Salience:
The degree to which a project manager prioritizes a Stakeholders need or expectation.
A problem facing project managers, especially in large projects, is how to communicate effectively with all the different stakeholders, who all have competing communication needs that they expect you, as the project manager, to fulfil. The Salience Model attempts to solve this problem by categorizing stakeholders according to their prominence. It works by rankingh stakeholders according to their power, legitimacy, and urgency.
Power: to influence the project deliverables or the organization
Legitimacy: of their interaction with the project and it’s appropriateness
Urgency: of their communication requirements
These categories overlap, and we acknowledge this by placing our stakeholders into the following Venn diagram:
As you can see, we have 7 categories of stakeholders in total (excluding non-stakeholders). We can write these groups in order of there prominence and the amount of attention you need to give each type of stakeholder as follows:
The classes of stakeholder which need special attention are those that overlap in the Venn diagram – 4, 5, 6 and 7. Class 4 (Dominant) stakeholders not only have the power but also have a legitimate claim for communication and thus their needs should be taken into account. Class 5 (Dangerous) stakeholders have the power, the need for time critical updates, but not the legitimacy. You need to pay special attention to these stakeholders and their needs as they could be dangerous to your project otherwise, possibly using their power and influence to build a concensus perception that your project is a failure. Class 6 (Dependent) stakeholders have the urgency and legitimacy but not the power – perhaps these stakeholders are part of your project team. These need to be kept informed. Their urgency and legitimacy can be a great asset to the project.
Class 7 (Definitive) stakeholders are the most important of all. They have the power, the right to demand urgency from you or the organization, and the legitimacy to demand the communication.
As a final note, remember that the different classes of stakeholder can be gained or lost over time, they are not static, so you may need to change how you communicate with different stakeholders as the project progresses.
Description of each Stakeholder type or class
Dormant stakeholders do not require active engagement. However, Project Managers need to recognize them because if these stakeholders acquire legitimacy or urgency, they can acquire more prominence (salience) for the project.
For example, employees who were laid off from the job could be a dormant stakeholders. But these stakeholder make acquire salience if they file a law suit against the company.
The charity organizations, schools and hospitals that receive funding from the organization are examples of discretionary stakeholders. They possess no power or urgency to their claims.
An employee asking for frequent raises outside of organization’s established policies is an example of a demanding stakeholder.
These are stakeholders that require active stakeholder engagement on the part of the project manager and the organization.
Expectant stakeholders can also be of 3 types - Dominant, Dependent, Dangerous- depending upon the combination of attributes - Power, Legitimacy, and Urgency - that they possess.
For example, in case of our large manufacturing plant setup, the local government is a dominant stakeholder in the project. They have the power and legitimacy, but no urgency as such.
For example, if the manufacturing plant is causing displacement of the local farmers in the area, then those farmers are “dependent” stakeholders in the project. They rely on other “powerful” stakeholders to uphold their interests. In our example, these powerful stakeholders could be non-profit NGOs, or even management of the company who are sensitive to the needs of the displaced farmers and offer them adequate compensation.
Though dependent stakeholders lack power, they can form coalitions with other groups of stakeholders and achieve power.
For example, a local mafia or terrorist organization may seek to sabotage the development in the region that the new manufacturing facility may bring.
The project team needs to recognize these dangerous stakeholders and the threat they bring, and devise a plan to mitigate the threat posed by these dangerous stakeholders to the project.
For example, the stockholders of the organization who are powerful and legitimate feel that the new manufacturing plant is going to adversely effect the stock prices (urgency), they may oppose the project.
Source: Stakeholder Salience https://www.stakeholdermap.com/stakeholder-analysis/stakeholder-salience.html
The degree to which a project manager prioritizes a Stakeholders need or expectation.
A problem facing project managers, especially in large projects, is how to communicate effectively with all the different stakeholders, who all have competing communication needs that they expect you, as the project manager, to fulfil. The Salience Model attempts to solve this problem by categorizing stakeholders according to their prominence. It works by rankingh stakeholders according to their power, legitimacy, and urgency.
Power: to influence the project deliverables or the organization
Legitimacy: of their interaction with the project and it’s appropriateness
Urgency: of their communication requirements
These categories overlap, and we acknowledge this by placing our stakeholders into the following Venn diagram:
As you can see, we have 7 categories of stakeholders in total (excluding non-stakeholders). We can write these groups in order of there prominence and the amount of attention you need to give each type of stakeholder as follows:
The classes of stakeholder which need special attention are those that overlap in the Venn diagram – 4, 5, 6 and 7. Class 4 (Dominant) stakeholders not only have the power but also have a legitimate claim for communication and thus their needs should be taken into account. Class 5 (Dangerous) stakeholders have the power, the need for time critical updates, but not the legitimacy. You need to pay special attention to these stakeholders and their needs as they could be dangerous to your project otherwise, possibly using their power and influence to build a concensus perception that your project is a failure. Class 6 (Dependent) stakeholders have the urgency and legitimacy but not the power – perhaps these stakeholders are part of your project team. These need to be kept informed. Their urgency and legitimacy can be a great asset to the project.
