How to Conduct a Successful Change Management Stakeholder Analysis

When implementing new processes or adopting a new business model, change management is essential for helping people adapt to the transition. Stakeholders are an important part of this process, regardless of whether they’re orchestrating the change or have no control over it. 

Change management stakeholder analysis helps organisations understand the needs and influence of everyone involved. Let’s take a look at how to approach stakeholder analysis for change management. 

What Is Change Management?

Change management is the process of guiding people through a significant organisational change. It’s a critical component of off-market takeovers or new schemes of arrangement, but change management also helps with smaller internal changes like: 

• Departmental restructuring
• Switching companywide software systems
• Transitioning from on-site to hybrid work environments

Think of change management as the “people-centric” aspect of change. For example, choosing new software is not change management; implementing a training scheme that helps employees acclimate to the new software is change management.  

What Is Stakeholder Analysis for Change Management?

Change management stakeholder analysis is the process of identifying who will feel the impact of a change and understanding their needs. This analysis uncovers potential resistance to change, how to support stakeholders, and how to involve stakeholders in facilitating change. 

The Importance of Stakeholder Analysis in Change Management

Stakeholder analysis helps organisations understand and manage stakeholder expectations. This process digs into sentiment by role and group to ensure all stakeholder needs are considered. 

For instance, a business switching to a new website domain would want to understand how the IT team (stakeholder group) feels about the change, as well as how the change could impact backend developers and system administrators (individual stakeholders).

Identifying Stakeholders for Change Management

Before you can start your stakeholder analysis, you need to identify all stakeholders. Remember to include both internal stakeholders and external stakeholders.

To identify key stakeholders for change management, follow these steps:

Consider Everyone Who Might be Affected

Change can impact primary stakeholders, like employees, as well as secondary stakeholders that aren’t involved in business operations but are connected to primary stakeholders. For example, an employee’s spouse or child would be a secondary stakeholder if a business changed its supplementary benefits package.

Identify Key Stakeholders

Key stakeholders may be primary or secondary. An easy way to think about key stakeholders is that they are the people or entities most invested in a change. They can be influencers — like investors — or employees who want to retain and grow their careers.

Map and Analyse Stakeholders

Once you have a list of stakeholders, you need to map out their roles in change management. 

There are diagrams, grids, and matrices you can use for stakeholder mapping. This process is critical for developing a change management stakeholder communication plan, because it helps you visualise:

• Primary Interests by Stakeholder Group: Interests — or pain points — help businesses craft messaging that resonates with stakeholders. 
• Engagement Strategy: Your stakeholder map can help you identify key channels for engaging stakeholders, whether that’s social media, internal meetings, or email campaigns.
• Collaboration Opportunities: Stakeholder mapping may help you identify opportunities for strategic partnerships. These partnerships don’t have to be large to be meaningful. For example, if your business is relocating, you may find partner businesses in your new area that want to offer discounts to your employees for entertainment, groceries, or other items. These perks are beneficial for employees, and they generate revenue for businesses.

Engaging Stakeholders in the Change Process

Engaging stakeholders effectively in the change process requires a combination of tailored strategies, well-planned communication, and consistent feedback loops:

• Tailored Engagement Strategies: Each stakeholder has unique needs and concerns, so a one-size-fits-all approach often fails. Tailor strategies based on stakeholder attributes such as their level of influence, interest, and readiness for change. Understanding these differences ensures that stakeholders feel valued and included in the process, which enhances buy-in 
• Communication Plans: Clear, timely, and consistent communication is crucial for managing expectations and minimising resistance. A communication plan should outline how, when, and through which channels businesses will share information.
• Feedback Loops: Establishing mechanisms for stakeholders to provide feedback is key to keeping engagement high. This could include regular check-ins, surveys, or forums where stakeholders can express concerns or share insights. Consider investing in a stakeholder retention management (SRM) system to track and organise feedback.

Monitoring and Adapting Stakeholder Engagement Strategies

Change is a part of doing business, and you may need to implement a change management process more than once. Analyse your efforts so you can understand how to improve your process. 

1. Set Measurable Goals: Establish clear objectives for stakeholder change management engagement, such as improved communication or increased stakeholder satisfaction. Goals should be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART).
2. Use Surveys and Feedback: Gather feedback from stakeholders through surveys or interviews to understand their perceptions of change and level of engagement. What did they find useful?
3. Monitor Engagement Metrics: Track quantitative metrics such as email open rates, social media shares, and participation rates in meetings or events. Qualitative metrics, like stakeholder satisfaction and their support for initiatives, are also important to evaluate.
4. Ongoing Communication and Collaboration: Effective change management engagement involves consistent communication and collaboration. Evaluate how stakeholders feel after navigating change. Do they feel informed? Secure? Positive about the outcome? 

By setting clear goals, collecting feedback, and monitoring both quantitative and qualitative metrics, organisations can continuously improve their stakeholder engagement strategies.

Simply Stakeholders Simplifies Change Management

People are the most important part of change management, and understanding the needs of all stakeholders is essential for achieving the best outcomes. With Simply Stakeholders, you can manage every aspect of your change management process, track all interactions, and see detailed data that helps you refine your approach. 

See how Simply Stakeholders supports change management and elevates stakeholder engagement.