3.2.1 Purpose
The purpose of Plan Stakeholder Engagement is to plan an approach for establishing and maintaining effective working relationships with the stakeholders.
3.2.2 Description
Plan Stakeholder Engagement involves conducting a thorough stakeholder analysis to identify all of the involved stakeholders and analyze their characteristics. The results of the analysis are then utilized to define the best collaboration and communication approaches for the initiative and to appropriately plan for stakeholder risks.
When planning for stakeholder engagement, the degree of complexity can increase disproportionately as the number of stakeholders involved in the business analysis activities increases. This is important because new or different techniques for the management of stakeholders may be required when the engagement moves from collaborating with a few stakeholders into dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of people.
3.2.3 Inputs
- Needs: understanding the business need and the parts of the enterprise that it affects helps in the identification of stakeholders. The need may evolve as stakeholder analysis is performed.
- Business Analysis Approach: incorporating the overall business analysis approach into the stakeholder analysis, collaboration, and communication approaches is necessary to ensure consistency across the approaches.
3.2.4 Elements
.1 Perform Stakeholder Analysis
Stakeholder analysis involves identifying the stakeholders (who will be directly or indirectly impacted by the change) and their characteristics, as well as analyzing the information once collected. Stakeholder analysis is performed repeatedly as business analysis activities continue.
A thorough and detailed stakeholder list ensures that stakeholders are not overlooked. Understanding who the stakeholders are, the impact of proposed changes on them, and the influence they may have on the change is vital to understanding what needs, wants, and expectations must be satisfied by a solution. If stakeholders are not identified, the business analyst may miss uncovering critical needs. Stakeholder needs uncovered late will often require a revision to business analysis tasks that are either in progress or are completed.
This can result in increased costs and decreased stakeholder satisfaction. How business analysts perform stakeholder analysis can vary between projects, methodologies, and organizations. A company’s organizational chart and business processes can serve as an initial source for identifying internal stakeholders. The sponsor may also identify stakeholders. Stakeholders outside the organization may be identified and can be uncovered by understanding any existing contracts that may be in place, anticipated vendors that may have a role based on existing relationships with the organization, as well as regulatory and governing bodies that may influence the work. Shareholders, customers, and suppliers are also considered when searching for external stakeholders.
Roles
Business analysts identify stakeholder roles in order to understand where and how the stakeholders will contribute to the initiative. It is important that the business analyst is aware of the various roles a stakeholder is responsible for within the organization.
Attitudes
Stakeholder attitudes can positively or negatively impact a change. Business analysts identify stakeholder attitudes in order to fully understand what may impact a stakeholder’s actions and behaviors. Knowing how a stakeholder perceives the initiative allows an opportunity for the business analyst to specifically plan their collaboration and engagement with that stakeholder.
Business analysts analyze stakeholder attitudes about:
- business goals, objectives of the initiative, and any proposed solutions,
- business analysis in general,
- the level of interest in the change,
- the sponsor,
- team members and other stakeholders, and
- collaboration and a team-based approach.
Stakeholders with positive attitudes may be strong champions and great contributors. Other stakeholders may not see value in the work, may misunderstand the value being provided, or may be concerned about the effect the change will have on them. Stakeholders who are expected to serve in key roles and participate heavily in business analysis activities, but who view a change negatively, may require collaboration approaches that increase their cooperation.
Decision Making Authority
Business analysts identify the authority level a stakeholder possesses over business analysis activities, deliverables, and changes to business analysis work.
Understanding authority levels upfront eliminates confusion during the business analysis effort and ensures the business analyst collaborates with the proper stakeholders when looking for a decision to be made or seeking approvals.
Level of Power or Influence
Understanding the nature of influence and the influence structures and channels within an organization can prove invaluable when seeking to build relationships and trust. Understanding the influence and attitude each stakeholder may have can help develop strategies for obtaining buy-in and collaboration. Business analysts evaluate how much influence is needed to implement a change compared to the amount of influence the key stakeholders can bring. If there is a mismatch between the influence required and the amount of influence the stakeholder has or is perceived to have, business analysts develop risk plans, responses and other strategies that might be needed to obtain the required level of support.
