Getting stakeholders to interact with you and your project can be a challenging task. However, with a stakeholder strategy plan in place, you can obtain the level of engagement and feedback you need for your project.
And to help you achieve it, here we list 10 positive steps that will help you improve your stakeholder engagement:
Be Inclusive
Research your stakeholders correctly. Make sure local organisations, resident groups and faith communities alike have all been identified and considered when creating your engagement plan.
Categorise by interest and influence
Analyse and categorise all your stakeholders using a mapping chart to manage how, where and when you should communicate with them.
Publicise your engagements
Bring your engagement to your stakeholders' attention using multiple channels, especially with hard-to-reach groups. Letter drops, resident groups, social media and interactive websites are most commonly used.
Acknowledge and respect people
Most people are resistant to change. Make your stakeholders aware that you are the ‘go-to person' within the community should anyone have any questions.
Share simple and digestible facts about your project, outline timescales, how the consultation will be conducted and when and where engagement will be captured.
Make engagement simple
Not everyone has the facilities or IT skills to access online websites or the capabilities to offer feedback through forums and surveys.
Diversify your engagement, set up focus group meetings, carry out door-to-door surveys and always make yourself available!
Share information in a local context
Understand the local area and what will be the positive effects your project will have on the community. Demonstrate how the positive effects will benefit your stakeholders in the future.
Highlight key issues
Try to understand and outline key issues and concerns that are likely to be at the forefront of your stakeholders' minds.
Furthermore, engage with all your stakeholders making them aware that you understand their concerns.
Set clear timescales for engagement
Make sure clear timescales are set and communicated to all your stakeholders. In addition, provide plenty of options on how they can take part (online, by post, by telephone or at scheduled events) and provide feedback.
Demonstrate how feedback helped shape the project
A large proportion of stakeholders will accept a project if they feel they have contributed to your plans.
Demonstrate wherever possible how your stakeholder feedback has been taken into consideration and used during your consultation.
Keep engaging with stakeholders
Make sure you inform your stakeholders before and after an application has been submitted.
Be transparent and update them throughout the process. If your application is approved, ensure you keep your stakeholder informed on the next steps.
Deliver improved stakeholder engagement
The Tractivity stakeholder engagement system has been designed with stakeholders at its core, saving you and your team time and effort.
It provides you with a myriad of management and communications tools to help you build meaningful relationships with your stakeholders, analyse and report on the outcomes of your engagement activities and much more.
Discover how we can help you improve your stakeholder engagement and support your success, contact us today for a free demo.
