Strategy
Stakeholder
Plain English
Anyone who has an interest in the outcome.
Definition
A stakeholder is any individual or group with an interest in a product, project, or outcome, including internal teams and external parties.
In practice
Stakeholders influence decisions, priorities, and requirements throughout a project.
In context
The important distinction is between people who are consulted and people who can stop the work. Discovering the second group late is how projects lose a month.
The reality
Stakeholders often have conflicting goals, which creates tension in decision-making.
Compared with
Stakeholder vs User
A stakeholder has an interest in the outcome. A user has to live with the thing. They overlap sometimes and conflict often, and a glossaryProcessA process is a defined sequence of steps used to achieve a specific outcome.Open glossary term that treats stakeholder opinion as a proxy for user need will ship the wrong product confidently.
FAQ
Common questions
A few practical answers to the questions that usually come up around this term.
What is a stakeholder?
A stakeholder is anyone with an interest in a project or product.
Who are examples of stakeholders?
Customers, teams, executives, and partners.
Why are stakeholders important?
They influence decisions and outcomes.
What challenges do stakeholders create?
Conflicting priorities and expectations.
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