.2 Define Stakeholder Collaboration
Ensuring effective collaboration with stakeholders is essential for maintaining their engagement in business analysis activities. Collaboration can be a spontaneous event. However, much collaboration is deliberate and planned, with specific activities and outcomes determined ahead of time during planning activities.
The business analyst may plan different collaboration approaches for internal and external stakeholders, and approaches may differ by business analysis activity. The objective is to select the approaches that work best to meet the needs of each stakeholder group and ensure their interest and involvement is maintained across the initiative. Some considerations when planning collaboration include:
- timing and frequency of collaboration,
- location,
- available tools such as wikis and online communities,
- delivery method such as in-person or virtual, and
- preferences of the stakeholders.
Planning considerations can be documented in the form of a stakeholder collaboration plan. As factors change, plans can be revisited, and adjustments and adaptations can be made to ensure ongoing engagement of stakeholders.
.3 Stakeholder Communication Needs
The business analyst evaluates:
- what needs to be communicated,
- what is the appropriate delivery method (written or verbal),
- who the appropriate audience is,
- when communication should occur,
- frequency of communication,
- geographic location of stakeholders who will receive communications,
- level of detail appropriate for the communication and stakeholder, and
- level of formality of communications.
Communication considerations can be documented in the form of a stakeholder communication plan. Business analysts build and review communication plans with stakeholders to ensure their communication requirements and expectations are met.
3.2.5 Guidelines and Tools
- Business Analysis Performance Assessment: provides results of previous assessments that should be reviewed and incorporated.
- Change Strategy: used for improved assessment of stakeholder impact and the development of more effective stakeholder engagement strategies.
- Current State Description: provides the context within which the work needs to be completed. This information will lead to more effective stakeholder analysis and better understanding of the impact of the desired change.
3.2.6 Techniques
- Brainstorming: used to produce the stakeholder list and identify stakeholder roles and responsibilities.
- Business Rules Analysis: used to identify stakeholders who were the source of the business rules.
- Document Analysis: used to review existing organizational assets that might assist in planning stakeholder engagement.
- Interviews: used to interact with specific stakeholders to gain more information or knowledge about stakeholder groups.
- Lessons Learned: used to identify an enterprise’s previous experience (both successes and challenges) with planning stakeholder engagement.
- Mind Mapping: used to identify potential stakeholders and help understand the relationships between them.
- Organizational Modelling: used to determine if the organizational units or people listed have any unique needs and interests that should be considered. Organizational models describe the roles and functions in the organization and the ways in which stakeholders interact which can help to identify stakeholders who will be affected by a change.
- Process Modelling: used to categorize stakeholders by the systems that support their business processes.
- Risk Analysis and Management: used to identify risks to the initiative resulting from stakeholder attitudes or the inability of key stakeholders to participate in the initiative.
- Scope Modelling: used to develop scope models to show stakeholders that fall outside the scope of the solution but still interact with it in some way.
- Stakeholder List, Map, or Personas: used to depict the relationship of stakeholders to the solution and to one another.
- Survey or Questionnaire: used to identify shared characteristics of a stakeholder group.
- Workshops: used to interact with groups of stakeholders to gain more information about stakeholder groups.
3.2.7 Stakeholders
- Customers: a source of external stakeholders.
- Domain Subject Matter Expert: may help to identify stakeholders and may themselves be identified to fulfill one or more roles on the initiative.
- End User: a source of internal stakeholders.
- Project Manager: may be able to identify and recommend stakeholders. Responsibility for stakeholder identification and management may be shared with the business analyst.
- Regulator: may require that specific stakeholder representatives or groups be involved in the business analysis activities.
- Sponsor: may request that specific stakeholders be involved in the business analysis activities.
- Supplier: a source of external stakeholders.
3.2.8 Outputs
• Stakeholder Engagement Approach: contains a list of the stakeholders, their characteristics which were analyzed, and a listing of roles and responsibilities for the change. It also identifies the collaboration and communication approaches the business analyst will utilize during the initiative.
