Stakeholder Cube Templates & Examples

What is a stakeholder? Simply put, stakeholders are people who are interested in your project’s success. This includes anyone vested in the result, including customers, managers, friends, and family. The Stakeholder Cube is a tool for understanding how different statements can affect these various stakeholders and their respective levels of satisfaction with your project.

It increases awareness of those around you and keeps everyone focused on the projects. It also ensures that the right people know; others will not be surprised when they hear about your project’s success or failures. I have included a detailed example of how to use the cube below to understand exactly what is involved in this process and see its value for yourself.

The best way to use the stakeholder model is to have a team of stakeholders work with you on its creation. That includes members of your organization, clients, and family or friends. This enables everyone’s different needs to be met and keeps everyone updated on what is happening with your project.

Stakeholder Cube Explanation

The Stakeholder Cube is created via stakeholder mapping. Stakeholder mapping is a process that determines who your stakeholders are and what levels of satisfaction they have with the project. It also allows you to figure out who will be affected by your project and those who may not care either way about it. The stakeholder model entails three parameters: power, influence, and interest.

Power

Power is the stakeholder’s “ability to make things happen the way they want.” While this is often quantifiable, it can be hard to measure. Power vs Interests are what stakeholders will gain or lose, while influence is how much power each stakeholder has in your project.

Influence

Influence is the second parameter of the Stakeholder model. It includes four sub-parameters, which are power, interests, communication, and actions. Power is relative to your project; you should document stakeholders who can affect conditions or outcomes related to it. Influencers could be projects leaders or even any potential impact on people not directly involved with the project.

Interests

Interests are the gains and losses stakeholders will experience as a result of your project. They include money, property, respect, and reputation. In our example, you can see that two of my stakeholders have no financial interest in this project at all. One does stand to lose respect from those who work for her because she did not take a project management class. One of my stakeholders could also be a financial gain involved in this project, but it is relatively small.

How to Create a Stakeholder Cube

It would be best if you created a cube by inputting data into Excel using four columns:

• Your list of stakeholders.
• Their level of satisfaction (include the plus and minus signs).
• Who will be affected by your project (if you can’t think of anyone, add this column in as well)?

Create your own copy of stakeholder cube here

Stakeholder Cube PMP Example

Stakeholder Cube Model FAQ

What is a stakeholder cube?

A stakeholder cube is a visual way to display information related to stakeholders. It provides valuable data that allows you to quantify this information and better understand your relationships with those around you.

What are the 3 I’s of stakeholders?

The three I’s of stakeholders include interest, influence, and involvement. They help determine how important a stakeholder is to your project and whether they need to be informed about it or not. Interests are the gains and losses stakeholders will experience as a result of your project. Influence is how much power each stakeholder has in your project. Involvement is how involved stakeholders are with it.

What is a stakeholder tool?

A stakeholder tool is a communication or analysis that connects stakeholders to your project. It allows you to understand their needs and how this information can be used effectively throughout the project’s life.

What is a stakeholder matrix used for?

A stakeholder matrix is a visual way of mapping your project and showing how it will affect others. It provides information regarding the people involved with your project and allows you to make decisions that meet everyone’s needs (at least as much as possible).

What are the five levels of stakeholder engagement?

The five levels of stakeholder engagement include unaware, resistant, neutral, supportive, and leading. The unaware level is when stakeholders are unaware of your project. The resistant level is when they feel threatened by the changes you are making to your project. They are not supporting it at all. Neutral-level stakeholders don’t care about your project, while supportive stakeholders are on board with whatever you’re doing. Leading-level stakeholders lead the rest of the group in supporting your project.

Stakeholder Cube vs Salience Model

The stakeholder cube and the salience model are two different ways of analyzing and understanding your project and its stakeholders. The Salience Model is a visual way to show how vital each stakeholder is. It shows who has power in your project and their interests, skills, and support levels.

The Stakeholder model is a visual way to map out how your project affects others. It provides information regarding the people involved and their importance to you. It also shows their interests, skills, and support levels for the project.

To choose which one of these tools will work best for you, ask yourself, ‘What am I trying to accomplish with my project?’ and ‘Who am I working with?’. The Salience Model will let you know which stakeholders are most important if you want to bring in more people interested in your project. On the other hand, if you want to understand how each person involved with your project is affected and how they feel about it, then the Stakeholder model will work best.

The two models are complementary and can be used together. While the Salience Model lets you know who your stakeholders are, their importance, and their levels of involvement, the Stakeholder Model shows how these people will be affected by your project and what to do with them specifically. So, using both tools allows you to better understand your projects and their stakeholders.

How can you use the Stakeholder Model and Salience Model together?

Using both models, you can map out how the people involved with your project feel about it. The Salience Model shows each stakeholder’s attitude towards your project and their levels of involvement. Meanwhile, the Stakeholder model tells you what information to collect for each stakeholder based on their attitude.

Once you have this information for both models, you can map out what each person wants from your project and get these things done. If someone is resistant, find out why by asking yourself, ‘What are they resisting?’ The salience model will help you determine the best way to communicate with them.