¿Qué es la participación de las partes interesadas?
Stakeholder engagement refers to building and maintaining relationships with individuals, groups or communities interested in your organization's activities, decisions, and outcomes. These include local communities, businesses, landowners, Indigenous communities, governments, NGOs, etc.
Why is effective stakeholder engagement essential?
Effective stakeholder engagement is fundamental to the success of any organization or project. Actively engaging stakeholders not only helps to anticipate and address concerns through valuable insights but also provides the following benefits to your project:
- Risk management: Engaging with stakeholders helps you identify potential risks, allowing you to take proactive steps to mitigate them.
- Improved decision-making: By considering diverse perspectives, you can make more informed decisions that are better aligned with your stakeholders' needs and interests.
- Enhanced reputation: Stakeholder engagement demonstrates your commitment to transparency, accountability, and social responsibility, which can improve your organization's reputation and credibility.
- Increased trust and strong relationships: Open communication and stakeholder collaboration can build trust and foster a sense of community, leading to stronger relationships and greater loyalty.
How to do stakeholder engagement?
To help you, we've developed a 6-step starter kit for getting started with stakeholder engagement.
Paso 1: Identifique a sus principales interesados
Begin by creating a comprehensive list of stakeholders involved in or affected by your project or initiative. This is called stakeholder mapping.
Having trouble identifying your stakeholders? Our blog 9 Questions to Help Identify Your Stakeholders might help →
You now want to rank stakeholders based on their influence, interest, and importance to the project's success. Then, segment stakeholders based on their needs, concerns, and required levels of engagement. This is called stakeholder analysis.
Understanding the unique needs of each stakeholder group allows you to tailor your stakeholder engagement plan to better target specific groups with relevant information. Not all stakeholders need to be engaged in the same way.
An essential part of the stakeholder analysis process is choosing each stakeholder group's engagement level. The Spectrum of Public Participation, developed by the International Association for Public Participation (IAP2), identifies five different levels of participation:
- Inform
- Consult
- Involve
- Collaborate, and
- Empower
This tool is valuable for guiding your stakeholder engagement and determining the engagement levels you'll assign to each group.
Step 2: Understand your stakeholders ' interests
Once you've identified your stakeholders, research their interests and concerns and what will drive their behaviours and attitudes. Look at media articles and social media comments. By assessing your stakeholders, you can tailor your engagement approach (step 3) to address their needs and expectations.
Para evaluar los intereses de las partes interesadas, pregúntese
- What are their needs and expectations?
- What do they hope to achieve from engaging with your organization?
- What are their goals, objectives, or priorities?
- How might they be impacted by our decisions or actions?
- Are there potential benefits or risks associated with your project or initiative?
- How will stakeholders be affected by the outcome of your decision-making process?
- Are there any potential conflicts of interest?
- Do stakeholders have competing interests or loyalties that could impact their engagement with your organization?
Paso 3: Elaborar un plan de participación de las partes interesadas
A stakeholder engagement plan outlines how you and your team will engage with your stakeholders to achieve positive project outcomes.
Your stakeholder engagement plan should include:
- Goal(s): Your desired outcomes
- Record keeping: How you'll record your data (for consistency and ease of collaboration)
- Key messaging: What's important for your stakeholders to know
- Communication channels: The tactics for connecting with your stakeholders (e.g., information sheets, town halls, emails, social media, etc.)
- Timelines: Projected engagement touchpoints and a schedule for the frequency of communication with stakeholders or decision-makers
- Feedback tools: How you plan to collect data and responses
- Reporting: How you'll report back internally and to stakeholders
Our free eBook, The Beginner's Guide to Stakeholder Engagement, explains what a good stakeholder engagement plan should include in more detail →
Paso 4: Empezar a implicar a las partes interesadas
If positive relationships are essential to your project's success, you need to start engaging with stakeholders as soon as possible. It's never too early to start building relationships with stakeholders and communities.
Si las partes interesadas se sienten excluidas del proceso, es posible que se lleven un mal sabor de boca y se queden descontentas y desvinculadas. El objetivo es que las partes interesadas se enteren del proyecto por ti, no por Internet o por los temidos rumores.
Stakeholder relationships are not "one and done." You could reencounter the same stakeholders on another project, so focus on building good relationships with all stakeholders from the beginning.
Cuando empieces a participar, céntrate en ayudar a los interesados a entender mejor tu proyecto, sé abierto y sincero y trata de educar. Quiere que los interesados se sientan incluidos en el proceso, no solo que se les dice lo que está pasando sin darles opciones.
Hay algunas cosas clave para las que tiene que estar preparado a la hora de relacionarse con sus interlocutores:
- Comunicación coherente de los mensajes clave
- Respuesta a preguntas y comentarios
- Tratamiento de problemas o preocupaciones actuales o potenciales
- Hacer compromisos o promesas que debe acordarse de cumplir
Step 5: Track your stakeholder engagement
Tracking your interactions with stakeholders is essential to ensuring the effectiveness of your engagement efforts. Specialized stakeholder engagement data management tools, such as Stakeholder Relationship Management software (SRM), are made to help you keep track of your stakeholder relationships and communications quickly and collaboratively.
Want more information on engagement tracking? Read our eight steps to effective stakeholder engagement tracking blog →
By tracking your stakeholder engagement, you can:
- Comprender los temas y asuntos comunes que son importantes para las partes interesadas
- Identifique los riesgos con antelación para poder resolverlos de forma proactiva.
- Garantizar que todos los datos y conocimientos se conservan y no se pierden cuando las personas abandonan el equipo o la organización.
- Disponer de medios para demostrar responsabilidad y transparencia a las partes interesadas.
- Informar sobre futuras estrategias y planificación de la participación
Cuando te comprometes de forma coherente, respetuosa y transparente, puedes trabajar para crear confianza entre las partes interesadas y relaciones duraderas.
Paso 6: Supervisar y evaluar los esfuerzos de participación de las partes interesadas
Monitor and assess your efforts regularly to ensure they are effective and meet their intended goals. Consider things like:
- Opiniones y porcentajes de respuesta
- Cambios en las percepciones o actitudes de las partes interesadas
- Avances hacia los objetivos definidos en el plan de participación de las partes interesadas.
La participación de las partes interesadas puede ser complicada, y las cosas pueden cambiar rápidamente. A medida que se ejecuta el plan, inevitablemente surgirán imprevistos y habrá que modificarlo para que todo siga avanzando y cumplir el objetivo fijado al principio.
Sea lo suficientemente flexible con sus plazos para adaptarse a los cambios, como los plazos de respuesta o las tácticas de compromiso. Asegúrese de haber previsto cierta flexibilidad en los plazos fijados. No tenga miedo de revisar su plan para asegurarse de que puede cumplir el objetivo.
What are some tips for stakeholder engagement success?
- Gain buy-in internally - if your senior team doesn't understand the plan, that can also put your project at risk.
- Ensure information security - collaborate seamlessly across devices from wherever you may be - whether you're in the office, on the go, or making last-minute changes before your next meeting.
- Make engagement inclusive - plan for inclusive engagement to minimize barriers to engagement.
- Be authentic - always be genuine and transparent in your stakeholder interactions.
Remember, stakeholder engagement is an ongoing process that requires commitment, effort, and resources. But the rewards are well worth it - stronger relationships, increased social capital, improved outcomes, and a more sustainable future.
