Stakeholder Management

Who is a stakeholder

A stakeholder is an individual, group, or organization that has an interest or concern in our product. Stakeholders can include the customers or users of the product, the development team, senior management, partners, investors, and anyone else who may be affected by or have an impact on our product's success. They play a critical role in product management, as they provide input and feedback that helps shape the product roadmap and ensure that the product meets their needs and expectations. If we're working on an internally facing product, our stakeholders might also be our product's users. If, however, we are working on a product that's used beyond the organization we are working in, stakeholder needs will likely center on driving metrics and achieving business goals like profitability and growth.

Different kinds of stakeholders

Identifying stakeholders is an important step, as it ensures that all relevant parties are involved in the decision-making process.

We can also identify the type of stakeholders we have as fitting into one or more of the following categories:

• Internal stakeholders: Employees, managers, and departments within the organization. These stakeholders are often involved in the development and delivery of the product.

• External stakeholders: Customers, suppliers, partners, regulators, and others outside the organization who are impacted by or have an impact on the product.

• Direct stakeholders: Individuals or groups who will directly use or benefit from the product.

• Indirect stakeholders: Individuals or groups who are not directly impacted by the product but have an interest in its outcome.

• Primary stakeholders: Stakeholders who have a significant impact on the success of the product.

• Secondary stakeholders: These are stakeholders who have less impact on the success of the product.

Once we understand the role our stakeholders play, it can be helpful to create a stakeholder map. Stakeholder maps help us to understand how stakeholders relate to one another, and how we should prioritize their engagement with our product activities.

Stakeholder mapping

A stakeholder map is a visual representation of the stakeholders involved in our product and their level of interest, influence, and impact. It's a tool used to understand the various stakeholders and their needs, interests, and concerns related to our product. They can take many forms, like a grid, chart, or diagram. Let's create an example stakeholder map with two vectors, interest in our product and influence on our product.