Stakeholder management is one of the all-time most common project management topics -- I'd argue that this and "scope" are the Big 2 -- and there are lots of methods to tackle it. Today we'll talk through the Stakeholder Management Power/Interest Model; it's one of the most common models for analyzing stakeholder management!

Stakeholder management will definitely come up once you start integrating PM into your professional life; one of the most common topics for PM professional development sessions is stakeholder management, and one of the most common questions to ask in a project management interview is some variation of "how do you manage stakeholders?"

And really, as someone currently working in higher ed, this is to your advantage! Stakeholder management isn't a throwaway question; it's incredibly applicable to working as a project manager, which ALSO means it's probably something you're already doing. There are also a lot of "right" answers (which is always my favorite kind of question). So let's start a series looking at a couple different ways to analyze (and then manage) stakeholders!

I've selected these because they're the most common methods you'll see in PM education -- which means they're great methods to have in your toolkit when you first start talking to others about how you use stakeholder management methods in your current position.

But I want to underscore: there are many, many ways to do this... you may even come up with your own model as you dig into project management work! These methods are a solid foundation to get you started in the right direction.

Preparing for Stakeholder Management: Analysis

Remember that the goal of stakeholder analysis is always to give yourself actionable next steps.

That means that the first steps, no matter what model you're deciding to apply, are always the same:

• Familiarize yourself with the strategic objectives of the project
• Make a list of every single person or organization that might have an interest in the project or who might be impacted by it. (Sometimes stakeholders aren't even aware that the project is happening, but might be heavily impacted by it, so we can't go by interest alone.)

From there, we have many different methods we can apply. Today, let's take a look at the power/interest matrix method, which you might also see written as "power/interest mapping" or "power/interest analysis". (They're all the same!)

Method: Power/Interest Mapping

This method identifies the power that each stakeholder has over that specific project, as well as the interest they have in that specific project. (Even if someone is very powerful generally, or interested in your work generally, they may not have much influence over your specific project, or be that interested in this specific project's objectives. That's why you have to repeat this process for each project.)

From there, we can divide our stakeholders and map them into a model with four quadrants, which will give us some guidance around how we plan to communicate with these stakeholders. This model ultimately looks like this:

The 5000-yard view of the model.

High power & high interest: Manage closely.

These are folks who have a lot of influence over your project and who are likely to be keeping a close eye on it. We're thinking here of people like the project's sponsor, the leader of a division responsible for the project's objectives. A few relevant higher ed examples:

• If you're leading the implementation of a new CRM, the enrollment management VP is likely extremely interested in what you're doing.
• If you're leading Family Weekend at an institution that has a Family Council, that council's leadership has power and interest over what you're doing.