How do you identify and prioritize your key stakeholders for a lean six sigma project?

1 Mapping stakeholders

The first step is to create a list of all the potential stakeholders for your project. You can use various sources of information, such as organizational charts, process maps, customer feedback, previous projects, or brainstorming sessions. Try to be as comprehensive as possible and include anyone who has a stake in the outcome of your project, such as customers, employees, managers, suppliers, regulators, competitors, or partners. You can also use a stakeholder map template to organize your list visually and show the relationships between the stakeholders.

2 Categorizing stakeholders

The next step is to classify your stakeholders according to their level of interest and influence on your project. Interest refers to how much they care about the project or how much it affects them, while influence indicates how much power they have to affect the project positively or negatively. To assess these criteria, you can use a stakeholder matrix or grid to plot your stakeholders on a four-quadrant diagram. For example, the quadrants can be labeled as ‘High interest, high influence’ for key stakeholders who have the most impact on your project; ‘High interest, low influence’ for supporters who have a strong interest but little authority; ‘Low interest, high influence’ for blockers with a lot of power but little interest; and ‘Low interest, low influence’ for bystanders with minimal impact. You should manage and communicate closely with key stakeholders, keep supporters informed and engaged, monitor blockers and manage their expectations and concerns, and occasionally update bystanders.

3 Prioritizing stakeholders

The third step is to rank your stakeholders according to their importance and urgency for your project. Importance refers to how much their needs and expectations align with your project goals and objectives. Urgency refers to how soon they need to be addressed or satisfied by your project deliverables or outcomes. You can use a prioritization matrix or chart to assign a score or rating to each stakeholder based on these two factors. For example, you can use a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 is low and 5 is high. Then, you can add up the scores and sort your stakeholders from highest to lowest priority. This will help you determine who to focus on first and how to allocate your resources and time.

4 Engaging stakeholders

The final step is to plan and execute your stakeholder engagement strategy. This involves defining your communication goals, methods, frequency, and channels for each stakeholder group or individual. You also need to consider their feedback, opinions, suggestions, and concerns and how to address them effectively. You can use a stakeholder engagement plan template to document your strategy and track your progress and results. The purpose of engaging your stakeholders is to build trust, rapport, and collaboration and to ensure their support and buy-in for your lean six sigma project.

5 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?