A stakeholder engagement plan is a strategic framework with a detailed step-by-step process that guides meaningful communication with stakeholders throughout a project's lifecycle. Its primary goal is to gain stakeholder support, reduce friction, and align project objectives with stakeholder expectations and interests.
A stakeholder engagement plan provides a structured approach to identifying, communicating with, and involving key stakeholders interested in or affected by a project or initiative.
Stakeholder engagement plans include four main elements to help organizations proactively manage relationships, resolve conflicts, and ensure all stakeholders are heard. These include:
Are you new to stakeholder engagement? Download our free practical guide to get started! →
To help you as you develop your stakeholder engagement plan, we've outlined five essential steps with several additional tips and resources to help you on your stakeholder engagement plan journey.
Pour créer le meilleur plan pour votre équipe et votre projet, vous devez comprendre les résultats souhaités (ou objectifs) pour ce plan (par exemple, établir des relations positives avec les parties prenantes, répondre aux exigences réglementaires, obtenir l'approbation, etc.)
This is an essential first step because a stakeholder engagement plan created with your goal(s) and requirements will help you and your team make aligned and strategic decisions for more positive project outcomes.
Conseil : Réfléchir aux plans et projets antérieurs
If you've run a project in the past, are there any learnings you can take from your previous plans to help guide this one? What about from members on your team?
Utilisez ces enseignements comme guide pour renforcer votre prochain plan !
Once you understand what you're hoping to accomplish with this plan, it's time to focus on the stakeholders and communities you'll engage by conducting a stakeholder analysis.
Want to learn more about stakeholder analysis? Check out our blog! →
Bien que l'analyse des parties prenantes puisse comporter plusieurs parties, les trois éléments clés sont les suivants :
Before engaging, you must determine your stakeholders, and this process must be done thoroughly.
To ensure you identify all necessary stakeholders and community members, we always recommend making this a team exercise and considering every person or group who could be affected or interested in your project, either positively or negatively.
Need help to identify your stakeholders? Check out our blog, 9 Questions to Help Identify Your Stakeholders! →
Now that you know your stakeholders, it's time to prioritize them by organizing them into groups.
A popular stakeholder mapping canvas is Mendelow's Power-Interest Matrix, which helps you categorize stakeholders based on their level of interest (high/low) and influence (high/low) on your organization or project.
Want to learn more about stakeholder mapping? Check out our blog on how to do a stakeholder mapping exercise! →
After stakeholder identification and mapping, you should take the time to understand your stakeholders more closely. You'll want to learn how they view your organization and project by examining their:
Once you've understood these, you can assess where stakeholders stand regarding your project (i.e., whether they support, object, are conditional, undecided, or neutral). With this information, you'll better understand the key messages they need to hear and how best to engage them strategically moving forward.
Tip: Use software to understand your stakeholders: Stakeholder Relationship Management (SRM) software is your single source of truth for all stakeholder engagement information. This is beneficial in many situations, such as when you're preparing to engage with a stakeholder with whom you've already communicated on previous projects.
By utilizing an SRM like Jambo to organize and manage your stakeholder information, you'll have access to all the data your team has logged for each project (past and present).
If you want to learn how SRM software can help you better understand your stakeholders, read this blog! →
Plusieurs éléments sont à prendre en compte lors de la planification de l'engagement des parties prenantes :
A helpful way to guide your engagement is to choose engagement levels for your stakeholder categories (i.e., the categories from your stakeholder mapping exercise).
The Spectrum of Public Participation, developed by the International Association for Public Participation (IAP2), is an excellent tool for identifying which level of engagement is best for your stakeholder categories. The IAP2 Spectrum identifies five different levels of participation: inform, consult, involve, collaborate, and empower.
Once you decide on your level of engagement, you're ready to choose your specific engagement tactics (i.e., how you'll engage with stakeholders).
Tip: Don't forget about your key messages! Take some time to consider your stakeholders' engagement category (i.e., their level of interest/influence), their perspectives, and the level of engagement you've chosen for each category to help guide what information each stakeholder will need to hear from your organization.
Les messages clés doivent être identifiés très tôt et être clairs et concis afin que tous les membres de l'équipe puissent les comprendre et les utiliser. L'utilisation de messages clés stratégiques peut vous aider, vous et votre équipe, à communiquer de manière cohérente avec les parties prenantes, ce qui peut contribuer à renforcer la confiance dans votre organisation.
Tip: Create a portal for open communication between you and your stakeholders. When we say "two-way communication channels," we mean communication that allows you to reach out to your stakeholders with a channel for them to respond.
Sending out a brochure to stakeholders without information on how to contact you is considered a one-way communication method because, while you can contact them, they cannot contact you. One-way communication methods can certainly be helpful in some situations. Still, it's important to remember that your stakeholders may have valuable information and opinions on your projects, and getting all the stakeholders' feedback is beneficial.
For additional tips on elevating your stakeholder and community engagement, visit our blog! →
Now that you understand the goal of your project and have a clearer understanding of your stakeholders, their perspectives, and how you'll engage with them, you'll need to develop a step-by-step process using the information you've already identified. This process will be the blueprint for you and your team to implement your plan.
Inclure des éléments tels que
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Tip: Monitor and update as necessary. Stakeholder engagement can be complicated, and things can change quickly, so you'll need to adjust and update your plan regularly and ensure you communicate those updates to your team.
You'll collect much information as you engage with your stakeholders and communities. You need to ensure this information is well-organized, accessible, and easy to find for your team, as you'll likely need to share updates on your engagement information and use it to guide your plan.
Check out our blog on how to effectively track stakeholder engagement →
Here are a few situations where you'll benefit from having organized stakeholder information and the ability to run detailed reports:
While many organizations are still trying to use spreadsheets to manage their stakeholder engagement information, this isn't the best method, as spreadsheets leave you, your team, and your project open to unnecessary risks and challenges.
To learn more about why spreadsheets aren't the best option for recording stakeholder engagement, check out our blog on 10 Reasons Why it's Time to Break Up with Spreadsheets! →
Stakeholder relationship management (SRM) software is the best way to log and manage all your stakeholder relationships and communications with stakeholders.
Jambo SRM helps you take your stakeholder management process to the next level by keeping your stakeholder information secure, organized, accessible, searchable, and easy to understand. Jambo can run concise reports in seconds, saving you time and allowing you to stay focused on meeting your project's goals as efficiently as possible.
Now that you understand a few of the critical elements of a stakeholder engagement plan, we've developed a free resource to help you get started!
As stakeholder mapping is a critical and valuable step, we've designed this free printable stakeholder mapping template. Click the image below to get your free copy now!