A critical component of any change project is an evaluation of the stakeholders and determination of an effective communication plan to support successful implementation of the evidence-supported chan

Johns Hopkins Evidence-Based Practice Model for Nursing and Healthcare Professionals

Stakeholder Analysis and Communication Tool

Appendix C

Stakeholder Analysis
Identify the key stakeholders:
☐ Manager or direct supervisor ☐ Finance department ☐ Vendors ☐ Patients and/or families; patient and family advisory committee ☐ Professional organizations ☐ Committees				☐ Organizational leaders ☐ Interdisciplinary colleagues (e.g., physicians, nutritionists, respiratory therapists, or OT/PT) ☐ Administrators ☐ Other units or departments ☐ Others: ________________
Stakeholder analysis matrix: (Adapted from http://www.tools4dev.org/)
Stakeholder Name and Title:	Role: (select all that apply) Responsibility, Approval, Consult, Inform	Impact Level: How much does the project impact them? (minor, moderate, significant)	Influence Level: How much influence do they have over the project? (minor, moderate, significant)		What matters most to the stakeholder?	How could the stakeholder contribute to the project?	How could the stakeholder impede the project?	Strategy(s) for engaging the stakeholder:

Communication Planning
Refer to this section to guide your communications to stakeholders throughout and after completing the EBP project.
What is the purpose of the dissemination of the EBP project findings? (check all that apply)
☐ Raise awareness ☐ Promote action ☐ Change policy		☐ Change practice ☐ Engage stakeholders	☐ Inform stakeholders ☐ Other:________________
What are the 3 most important messages?

Align key message(s) and methods with audience:
Audience	Key Messages			Method	Timing
Interdisciplinary stakeholders
Organizational leadership
Frontline nurses
Departmental leadership
External community
Other

Directions for Use of the Stakeholder Analysis and Communication Tool

See Chapter 11, Lessons from Practice, for examples of completed tools.

Purpose:

The EBP team uses this form to identify key stakeholders. Key stakeholders are persons, groups, or departments that have an interest in, concern about, or stake in your project. This may include approval, subject matter expertise, or resources. Communicate with stakeholders early in the process and keep them updated on progress to ensure their buy-in for implementation.

Because stakeholders may change at different steps of the process, we recommend that you review this form as you proceed from step to step in your action plan.

The communication planning section is useful to promote communication throughout the EBP project process. Ideally, complete the communication section toward the end of the EBP project when the team has identified organization-specific recommendations.

Identify the key stakeholders (broad categories):

Consider the various areas, departments, groups, or organizations that may be impacted by or have influence over the proposed practice change.

Stakeholder analysis matrix:

Using the prompts from above, identify the five to seven stakeholders who can most affect (or who will be most affected by) the results and who can influence the success of the translation work. Consider which of the four roles each stakeholder may play in your action planning and translation work. The possible roles are:

Responsibility – Completes identified tasks. Recommending authority
Approval – Signs off on recommendations. May veto
Consult – Provides input (e.g., subject matter experts). No decision-making authority
Inform – Notified of progress and changes. No input on decisions

Remember that one stakeholder may fill different roles, depending on the action. Completion of the Stakeholder Analysis Tool will help clarify roles and responsibilities. The descriptions of responsibilities for each role provided on the form will be helpful in this process.

EBP teams should consider the amount of impact the project may have on the stakeholder and the amount of influence the stakeholder can have on the project’s success. Identifying the ways the stakeholder can both contribute to and impede the project’s success as well as how best to engage the stakeholder allows teams to develop plans to optimize the best outcomes.

Align key message(s) and methods with audience:

Audience: Think about the project recommendations. Identify the end users—who is your audience? Revisit the Stakeholder Analysis Tool above to confirm stakeholders and key messages they need to receive. What do you want the target audience(s) to hear, know, and understand?

Key Messages: Messages should be clear, succinct, personalized to the audience, benefit-focused, actionable, and repeated 3-6 different

times and ways.

Method: Communication can occur on many levels using varying strategies.

Internal dissemination methods can include newsletters, internal website, private social media groups, journal clubs, grand rounds, staff meetings, tool kits, podcasts, and lunch-and-learns.
External dissemination can be in the form of conference poster and podium presentations, peer-reviewed articles, opinion pieces, letters to the editor, book chapters, interviews, or social media (blogs, Twitter, YouTube).

Timing: When will your message have the most impact? Consider the audience and time communication when the content may be most relevant to them and their priorities. Also, keep in mind events such as holidays and the academic calendar which can distract audiences’ attention.