Stakeholder Categories
Learn to identify and engage with primary, external, internal, and secondary stakeholders critical for your organization or project's success.
byTam M. | reviewed 04/01/2023
Primary stakeholders have a direct stake in your organisation or project. Learn how to identify primary stakeholders and the difference between primary and secondary, social and non-social stakeholders.
Who are External Stakeholders and why are they important? Often wielding the most influence on project success they can cause chaos if not identified and managed early. This guide includes a FREE External Stakeholder Map to download.
Internal Stakeholders are groups or individuals who work within an organisation or project. Find out how to identify your
internal stakeholders. Internal Stakeholders are often given most weight when measuring the success of a project or initiative. For this reason it is important to identify and engage with possibly the most important stakeholder group -
internal stakeholders.
Secondary Stakeholders have an indirect relationship with a company. They tend to not be employees or directors and don't have any direct engagement with a company, but can still be influential. For example a group representing a companies' shareholders could be thought of as a secondary stakeholder.
Identifying your project stakeholders is key to your project's success. Stakeholders can champion your project and help drive success, but they can also be very effective saboteurs. Read this guide to finding your project stakeholders.