01 Stakeholder Analysis

Stakeholder Analysis Skill

Use When

• identifying and classifying stakeholders, influence, interests, decision rights, and communication needs before elicitation; use elicitation-toolkit to gather requirements from them.
• Use this procedure when the required source artefacts are available and Stakeholder register and engagement priorities is the next lifecycle deliverable.

Do Not Use When

• Use elicitation-toolkit when that neighbouring route owns the decision or deliverable.
• Do not invent missing project evidence, standards clauses, thresholds, or stakeholder decisions.

Required Inputs

Workflow

1. Inspect the required inputs and log the exact sources, versions, and unresolved assumptions.
2. Apply this skill's existing domain workflow and decision rules to produce Stakeholder register and engagement priorities.
3. Stop when a required source, accountable decision owner, or deterministic test oracle is absent.
4. Recover by preserving valid work, marking the blocked scope, and returning the narrowest qualified artefact plus the next evidence needed.

Outputs

Evidence Produced

Capability and permission boundaries

Read and search are required. This procedure is read-only by default. Editing the reviewed artefact, publishing, production mutation, destructive action, spending, or certification requires explicit authority.

Degraded mode

Fallback: if a required file, reviewer, standard source, network check, renderer, or execution capability is unavailable, return the narrowest useful qualified result and mark the affected check not assessed; never convert an unassessed check into a pass.

Decision Rules

Quality Standards

• Preserve stable identifiers and bidirectional traceability from project evidence to Stakeholder register and engagement priorities and its acceptance checks.
• Apply ISO/IEEE measures only with a named metric, method, threshold, evidence source, and responsible reviewer; run the anti-slop gate before release.

Anti-Patterns

• Producing Stakeholder register and engagement priorities from assumed context. Fix: cite the project source or mark the scope blocked.
• Accepting a material requirement without a deterministic oracle. Fix: add a measurable result, boundary, and verification method.
• Crossing into elicitation-toolkit without routing the decision. Fix: hand off the named input and preserve trace links.
• Treating an unavailable check as passed. Fix: mark it not assessed and state the release consequence.
• Claiming standards, statutory, or stakeholder approval without evidence. Fix: cite the source and reviewer or qualify the claim.

References

• Skill authoring and release standard
• Raci Matrix
• Stakeholder Map Template

Overview

This skill identifies, classifies, and prioritizes all project stakeholders using a Power/Interest grid methodology. It produces a formal stakeholder register that includes communication preferences, engagement levels, and a RACI mapping for requirements activities. The skill ensures that downstream elicitation, requirements gathering, and validation activities target the correct stakeholders with the appropriate engagement strategy.

When to Use This Skill

• At the start of any new project before requirements elicitation begins
• When a project undergoes significant scope changes that may introduce new stakeholder groups
• When stakeholder engagement issues (e.g., missed reviews, conflicting priorities) indicate a gap in stakeholder identification
• When transitioning between project phases and communication plans require updates

Quick Reference

Input Files

Output Files

Core Instructions

Follow these seven steps in order. Halt and notify the user if a required input file is missing.

Step 1: Read Context Files

Read vision.md and features.md from projects/<ProjectName>/_context/. Log every file path read. If either file is missing, halt execution and report the gap to the user.

Step 2: Identify Stakeholder Categories

Extract stakeholders from the context files. The skill shall identify individuals or groups in each of the following categories:

For each identified stakeholder, record:

• Stakeholder ID: SH-001, SH-002, etc.
• Name or Role: specific role title
• Category: from the table above
• Description: one-sentence summary of their relationship to the project

If a category yields no stakeholders from the context files, flag it with [GAP: No stakeholder identified for {category}. Confirm with project team.].

Step 3: Classify Using Power/Interest Grid

Place each stakeholder on the Power/Interest grid using two dimensions:

• Power (High/Low): The stakeholder's ability to influence project decisions, budget, scope, or schedule.
• Interest (High/Low): The stakeholder's level of concern about project outcomes and deliverables.

Assign an engagement strategy based on quadrant placement:

For each classification, provide a one-sentence rationale grounded in evidence from the context files. If the classification is inferred rather than directly stated, tag it with [INFERRED].

Step 4: Assess Stakeholder Influence and Impact

For each stakeholder, assess the following attributes and populate the enhanced Stakeholder Register:

Stakeholder Register (Enhanced — PMBOK 7th Edition + Impact Mapping)

Engagement levels (PMBOK 7th): Unaware → Resistant → Neutral → Supportive → Leading Impact Map roles: Goal (WHY — business objective), Actor (WHO — who can change behaviour), Deliverable (WHAT — what to build/change) Engagement strategy: For each stakeholder where Current ≠ Desired, document the strategy to close the gap in the Communications Plan below.

