A stakeholder is anyone who can affect, or be affected by, an organisation, project, strategy or decision. Stakeholders may be individuals or groups, internal or external, powerful or apparently powerless, supportive or opposed.
Stakeholder definition and meaning
The word stakeholder describes a person, group or organisation with an interest in, influence over, or exposure to the outcome of an activity. In project management, this can include people who approve the work, deliver it, use its outputs, fund it, regulate it or live with its consequences.
A stakeholder is anybody who can affect or is affected by an organisation, strategy or project. They can be internal or external and at senior or junior levels. stakeholdermap.com
This broad definition is useful because it includes people who may have little formal authority but can still determine whether a change succeeds. Frontline employees, customers, service users, local communities and support teams can all affect adoption, reputation and long-term value.
A stakeholder is not the same as a shareholder. A shareholder owns shares in a company. A stakeholder may have no ownership at all, but can still influence or be affected by the organisation's actions.
Examples of stakeholders
Stakeholders vary by organisation and project. The following examples show how broad the group can be.
Internal stakeholders
- Employees and frontline users
- Project managers and project teams
- Senior leaders and board members
- Finance, HR, legal and IT teams
- Product owners and operational managers
- Trade union or staff representatives
External stakeholders
- Customers and service users
- Suppliers, contractors and partners
- Regulators and government bodies
- Investors, lenders and shareholders
- Local communities and interest groups
- Media, professional bodies and campaigners
Examples in different contexts
| Context | Typical stakeholders |
|---|---|
| IT implementation | Users, IT support, information security, data protection, suppliers, customers and senior sponsors |
| Construction project | Client, contractors, planners, neighbours, local authority, regulators, utilities and future users |
| Organisational change | Employees, managers, HR, trade unions, customers, partners, regulators and communications teams |
| Public service | Citizens, service users, elected representatives, taxpayers, charities, staff and funding bodies |
For longer industry-specific examples, see our list of 105 stakeholders, project stakeholders, construction stakeholders and IT project stakeholders.
Types of stakeholders
Stakeholders can be grouped in several ways. These categories help you organise a long list before carrying out detailed analysis.
Internal and external stakeholders
Internal stakeholders sit within the organisation, while external stakeholders sit outside its formal boundary. Both can have high or low influence and both can support or oppose a project.
Primary and secondary stakeholders
- Primary stakeholders are directly affected, such as employees using a new system or residents affected by construction.
- Secondary stakeholders are affected more indirectly, such as professional bodies, media or internal support functions.
Key stakeholders
Key stakeholders are the people or groups whose support, resources, authority or influence is especially important. They may be primary or secondary stakeholders. A senior sponsor may be a key stakeholder because of formal authority, while a respected frontline employee may be key because colleagues trust their opinion.
How leading stakeholder definitions differ
There is no single definition used in every discipline. The main difference is whether a stakeholder must have power to influence an organisation, or whether being affected is enough.
| Source | Main idea | Practical effect |
|---|---|---|
| R. Edward Freeman | Includes groups or individuals who can affect, or are affected by, organisational objectives. | Creates a broad and inclusive stakeholder list. |
| Eden and Ackermann | Focuses on people or groups with enough power to respond, negotiate or influence strategic change. | Prioritises influential stakeholders but may omit less powerful affected groups. |
| John Bryson | Emphasises claims on an organisation's attention, resources or outputs, including those affected by them. | Useful for public, nonprofit and socially accountable decision-making. |
| Project and programme management | Usually includes people or organisations that can influence the work or experience its outcomes. | Connects stakeholder identification directly to project risk, governance and delivery. |
| stakeholdermap.com | Anyone who can affect or be affected by an organisation, strategy or project. | Provides a practical starting point before prioritising through stakeholder analysis. |
A narrow definition can make a stakeholder list easier to manage, but it increases the risk of overlooking people who are affected without having formal authority. A broad definition is usually safer at the identification stage; you can prioritise later using a stakeholder matrix or stakeholder analysis.
Why your stakeholder definition matters
The way you define who counts as a stakeholder shapes every later decision about analysis, communication and engagement. If you list only senior decision-makers, you may miss the people who determine whether the project works after implementation.
A broad definition helps you:
- Spot hidden risks by including people who may resist, delay or undermine adoption.
