Stakeholders · Identification · Component
The stakeholder list
Everyone who can affect the organisation and everyone affected by it, named specifically rather than by category.
The deliverable
What it is
The list assembled by default contains whoever complains loudest, which is a proxy for urgency and not for importance.
Freeman’s formulation is deliberately wide — anyone who can affect or is affected by the achievement of the objectives. Narrowing it should be a conscious act rather than an omission.
One level in
What it is made of
Each element is a constituent part of the component. Follow one to see the attributes it carries.
The parties
Each stakeholder, named at a level that could be contacted.
3 attributes: Stakeholder · Contact · Represented
LearnThe direction
Whether the party affects the organisation, is affected by it, or both.
3 attributes: Direction · How · Relates to
LearnThe additions
When and why parties were added or removed.
3 attributes: Added · Reason · Added by
Learn
Name specific parties, not categories. “Regulators” cannot be engaged; a named authority with a named contact can.
The other components in identification
The influence map
Who holds power, who holds a legitimate claim, and where those two diverge — which is where most stakeholder failures originate.
LearnThe review trigger
What changes prompt the stakeholder list to be revisited, so it does not silently describe a former organisation.
Learn