Stakeholders

Stakeholder Analysis

At this point, if you have completed the sections on building relationships with intermediary community groups, identifying stakeholders, and reaching underrepresented groups, you should have a comprehensive, diverse list of stakeholders. It’s time to analyze the list. The stakeholder coordinator you identified during the capacity-building phase should spearhead this process.

Participation analysis--or stakeholder analysis, as it is sometimes called--seeks to identify all people, institutions, etc., involved in a project, in addition to the target group and the implementing agency. It then considers their expected support for or opposition to the project. This analysis is used at the preliminary stages of a project in order to incorporate interests and expectations of people and groups significant to a project.

Organizations and authorities at different levels and interest groups have different motives and interests. It is crucial to analyze these interests and expectations both early in the planning process and again when the project is being carried out. A fundamental requirement of all community development projects is that the objectives reflect the needs of the stakeholders and not merely the needs of institutions.

All parties that are likely to be affected by a community development project--positively or negatively, directly or indirectly--should be included in a process of sharing their views on the issues, potential for changes or improvements, results, and repercussions of changes. This procedure is generally carried out in a workshop setting, with representatives of key stakeholders. Role-playing may sometimes be employed as a way to better understand the positions of the various groups during the planning process.

Click here to download a form to help you through this process.

The ZOPP Approach

The ZOPP Approach, also known as the Goal Oriented Approach to Planning, provides a systematic structure for identifying, planning, and managing projects with principal interest groups.

1. Write down the names of all interest groups, institutions, individuals, organizations, and authorities that are:
• concerned in any way with the project
• located in the affected neighborhood or region
• hold a influential position (formal or informal)
• may be affected by the problems being addressed
2. Group the parties involved into categories, such as individuals, organizations, government, etc., to facilitate discussion and analysis.
3. Take a closer look at some of the groups.
   
   Select the most important--those expected to have particularly strong influence over the project and cannot be ignored.
   
   Analyze these groups according to:
• Characteristics: social (members, social background, religion, cultural aspects), status of the group (formal, informal, other), and structure (organization, leaders, etc.).
• The main problems affecting or facing the group (economic, ecological, cultural, etc.).
• The main needs and wishes, interests (openly expressed, hidden, vested), motives (hopes, expectations, fears), and attitudes (friendly, neutral, hostile) toward implementation.
• The potential in terms of both strengths (resources) and weaknesses of the group, and what the group could contribute or withhold from the project.
• The links that indicate the main conflicts of interests, patterns of cooperation, or dependency with other groups.
  
  It may be advantageous to define three categories: active, beneficiaries, and those affected.
4. Finally, Set priorities. Decide whose interests and views are to be given priority in addressing problems:
• Which groups need external assistance most?
• Which interest groups should be supported in order to ensure positive development? What kind of support would be beneficial?
• What conflicts may occur as the results of prioritizing the interests of certain groups? What measures can be taken to avoid such conflicts?
• Essentially, how will the city react to a group?