- Find potential champions who can explain benefits and influence colleagues.
- Improve decisions by including operational knowledge and different perspectives.
- Protect trust and reputation by considering people who are affected but not always heard.
- Plan realistic engagement rather than communicating only with formal governance groups.
A practical example
Call centre employees may have little influence over the purchase of a new CRM system, but they can determine whether it delivers value. If the system is difficult to use, training is poor or the team does not adopt its full capabilities, benefits and return on investment may not be achieved. These employees are therefore important stakeholders even if they did not approve the project.
How to identify stakeholders
Start by defining the project, decision or change you are considering. Then bring together people who understand the work and use the techniques below to build your stakeholder list. Capture anyone who can influence the outcome or will experience its effects. You can prioritise them later through stakeholder analysis.
Useful identification techniques
Brainstorming
Ask someone to be the scribe and capture every name, organisation or type of stakeholder the team can think of. Alternatively, give everyone sticky notes and ask them to write one stakeholder on each note. After 10 to 15 minutes, put the notes on a wall or flipchart, group related names and discuss any gaps.
Mind mapping
Put your project or organisation in the centre of a whiteboard, flipchart or digital mind map. Add branches for stakeholder groups, then expand each branch into departments, teams and individuals. This helps you explore who sits behind broad labels such as “the client” or “the business”. See our example stakeholder mind map for an IT project.
Stakeholder lists
Compare your ideas with our list of 105 stakeholders. Pick out the people, departments and organisations relevant to your project, then add any specialist roles it does not cover. A generic list can jog your memory when the team runs out of ideas.
Previous projects and document review
Look through stakeholder maps, project plans, Project Initiation Documents (PIDs), risk logs and lessons learned from similar projects. Ask their project managers who they wish they had involved sooner.
Your current project's documents can reveal further names. Contracts identify suppliers and approval responsibilities, governance papers identify decision-makers, and process maps show which teams depend on each other's work.
Organisation charts and directories
Work through the organisation chart to find relevant departments and use the staff directory to identify contacts. Include the teams that will operate, maintain or support what the project delivers. If you are working for a client, check their organisation too. Company websites and professional profiles can help you find contacts outside your own organisation.
Interviews and workshops
Speak to sponsors, subject experts and frontline teams. Ask who they rely on, who relies on them and whose work will change. Finish by asking, “Who else should we speak to?” Our stakeholder identification questions provide more prompts for these conversations.
OGC stakeholder categories
Categories can help you spot gaps in your list or create the first branches of a mind map. The Office of Government Commerce (OGC) suggests four groups.
- Users and beneficiaries include people who will use the project's outputs or benefit from its results.
- Governance includes steering groups, project boards and others who oversee the work and approve decisions.
- Influencers include trade unions, the media and others who can shape opinion or support.
- Providers include suppliers, partners and others contributing resources or services.
Source: Office of Government Commerce, Managing Successful Programmes (2007), p. 51.
Check who is missing
Review the completed list with your team. Have you included people affected negatively, those with little formal authority and those who will feel the impact after handover? Confirm names and responsibilities, then revisit the list whenever the scope, delivery arrangements or people involved change.
Source: Office of Government Commerce, Managing Successful Programmes (2007), p. 51.
Remember that anybody affected positively or negatively should be included on your list. If you are in doubt, include the person or group. Consider people outside your organisation as well as those within it. Once you have identified your stakeholders, stakeholder analysis will help you decide where to focus your attention.
For a ready-made starting point, use the stakeholder management templates or our stakeholder list.
Worked example: who are the stakeholders in a university building project?
A university is putting up a new building for its Mathematics department. Estates is managing the work, Geography has to move and the builders will be working beside an exam hall. The architect, the builder and the two departments are easy to spot. Who else needs to know before the first drill starts?
Give everyone in the project team sticky notes and 10 to 15 minutes to write down one person or group per note. Then put the project in the middle of a whiteboard. The Office of Government Commerce suggests four categories you can use as branches of a mind map. Here is how each one helps on this project.
- Users and beneficiaries. Who uses the site now, and who will use it afterwards?
- Mathematics will occupy the building. Students sitting exams next door and residents who use a public right of way across campus also have a stake, even if they never set foot in the new building.
