Key takeaways
- Stakeholder management aims to win support and resources for the architecture.
- Four steps: identify, classify positions, determine the approach, tailor engagement deliverables.
- Five typical categories: Corporate functions, End-user organization, Project organization, System operations, External.
- The power/interest grid gives four approaches: engage, satisfy, inform, minimal effort.
Why manage stakeholders
A successful architecture depends as much on people’s support as on technical quality. Running stakeholder management from the start, especially in Phase A, brings several concrete benefits.
- Spot the most influential players early and use their input to shape the architecture
- Win their support, which eases access to resources
- Communicate early and often so that everyone understands the approach and its benefits
- Anticipate reactions to models and reports, and prepare the response
- Detect competing objectives early and define a strategy to reconcile them
Four steps
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The technique follows a simple progression: first identify the stakeholders, then classify their positions, choose a management approach, and finally tailor the engagement deliverables (views, messages, rhythm) to each group. These steps feed the Stakeholder Map and the Communications Plan.
The classification is not fixed: a new stakeholder may appear during the cycle, for example an operations manager in Phase E, or a position may change after a reorganization. The analysis must then be updated, and views and messages adjusted, so that each group keeps receiving information that addresses its concerns at the right level of detail.
- 1. Identify stakeholders
- 2. Classify their positions (influence, attitude, interest)
- 3. Determine the management approach
- 4. Tailor engagement deliverables
Categories and the power/interest grid
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To avoid missing anyone during identification, TOGAF suggests walking through typical categories. Cross-cutting functions (executives, PMO, procurement, HR, quality) belong to Corporate functions; user business areas and data owners to the End-user organization; the delivery team to the Project organization; IT operations to System operations; suppliers and regulators to the External category.
The power/interest grid is then used to choose the approach. It crosses the power to influence with the level of interest in the architecture.
- High power, high interest: key players, to engage fully
- High power, low interest: keep satisfied
- Low power, high interest: keep informed
- Low power, low interest: minimal effort, with regular monitoring
TERMS TO KNOW
The terms, in context.
- Stakeholder
- A person, team, or organization with an interest in, or concerns about, the outcome of the architecture.
- Power/interest grid
- A matrix that classifies stakeholders by influence and interest to choose the approach.
- Key player
- A stakeholder with high power and high interest, to be fully engaged.
- Engagement deliverable
- A view, message, or medium tailored to the concerns of a stakeholder group.