Facilitation Mapping tool
Assesses competing stakeholder claims through power, legitimacy, and urgency while making attributes and assessor perspective visible.
The Salience Model describes which claims management prioritises. Power, legitimacy, and urgency are assessed per claim and context; the resulting class is a dated perception rather than a moral ranking of people.
Which stakeholder claims possess power, legitimacy, and urgency in this decision, and what attention follows?
Stakeholder Salience Model uses three separate attributes per stakeholder claim and a derived salience class. Assessments remain justified and context-bound.
Frame claims
State each stakeholder and concrete claim for one bounded decision.
Assess attributes
Assess power, legitimacy, and urgency for each claim using definitions and evidence.
Set attention
Derive the salience class, add a rights check, and choose an appropriate response.
Reassess attributes when claims, power bases, or deadlines change, retaining prior classifications.
Useful when claims compete for limited attention. Add relationships, rights, and impact for engagement planning.
salience map with traceable sources, assumptions, and domain decisions.
Owners, dates, and next review for salience map.
Fictional worked example
three separate attributes per stakeholder claim and a derived salience class as a precise working structure with a fictional example.
| Claim | Stakeholder claim | Power | Legitimacy | Urgency | Class and response |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shift-planning impact reviewDefinitive claim | Works council requests an impact review before rollout. | Co-determination rights can delay approval. | Statutory representation of affected employees. | Approval in three weeks; later review would be too late. | Definitive; immediate joint review, then reassess. |
The example demonstrates the domain logic of Stakeholder Salience Model; worksheets remain blank.
Mitchell, Agle & Wood: Toward a Theory of Stakeholder Identification and Salience
Start with the core question: Which stakeholder claims possess power, legitimacy, and urgency in this decision, and what attention follows?
When stakeholders appear to matter very differently, the Stakeholder Salience Model rates their actual priority through power, legitimacy, and urgency. It turns individual contributions into a visible selection. The result is captured as a Salience diagram and a class-based strategy.
The participants check, for each relevant party, which of the three attributes actually apply, and weight their salience accordingly. This reads the environment not just by closeness or loudness, but by the strength of the claim within the specific initiative.
The Stakeholder Salience Model by Mitchell, Agle, and Wood uses three dimensions: power, legitimacy, and urgency. Their combinations form eight classes that deserve different levels of attention. It is often used in complex multi-stakeholder programs where power alone is too narrow a lens.
Define the three dimensions clearly. Discuss edge cases instead of smoothing them away. Keep the artifact confidential.
The method guide walks execution through 3 phases, timing, 3 pitfalls, and clear stop criteria.
Open method guideYour perspective
Your feedback helps shape the next improvements to methodatlas.
Plan Stakeholder Salience Model around its domain steps and the concrete decision question.
To be confirmed
To be confirmed
Full workshop Time: 45–60 minutes
Complete this worksheet on paper or in your own document during the work.
| Claim | Person/group · concrete claim · context | Coercive, utilitarian, or normative power base + evidence | Why is the claim appropriate or recognised? | Time sensitivity and criticality + evidence | Latent/expectant/definitive · attention · review |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shift-planning impact review |
Enter only real input, sources, and decisions.
Mitchell, Agle & Wood: Toward a Theory of Stakeholder Identification and Salience
Expected artifact: claim list
claim list · source · uncertainty · next decision
Entry:
...
Expected artifact: attribute profile
attribute profile · source · uncertainty · next decision
Entry:
...
Expected artifact: attention decision
attention decision · source · uncertainty · next decision
Entry:
...
...
Method guide: https://methodatlas.meierhoff-systems.de/en/methods/stakeholder-salience-model/run-sheet
Fitting alternatives with decision guidance, followed by other related methods.
Instead of Stakeholder Salience Model, choose Power Interest Grid when you want to sort stakeholders cleanly by influence and interest.
Makes goals, concerns, and open gaps visible so clarification steps can be planned deliberately.
Compares three perspectives in a shared picture and makes overlaps as visible as differences.
Clarifies purpose, roles, and working rules in a charter that makes collaboration tangible and verifiable.
Condenses individual ideas into clusters, themes, and priorities so consensus grows out of individual contributions.
Sharpens goal, core message, and arc of tension so a narrative leads clearly to action or decision.