Influence and Impact use a H/M/L scale in the register. For internal scoring, a 1-5 numeric scale may also be used:

Flag any stakeholder where Current Engagement is "Resistant" with [RISK: Stakeholder resistance -- mitigation required]. Flag any stakeholder where Current Engagement ≠ Desired Engagement with [GAP: Engagement gap -- communications strategy required].

Step 5: Generate Communication Plan

For each stakeholder (or stakeholder group), define a communication plan entry using the enhanced PMBOK 7th Edition format:

Communications Plan (PMBOK 7th Edition)

Rule: Every stakeholder with Desired engagement = Supportive or Leading must have at least one active communication channel documented here.

The communication plan shall cover:

• Information Need: What the stakeholder requires to remain engaged at the desired level
• Format: Meeting, Status Report, Demo, Workshop, Newsletter, Formal Document
• Frequency: Daily, Weekly, Bi-weekly, Monthly, Ad-hoc, or Milestone-based
• Owner: Who is responsible for the communication (use role titles; mark [OWNER-TBD] if unknown)
• Escalation Path: Who to contact if the stakeholder becomes disengaged or raises a blocking concern

Example entries for reference:

Step 6: Generate RACI Matrix

Produce a RACI matrix mapping stakeholders to key requirements engineering activities:

RACI definitions per IEEE 29148:

• R (Responsible): Performs the work
• A (Accountable): Owns the decision, one per activity
• C (Consulted): Provides input before the decision
• I (Informed): Notified after the decision

Every activity row shall have exactly one "A" assignment. Flag violations with [RACI-FAIL: Multiple accountable parties for {activity}].

Step 7: Write Output

Assemble all sections and write the completed document to projects/<ProjectName>/<phase>/<document>/stakeholder_register.md. Log the total stakeholder count, the number of gaps flagged, and the number of risk tags applied.

Output Format Specification

The generated stakeholder_register.md shall follow this structure:

# Stakeholder Register: [Project Name]

## Document Header
- Project: [Name]
- Version: 1.0
- Date: [Current Date]
- Status: Draft

## 1. Stakeholder Inventory
### 1.1 Stakeholder List
### 1.2 Identification Gaps

## 2. Power/Interest Classification
### 2.1 Grid Summary
### 2.2 Quadrant Details

## 3. Stakeholder Register (Enhanced — PMBOK 7th + Impact Mapping)
### 3.1 Register Table (ID, Role, Org, Interest, Influence, Impact, Current/Desired Engagement, Impact Map Role, Channel, Frequency)
### 3.2 Engagement Gap Analysis

## 4. Communications Plan (PMBOK 7th Edition)
### 4.1 Communication Schedule (Information Need, Format, Frequency, Owner, Escalation Path)
### 4.2 Escalation Procedures

## 5. RACI Matrix

## 6. Stakeholder Risks and Mitigations

## 7. Standards Traceability

## Appendix A: Glossary
## Appendix B: Revision History

Common Pitfalls

• Identifying only obvious stakeholders (sponsors, users) and missing regulators, operators, or domain experts who surface late in the project
• Classifying all stakeholders as "High Power / High Interest," which dilutes engagement focus and overloads communication plans
• Producing a communication plan without assigned owners, making it unenforceable
• Omitting the RACI matrix, which leads to ambiguous accountability during requirements reviews
• Making stakeholder classifications without grounding them in context file evidence

Verification Checklist

• All required input files were read and logged
• All eight stakeholder categories were evaluated (with gaps flagged where applicable)
• Every stakeholder has a Power/Interest quadrant assignment with rationale
• Influence and Impact scores use the defined H/M/L scale (and optional 1-5 numeric scale) consistently
• Every stakeholder has Current Engagement and Desired Engagement populated using PMBOK 7th levels
• Every stakeholder has an Impact Map Role assigned (Goal / Actor / Deliverable)
• All stakeholders where Current ≠ Desired Engagement are flagged with [GAP: Engagement gap]
• Communications Plan specifies Information Need, Format, Frequency, Owner, and Escalation Path for every stakeholder
• Every stakeholder with Desired engagement = Supportive or Leading has at least one active communication channel
• RACI matrix has exactly one "A" per activity row
• Resistant stakeholders are flagged with risk tags
• No subjective adjectives appear without a defined metric or evidence reference
• Standards Traceability section maps to IEEE 29148 Section 6.2

Integration

Standards Compliance

Resources

• references/stakeholder-map-template.md -- Power/Interest grid template with quadrant definitions
• references/raci-matrix.md -- RACI matrix template with usage guide