2.1 Tasks

2.1.2 Identify and Understand the Stakeholders

Guide to Business Data Analytics

IIBA.org KnowledgeHub Guide to Business Data Analytics 2. Business Data Analytics Domains and Tasks 2.1 Identify the Research Questions 2.1.2 Identify and Understand the Stakeholders

Supporting Knowledge

BABOK® Guide

A Guide to the Business Analysis Body of Knowledge® (BABOK® Guide)

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BABOK® Applied

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Identifying and understanding stakeholders allows analysts to actively engage and collaborate with the variety of stakeholders involved in an analytics initiative. Each stakeholder group:

articulates different needs and objectives,
poses different types of research questions,
is interested in different volumes and timings of analytics results,
holds different skillsets for interpreting those results, and
possesses different levels of education in, and experience with, analytics.

Understanding the unique characteristics of each stakeholder group increases the analysts' effectiveness with each group. Before an initiative starts, analysts seek to answer the following questions:

Who are the stakeholders?
What is their level of knowledge about analytics?
What aspect of the project is of interest to them?
What communication methods and techniques are appropriate?
When should stakeholders be communicated to?

It is critical to understand the custodians and consumers of data to identify the relevant stakeholders for an analytics initiative.

When identifying and understanding stakeholders, analysts use techniques such as brainstorming, interviews, or reviewing process flows and organizational charts.

In an analytics initiative, it is critical to have a data view of the business problem where analysts try to understand who:

is creating the relevant information,
is exposed to the data created within the organization, and
are the decision-makers being influenced by the insights derived from the data.

Analysts use models such as stakeholder matrices and onion diagrams to depict aspects of their stakeholders. Analysts also create models to show how the organization’s strategic goals relate to the organizational goals and objectives and the stakeholders or stakeholder groups impacted. They create or review personas to gain a deeper understanding of stakeholders. Facilitation and communication skills, along with knowledge about the business or specific organizations, help analysts perform stakeholder identification.