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There are two major elements to Stakeholder Engagement: Stakeholder Analysis and Stakeholder Planning. Stakeholder Analysis is the technique used to identify the key people who have to be won over for the project. Stakeholder Planning is then used to build the support that helps the project succeed. The benefits of using a stakeholder-based approach are that: You can use the opinions of the most influential stakeholders to shape your projects at an early stage. Not only does this make it more likely that they will support you, their input can also improve the quality of your project. Gaining support from stakeholders can help you to win more resources - this makes it more likely that your projects will be successful. By communicating with stakeholders early and often, you can ensure that they know what you are doing and fully understand the benefits of your project - this means they can support you actively when necessary. You can anticipate what people's reaction to your project may be and build into your plan the actions that will win support.
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Project Stakeholder Engagement Overview and Guidance Version 1.0 As part of this, think of all the people who are affected by the project who have influence or power over it, or have an interest in its successful or unsuccessful conclusion. The table below shows some of the people who might be stakeholders in your projects: Students IS ITI User Services Staff Senior University Executives Future Recruits Colleagues Your Family Disability Office Government Academic Staff Business Partners IS Management Procurement Human Resources General Public Press and Media Customer Support Staff Alumni Project Team Members Service Partners Prospective Students Suppliers Trade Unions Local Community Other Interest Groups
Some tips and techniques for identifying project stakeholders are: 1. Be systematic- consider all aspects of the projects area of influence, e.g. technical, business, geographical etc. 2. Remember the interest groups also identify those groups or organizations that are not directly impacted by the project e.g. but whose interests determine them as stakeholders e.g. Human Resources or Disability Office etc. 3. Use past stakeholder information referring to previous similar projects can save time and flag up stakeholders risks, liabilities, or unresolved issues that can then be included in the analysis. 4. Consider the entire project lifecycle it is important to remember that both stakeholders and their interests may change as the project progresses. Consider all stages of the project when drawing up the stakeholder list and review it regularly as the project progresses. 5. People matter - although stakeholders may be both organisations and people, ultimately you can only communicate with individual people. Make sure that you identify the correct individual stakeholders within each stakeholder group. A quick and practical way of representing the stakeholders is to use a Stakeholder Map. A template for a simple Stakeholder Map is available here. Stakeholder maps can become quite complex depending on the size and nature of the project. There are a many great resources on this subject available. This is however outside the scope of this document. You are encouraged to consult these resources and consider how these techniques can bring benefit to your projects.
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Project Stakeholder Engagement Overview and Guidance Version 1.0 You may now have a long list of people and organizations that are affected by your project. Some of these may have the power either to block or advance it. Some may be interested in what you are doing, others may not care. You can map out your stakeholders on a Power/Interest Grid as shown in Figure 1, and classify them by their power over and interest in project.
Figure 1 Power/Interest Grid for Stakeholder Prioritisation For example, your boss is likely to have high power and influence over your projects and high interest. Your family may have high interest, but are unlikely to have power over it. The position on the grid shows you the actions you have to take with the stakeholder: High power, high interest: these are the stakeholders you must fully engage with, and make the greatest efforts to satisfy. High power, less interest: put enough work in with these stakeholders to keep them satisfied, but not so much that they become bored with your message. Low power, high interest: keep these stakeholders adequately informed, and talk to them to ensure that no major issues are arising. These stakeholders can often be very helpful with the detail of your project. Low power, less interest: monitor these stakeholders but do not bore them with excessive communication.
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Project Stakeholder Engagement Overview and Guidance Version 1.0 The best way of answering these questions is to talk to your stakeholders directly - people are often open about their views, and asking people's opinions is a good first step in building a successful relationship with them. However this may not always be possible and may be better at drawing out the rational than the emotional reactions to your project. These emotional reactions also need to be considered. In general for people to commit themselves to the project, the following factors need to be present: They must be dissatisfied with the current situation They must like the way things will be after the project is complete They must be able to see a straightforward first step They need to be convinced that doing things differently will not cost them more than they are willing to pay (cost and payment may be expressed in terms beyond financial such as security, recognition, growth etc.)