Class 7 (Definitive) stakeholders are the most important of all. They have the power, the right to demand urgency from you or the organization, and the legitimacy to demand the communication.
As a final note, remember that the different classes of stakeholder can be gained or lost over time, they are not static, so you may need to change how you communicate with different stakeholders as the project progresses.
Description of each Stakeholder type or class
Dormant Stakeholders (Have Power - but No Legitimacy or Urgency)
The stakeholders who only possess power but have no legitimacy or urgency are known as Dormant Stakeholders.Dormant stakeholders do not require active engagement. However, Project Managers need to recognize them because if these stakeholders acquire legitimacy or urgency, they can acquire more prominence (salience) for the project.
For example, employees who were laid off from the job could be a dormant stakeholders. But these stakeholder make acquire salience if they file a law suit against the company.
Discretionary Stakeholders (Have Legitimacy - but No Power or Urgency)
The stakeholders who are legitimate but have no power, and their interests are not urgent are considered Discretionary Stakeholders. A stakeholder may be legitimate but unless the stakeholder has power or need urgent attention, they would not receive the attention of the project manager.The charity organizations, schools and hospitals that receive funding from the organization are examples of discretionary stakeholders. They possess no power or urgency to their claims.
Demanding Stakeholders (Have Urgency - but No Power or Legitimacy)
Demanding stakeholders are those who have urgent demands, but no power or legitimacy. They create “noise” and can be irritants, but are not dangerous to the project as they lack the power and legitimacy (which together equals authority), and unlikely to command much attention.An employee asking for frequent raises outside of organization’s established policies is an example of a demanding stakeholder.
Expectant Stakeholders (Have any 2 or the 3 attributes)
Expectant stakeholders are those who possess any 2 of the 3 attributes - Power, Legitimacy, and Urgency. These are stakeholders who are “expecting something” from the project. Such stakeholders usually have an “active” stance to the project, compared to the “passive” stance of dormant stakeholders.These are stakeholders that require active stakeholder engagement on the part of the project manager and the organization.
Expectant stakeholders can also be of 3 types - Dominant, Dependent, Dangerous- depending upon the combination of attributes - Power, Legitimacy, and Urgency - that they possess.
Dominant Stakeholders (Have Power and Legitimacy - but No Urgency)
Dominant stakeholders are those who possess both power and legitimacy, but not urgency. These stakeholder have legitimate stakes in the project and also possess the power to act on those stakes. These are stakeholder that “matter” to the project manager. The project manager needs to actively engage these stakeholders and have a strategy to manage these stakeholders.For example, in case of our large manufacturing plant setup, the local government is a dominant stakeholder in the project. They have the power and legitimacy, but no urgency as such.
Dependent Stakeholders (Have Urgent and Legitimacy - but No Power)
Dependent stakeholders lack power but have urgent and legitimate stakes in the project.For example, if the manufacturing plant is causing displacement of the local farmers in the area, then those farmers are “dependent” stakeholders in the project. They rely on other “powerful” stakeholders to uphold their interests. In our example, these powerful stakeholders could be non-profit NGOs, or even management of the company who are sensitive to the needs of the displaced farmers and offer them adequate compensation.
Though dependent stakeholders lack power, they can form coalitions with other groups of stakeholders and achieve power.
Dangerous Stakeholders (Have Power and Urgency - but no Legitimacy)
Stakeholder who possess power and urgency but do not possess the legitimacy to their claims, are considered dangerous stakeholders. Such stakeholders can be coercive or even violent in some cases.For example, a local mafia or terrorist organization may seek to sabotage the development in the region that the new manufacturing facility may bring.
The project team needs to recognize these dangerous stakeholders and the threat they bring, and devise a plan to mitigate the threat posed by these dangerous stakeholders to the project.
Definitive Stakeholders (Have Power, Legitimacy and Urgency)
Stakeholders who possess power and legitimacy, and have an urgent need are known as definitive stakeholders. They demand the utmost attention from the project manager and need to be attended to in a timely manner.For example, the stockholders of the organization who are powerful and legitimate feel that the new manufacturing plant is going to adversely effect the stock prices (urgency), they may oppose the project.
Source: Stakeholder Salience https://www.stakeholdermap.com/stakeholder-analysis/stakeholder-salience.html
