Comment démarrer l'engagement des parties prenantes

Qu'est-ce que l'engagement des parties prenantes ?

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 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. 
  

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How to do stakeholder engagement?

To help you, we've developed a 6-step starter kit for getting started with stakeholder engagement.

Étape 1 : Identifier les principales parties prenantes 

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:

1. Inform
2. Consult
3. Involve 
4. Collaborate, and
5. 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. 

Pour évaluer les intérêts des parties prenantes, posez-vous les questions suivantes 

• 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? 

Étape 3 : Élaborer un plan d'engagement des parties prenantes 

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: 

1. Goal(s): Your desired outcomes  
2. Record keeping: How you'll record your data (for consistency and ease of collaboration) 
3. Key messaging: What's important for your stakeholders to know 
4. Communication channels: The tactics for connecting with your stakeholders (e.g., information sheets, town halls, emails, social media, etc.)
5. Timelines: Projected engagement touchpoints and a schedule for the frequency of communication with stakeholders or decision-makers 
6. Feedback tools: How you plan to collect data and responses 
7. 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 →

Étape 4 : Commencez à impliquer vos parties prenantes 

If positive relationships are essential to your project's success, you must start engaging with stakeholders immediately. It's never too early to start building relationships with stakeholders and communities.  

Si les parties prenantes se sentent exclues du processus, elles risquent de développer un mauvais goût dans leur bouche, ce qui vous laissera avec des parties prenantes mécontentes et désengagées. L'objectif est que les parties prenantes entendent parler de votre projet de votre bouche, et non en ligne ou par le biais de la redoutable rumeur. 

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. 

Lorsque vous commencez à vous impliquer, concentrez-vous sur l'aide à apporter aux parties prenantes pour qu'elles comprennent mieux votre projet, soyez ouvert et sincère et cherchez à éduquer. Vous voulez que les parties prenantes se sentent incluses dans le processus, et pas seulement qu'on leur dise ce qui se passe sans qu'elles aient le choix.  

Vous devez vous préparer à certains éléments clés lorsque vous vous engagez avec vos parties prenantes : 

1. Communiquer des messages clés de manière cohérente 
2. Répondre aux questions et au retour d'information 
3. Traiter les questions ou préoccupations actuelles ou potentielles 
   
4. Prendre des engagements ou faire des promesses qu'il faut se rappeler de tenir 

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: 

1. Comprendre les thèmes communs et les sujets importants pour vos parties prenantes 
   
2. Identifier les risques à l'avance afin de pouvoir travailler de manière proactive à leur résolution 
   
3. Veiller à ce que toutes les données et connaissances soient conservées et ne soient pas perdues lorsque des personnes quittent l'équipe ou l'organisation.  
   
4. Avoir les moyens de faire preuve de responsabilité et de transparence à l'égard des parties prenantes
   
5. Informer les stratégies et les plans d'engagement futurs 

Lorsque vous vous engagez de manière cohérente, respectueuse et transparente, vous pouvez travailler à l'établissement de la confiance des parties prenantes et de relations durables. 

Étape 6 : Contrôler et évaluer les efforts d'engagement des parties prenantes 

Monitor and assess your efforts regularly to ensure they are effective and meet their intended goals. Consider things like: 

1. Retour d'information et taux de réponse 
2. Changements dans les perceptions ou les attitudes des parties prenantes
   
3. Progrès vers le(s) objectif(s) défini(s) dans votre plan d'engagement des parties prenantes 

L'engagement des parties prenantes peut être compliqué et les choses peuvent changer rapidement. Au fur et à mesure de l'exécution du plan, des éléments inattendus apparaîtront inévitablement et le plan devra être modifié pour que tout avance et que vous atteigniez l'objectif que vous vous êtes fixé au départ. 

Soyez suffisamment souple dans vos délais pour vous adapter aux changements, tels que les délais de retour d'information ou les tactiques d'engagement. Assurez-vous d'avoir prévu une certaine flexibilité dans les délais que vous avez fixés. N'hésitez pas à réviser votre plan pour vous assurer que vous pouvez atteindre l'objectif.

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 by collaborating seamlessly across devices from wherever you may be, whether 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. 

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