If any of these factors are missing there will be resistance. There is a wealth of literature on the subject of what causes dissatisfaction and motivates people. Perhaps the most important theories are: Maslows Hierarchy of Needs and Herzbergs Hygiene Factors. A further technique known as Other Peoples Views, developed originally be Edward de Bono, can also be adapted for use on your project. You can summarize the understanding you have gained on the Stakeholder Map and/or the Power/Interest Grid so that you can see which stakeholders are expected to be blockers or critics, and which stakeholders are likely to be advocates and supporters or your project. A useful way of doing this is by colour coding e.g. showing advocates and supporters in green, blockers and critics in red, and others who are neutral in orange. Figure 2 shows an example of this - in this example, you can see that a lot of effort needs to be put into persuading Piers and Michael of the benefits of the project Janet and Amanda also need to managed well as powerful supporters.
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Project Stakeholder Engagement Overview and Guidance Version 1.0 The following are questions that may help in understanding the stakeholders and their influence: 1) Who will be adversely affected by potential environmental and social impacts in the projects area of influence? 2) Who are the most vulnerable among the potentially impacted, and are special engagement efforts necessary? 3) At which stage of project development will stakeholders be most affected (e.g. design, implementation) 4) What are the various interests of project stakeholders and what influence might this have on the project? 5) Which stakeholders might help to enhance the project design or reduce project costs? 6) Which stakeholders can best assist with the early scoping of issues and impacts? 7) Who strongly supports or opposes the changes that the project will bring and why? 8) Whose opposition could be detrimental to the success of the project? 9) Who is it critical to engage with first, and why? 10) Who is the optimal sequence of engagement? A template for a simple Stakeholder Engagement Grid (based on the Power/Interest Grid described above) is available here.
Using this table, work through the planning exercise using the steps below: 1. Update the Stakeholder Communications Planning Sheet with Stakeholder Map information. Record the stakeholders' names and their key concerns about the project. Note the comunications approach required for each stakeholder based on their position on the Stakeholder Engagement Grid. 2. Think through what you need from each stakeholder. Work through the list of stakeholders thinking through the level of support you need from them. Identify the actions you would like them to perform. Record this information in the Required Support and Required Actions columns. 3. Identify the key messages that you need to convey to each stakeholder to persuade them to support the project. Typical messages will show the benefits to the person or organisation and will focus on key performance drivers like increasing profitability or delivering real improvements. Record this information in the Key Messages column.
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Project Stakeholder Engagement Overview and Guidance Version 1.0 4. Finally work out what you need to do to win and maintain the support of your stakeholders with the time and resources you have available. Focusing on the highinfluence/high-interest stakeholders first and the low-influence/low-interest stakeholders last, devise a practical plan that communicates with people as effectively as possible. Think through what you need to do to keep your best supporters engaged and on-board. Work out how to win over or neutralize the opposition of sceptics. Where you need the active support of people who are not currently interested in what you are doing, think about how you can engage them and raise their level of interest. Consider how you will communicate, how often and what feedback you need. Consider how you will know if your communication has been successful. Record this information in the Communications Plan column. A template for a simple Stakeholder Communications Planning Sheet is available here. Once you have prepared your Stakeholder Plan, all you need to do is to implement it! As with all plans, it will be easier to implement if you break it down into a series of smaller, achievable steps and action these one-by-one. This approach will be suitable for most projects. However for more complex projects with multiple stakeholder groups and issues preparing a more formal Stakeholder Engagement Plan is advisable. Again there are a many great resources on this subject available. This is however outside the scope of this document. You are encouraged to consult these resources and consider how these techniques can bring benefit to your projects.
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Stakeholder Engagement helps manage the politics that can often come with projects. It helps you win support for your projects and eliminates a major source of project and work stress.
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