: Create a table listing stakeholders alongside their interests, influence levels, expected contributions, and the consequences of meeting or not meeting their needs.
Why it’s useful: It brings clarity to how each stakeholder affects your project, allowing you to prioritize their needs and plan risk mitigation strategies.
For a project requiring regulatory approval, the table might flag a compliance officer as high influence, emphasizing the need for early engagement.
4. Stakeholder participation matrix
The Stakeholder Participation Matrix helps determine which stakeholders need to be involved during specific project phases.
How it works: Stakeholders are listed alongside project phases (e.g., initiation, planning, execution, closeout) with their level of participation defined (e.g., informed, consulted, responsible).
Why it’s useful: It prevents unnecessary involvement or communication overload, while ensuring critical stakeholders are looped in at the right time.
During product testing, you might mark end-users as key participants, while executives are listed as informed observers.
5. RACI chart
The RACI Chart is a classic project management tool that defines roles and responsibilities across stakeholders.
How it works: Stakeholders are assigned one of four roles for each task: Responsible (owns the task), Accountable (approves work), Consulted (provides input), or Informed (needs updates).
Why it’s useful: It eliminates confusion over who is doing what and ensures accountability is crystal clear.
In a product launch, the product manager might be Responsible, the marketing VP Accountable, the engineering team Consulted, and customer success Informed.
6. Stakeholder engagement dashboard
A Stakeholder Engagement Dashboard provides a real-time view of stakeholder interactions, feedback, and engagement levels.
How it works: These dashboards are often part of project management software like Jira, Trello, or Asana, consolidating stakeholder data into one place.
Why it’s useful: It tracks ongoing communication, monitors engagement trends, and flags potential risks early.
A dashboard might highlight that a key stakeholder hasn’t engaged in recent updates, prompting follow-up before their disengagement affects the project.
Why Stakeholder Analysis is a Non-Negotiable
When done right, stakeholder analysis prevents surprises, builds trust, and creates alignment across diverse voices. Whether you’re navigating a complex product roadmap or executing a time-sensitive project, this process ensures you’re equipped to handle challenges, anticipate risks, and drive meaningful results.
Remember, a product or project isn’t just about the outcome — it’s about the relationships and collaboration that make it possible. Stakeholder analysis helps you harness those relationships. It turns potential roadblocks into pathways for progress.
The result? A smoother journey, stronger support, and outcomes that satisfy everyone who matters. So, take the time to do it right — the people, in turn, will help you make things happen.
Product Leader Certification (PLC)®
What led you to success as a PM won't be enough to get you promoted. Developed with top Silicon Valley Product Leaders, the Product Leader Certification (PLC)® will help you navigate your next major career transition.
Find Out More
Updated: January 13, 2025
