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.
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:
To help you, we've developed a 6-step starter kit for getting started with stakeholder engagement.
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:
This tool is valuable for guiding your stakeholder engagement and determining the engagement levels you'll assign to each group.
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
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:
Our free eBook, The Beginner's Guide to Stakeholder Engagement, explains what a good stakeholder engagement plan should include in more detail →
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:
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:
Cuando te comprometes de forma coherente, respetuosa y transparente, puedes trabajar para crear confianza entre las partes interesadas y relaciones duraderas.
Monitor and assess your efforts regularly to ensure they are effective and meet their intended goals. Consider things like:
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.
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.