- Governance. Who can approve a change?
- If noisy work clashes with finals, can the Estates project manager move it, or does the project board have to agree? The answer tells you whose name to record.
- Influencers. Who will hear about a problem first?
- The students’ union may hear about disruption before the project team does. A neighbourhood forum can put the team in touch with residents who use the campus as a walking route.
- Providers. Who builds it, and who keeps it running?
- Builders, subcontractors and architects are on site during construction. Cleaning and maintenance teams inherit the building at handover. Put them on the map while they can still comment on the design.
Check the list against what will happen on site
Put the site plan beside the exam timetable. Now follow a student’s usual route from the campus entrance to the exam hall. Each time the work changes that journey, ask who is affected and who knows enough to help.
| What changes? | Who to add and why |
|---|---|
| Drilling starts beside the exam hall. | The Examinations Office knows when the room must be quiet. Students sitting papers there will feel the impact if the dates clash. |
| Site fencing closes a step-free route. | Disabled students and staff who use the route can say whether the proposed diversion works for them. The university’s disability team can help check access before the fence goes up. |
| Deliveries use a different campus entrance. | Campus security manages the gate. Local residents use the adjoining road, and emergency services may rely on the same entrance for access. |
One final check is to pull out the risk log or project plan from the last campus build and ask its project manager, “Who did you wish you had involved sooner?” Check named contacts against the staff directory, and ask Estates which planning or building control officers are involved. Those names are easy to miss on a university organisation chart.
Record each group and the reason it belongs in your stakeholder register. Beside “Examinations Office”, write “Check drilling dates against the exam timetable before the builder books the work.” Revisit the list when the programme or the site layout changes.
Adapted from chapter 1 of the Stakeholder Management ebook (7th edition, 2014). The four categories come from the Office of Government Commerce, Managing Successful Programmes (2007), p. 51.
Common stakeholder identification mistakes
- Listing only senior decision-makers. This overlooks users, support teams and people who experience the effects of the project.
- Treating “the business” as one stakeholder. Large organisations contain groups with different priorities, incentives and concerns.
- Ignoring opponents or sceptics. Resistance is easier to understand and manage when it is identified early.
- Assuming formal role equals attitude. Senior stakeholders are not always supportive and frontline staff are not always resistant.
- Forgetting indirect and future effects. Some stakeholders become important only after implementation or during business as usual.
- Failing to revisit the list. Power, interest and membership change throughout the project.
From stakeholder identification to engagement
Identification tells you who your stakeholders are. The next step is to understand what they need, how much influence they have and how you should involve them.
Stakeholder FAQs
Are shareholders the same as stakeholders?
No. Shareholders own shares in a company and are one stakeholder group. Stakeholders also include employees, customers, suppliers, regulators, communities and anyone else who can affect or be affected by an outcome.
Are employees always stakeholders?
Yes. Employees are affected by an organisation's strategy, performance, culture and change. Some employees may also be key stakeholders because their knowledge, influence or adoption is essential.
Do stakeholders have to be powerful?
No. Power is useful when prioritising engagement, but it should not decide who counts as a stakeholder. People with little formal power can still be highly affected or determine whether a change works in practice.
Can one person belong to several stakeholder groups?
Yes. A senior manager might be an executive decision-maker, a project-board member and a user of the new process. Your analysis should recognise these overlapping roles and interests.
How many stakeholders is too many?
There is no ideal number. Start with an inclusive list, then use stakeholder analysis to decide who requires close management, regular consultation, occasional updates or monitoring.
When should the stakeholder list be reviewed?
Review it at the start of each phase, after major decisions and whenever risks, scope, governance or delivery arrangements change. New stakeholders can appear and the influence of existing stakeholders can rise or fall.
References and further reading
- Bryson, J. (2004), What to Do When Stakeholders Matter, Public Management Review, 6(1), pp. 21–53.
- Eden, C. and Ackermann, F. (1998), Making Strategy: The Journey of Strategic Management, Sage.
- Freeman, R. E. (1984), Strategic Management: A Stakeholder Approach, Pitman.
- Mitchell, R. K., Agle, B. R. and Wood, D. J. (1997), “Toward a Theory of Stakeholder Identification and Salience”, Academy of Management Review, 22(4), pp. 853–886.