37 FORCEFIELD ANALYSIS

A forcefield analysis is an instrument to map what the power and position of different stakeholders
are. With this analysis you can make an estimation how stakeholders will position themselves and
what the influence will most likely be on the total process. In order to map this interest you can ask
yourself the following questions:

• Which power resources do the stakeholders have at their disposal (such as formal position,
role in decision making, money, information, supporters, attention in the media etc.)?
• Are the stakeholders influential?- this is linked to the way power resources are being used
• Are the interests of the stakeholders similar or conflicting?
• Is there a relation based on trust with the stakeholders?
• Are the stakeholders part of relevant/influential networks?
• What are the expectations the stakeholders has regarding the process?
• What is the effort and attitude of the stakeholders (positive/negative, nuanced/black-and-
white)?

You can produce a forcefield analysis together with your stakeholders. A first step would be
preliminary research, for example on the basis of interviews with stakeholders. What sometimes
works well is asking them how they perceive the situation, however also what they think this would
be for other parties. The total of interviews provides a good overview of the most striking results. All
relevant information is then collected and processed in a scheme. For this you can also attribute a
weighing to the separate criteria/subjects, so one counts more than the other. A scheme could then
look like this:

Power Interests Trust Expectation Position in Attitude

resources networks
Stakeholder Knowledge Y, y, z +++ Better Relation 
A process with B
Stakeholder Budget of € A, b,c + More Relation 
B 10.000 turnover with A
……. Material -- Extra tasks With 
nobody

As you can see from the description above, a forcefield analysis has many similarities with a power-
interest matrix or the stakeholder salience model (see building block 34 and 35). This analysis is a
more extended version of these tools, in which elements such as trust, expectations and attitude
play a role- factors that are not explicitly discussed in these other stakeholder analysis tools.

Source: Verbinden met vertrouwen, Nuiver, Reijerkerk et al. (2008), page 32-33