A stakeholder is a person or group in a community that has an interest in your project or is affected by its outcome. The stakeholder cube is a stakeholder classification model that helps you group stakeholders to analyze and create an effective engagement strategy.
It uses three dimensions to provide a comprehensive understanding of each stakeholder’s role and attitude.
In today’s blog post, I will explain the stakeholder cube, its importance, how to build it, and how it differs from other stakeholder classification models.
What Is the Stakeholder Cube?
The Stakeholder Cube is a 3D model for categorizing stakeholders using three important dimensions:
- Power: The ability of the stakeholder to influence project outcomes.
- Interest: The level of concern or involvement the stakeholder has regarding the project.
- Attitude: The stakeholder’s disposition towards the project, whether supportive, neutral, or resistant.
By mapping stakeholders onto this cube, each person or group takes a unique position based on the combination of these three attributes.
Since each dimension often uses three levels—high, medium, and low—this approach creates 27 distinct stakeholder archetypes.
This detailed classification helps you understand not just who their stakeholders are, but also how much they can influence the project, how engaged they are, and how they feel about it. With this insight, you can design targeted engagement strategies that improve cooperation and reduce risks to project success.
Importance of the Stakeholder Cube Model
The Stakeholder Cube offers a more detailed and practical approach than traditional 2D models like the Power–Interest Grid.
This stakeholder classification model is important for the following reasons:
- Granular Insights: Attitude adds context by showing how stakeholders feel, not just their capacity and concern.
- Better Prioritization: It helps distinguish stakeholders who share power and interest but differ in supportiveness.
- Strategic Engagement: It guides targeted outreach, such as converting resistant but powerful stakeholders or supporting low-profile yet influential allies.
By capturing these details, you can use resources more effectively, build stronger relationships, and improve stakeholder buy-in. This leads to better communication, reduced conflicts, and higher chances of project success.
How to Build and Use a Stakeholder Cube
You can follow the following five steps to build your stakeholder cube:
Step 1: Identify Stakeholders
Start by listing all individuals or groups that have any interest in your project or may be affected by its outcomes.
Step 2: Assess Along Three Axes
Evaluate each stakeholder based on three attributes:
- Power: High, Medium, or Low (their ability to influence the project).
- Interest: High, Medium, or Low (their level of involvement or concern).
- Attitude: Supportive, Neutral, or Resistant (their feelings towards the project).
Step 3: Map Stakeholders in the Cube
Place each stakeholder in the cube according to their power, interest, and attitude levels. This 3D mapping gives a clear view of where each person or group stands.
Step 4: Analyze Combinations
Look at specific combinations to determine your engagement approach:
- High Power + High Interest + Supportive = Key supporter (keep close collaboration).
- High Power + High Interest + Resistant = Potential blocker (apply targeted persuasion).
- Low Power + Low Interest + Neutral = Minimal engagement needed.
Step 5: Develop Engagement Strategies
Create tailored plans for each category. This may involve setting the right communication frequency, deciding how much to involve them, and using advocacy tactics where needed.
Step 6: Review and Update
Stakeholder attributes can change. Regularly reassess and adjust your cube to keep your engagement strategy relevant and effective throughout the project lifecycle.
How the Stakeholder Cube Differs from Other Stakeholder Classification Models?
Now we will see how other stakeholder classification models differs from stakeholder cube model:
Grid Based Models
Grid-based models, such as the Power–Interest Grid, classify stakeholders using two dimensions: Power (ability to influence the project) and Interest (level of concern or involvement).
They are simple, quick to use, and help prioritize stakeholders for communication and engagement. However, they do not show how stakeholders feel about the project. The Stakeholder Cube adds a third dimension—Attitude—to reveal whether a stakeholder is supportive, neutral, or resistant.
This extra detail provides a more complete picture, allowing project managers to design targeted engagement strategies that consider both the stakeholder’s influence and emotional stance toward the project.
Salience Model
The Salience Model classifies stakeholders using Power, Legitimacy, and Urgency to determine their importance and the need for attention. It focuses on identifying stakeholders who require immediate action or hold strong ethical or legal claims.
The Stakeholder Cube, however, uses Power, Interest, and Attitude to provide a detailed, three-dimensional view of stakeholder influence, involvement, and feelings toward the project.
While the Salience Model prioritizes based on rights and urgency, the Stakeholder Cube emphasizes engagement strategy by considering emotional stance. This makes the cube more effective for tailoring communication and managing relationships throughout the project lifecycle.
Direction of Influence
The Direction of Influence Model classifies stakeholders based on the direction they influence the project—upward (senior management), downward (team members), outward (external parties), or sideways (peers). It focuses on understanding influence flow within and outside the project environment.
The Stakeholder Cube, on the other hand, uses Power, Interest, and Attitude to map stakeholders in a 3D space, showing their influence, involvement, and feelings toward the project.
While the Direction of Influence Model helps identify relationship dynamics, the Stakeholder Cube offers a more comprehensive view for engagement planning by combining influence level, concern, and emotional stance.
Summary
The stakeholder cube is a powerful tool that helps you understand and manage your stakeholders effectively. By mapping stakeholders using power, interest, and attitude, you get a clear and complete picture of their role in your project. This model allows you to create tailored engagement strategies that improve communication, build trust, and reduce risks.
Unlike other simpler models, it captures both influence and emotions, making your approach more targeted. Use it regularly to keep your stakeholder management effective and up to date.
Further Reading:
I am Mohammad Fahad Usmani, B.E. PMP, PMI-RMP. I have been blogging on project management topics since 2011. To date, thousands of professionals have passed the PMP exam using my resources.
