Stakeholder Engagement, Winning and Maintaining Support for Projects
Imagine being engaged for your advice, but then the penny drops. You know the person is there to engage you has their own agenda. Its a dress up...
I’ve been involved in some fairly superficial engagements as a participant. One comes to mind of recent. The firm was well known for their experience so I was looking forward to it. But…..they did bring in what seemed to be a rookie with 2 rookie helpers.
The young man running it did try hard, we were a tough and experienced audience. The problem was the firm were using smoke and mirrors on a very intelligent and politically astute group. This was shocker of a 3 hour meeting.
So. in snapshot here’s what I think about stakeholder engagement in general. It has great reference to change, organisational, project management and any sort of consultation with staff or the community.
In the past,(some organisations are still stuck there)…. organisations often adopted a passive approach to informing stakeholders of developments, relying upon traditional communication methods such as newsletters, printed publications and annual meetings. This is a one-way communication strategy. I hope that doesn’t occur where you work.
Guess what folks...the future is here, and it is increasingly important now if to be successful, organisations will need to actively involve stakeholders in the decision-making process particularly with regard to new project or business developments.
If you are going to survive the aim will be to encourage and ensure wider and more positive engagement.
As a Program or Project Manager the actions you take and the projects you run will affect more and more people. The more people you affect, the more likely it is that your actions will impact people who have power and influence over your projects. These people could be strong supporters of the project or they could block it. Just think of political campaigning or activists groups and how much damage they can do to the opposition.
My experience is that Stakeholder Engagement is an important process that is used to win support from others. It helps ensure that projects succeed where others fail. I was a Statewide Stakeholder Engagement Manager in my government career.
Here are my 10 tips for the week
1. Ensure stakeholder engagements is a strategic corporate objective, if not ask, why not?
2. Train people in how to engage stakeholders, it is not an innate skill, its rarely taught, people
fear engaging, they might lose something… trust me.
3. Engage in matters that matter, never make assumptions.
4. Inform, consult, collaborate, involve, empower along the project.
5. It’s seen as a soft skill, with proven methods and processes and research base behind it,
call me if you need help.
6. Governance is critical, get it right.
7. Communicate using all mediums including social media.
8. Make friends with enemies, you need them. Don’t avoid them; what you avoid is what you
get.
9. Communicate timely, transparently and truthfully.
10. Assess, plan and evaluate your engagement strategies, one size does not fit all and people
talk. It’s called WOM, word of mouth, it can bring you down, or hold you up, be careful.
I'll post more on stakeholder engagement best practice in the future. Until then.....
Journey well,
Matt Cartwright
Inspiring People, Inspiring Business, Inspiring Results
© Copyright 2008 -12
Imagine being engaged for your advice, but then the penny drops. You know the person is there to engage you has their own agenda. Its a dress up...
I’ve been involved in some fairly superficial engagements as a participant. One comes to mind of recent. The firm was well known for their experience so I was looking forward to it. But…..they did bring in what seemed to be a rookie with 2 rookie helpers.
The young man running it did try hard, we were a tough and experienced audience. The problem was the firm were using smoke and mirrors on a very intelligent and politically astute group. This was shocker of a 3 hour meeting.
So. in snapshot here’s what I think about stakeholder engagement in general. It has great reference to change, organisational, project management and any sort of consultation with staff or the community.
In the past,(some organisations are still stuck there)…. organisations often adopted a passive approach to informing stakeholders of developments, relying upon traditional communication methods such as newsletters, printed publications and annual meetings. This is a one-way communication strategy. I hope that doesn’t occur where you work.
Guess what folks...the future is here, and it is increasingly important now if to be successful, organisations will need to actively involve stakeholders in the decision-making process particularly with regard to new project or business developments.
If you are going to survive the aim will be to encourage and ensure wider and more positive engagement.
As a Program or Project Manager the actions you take and the projects you run will affect more and more people. The more people you affect, the more likely it is that your actions will impact people who have power and influence over your projects. These people could be strong supporters of the project or they could block it. Just think of political campaigning or activists groups and how much damage they can do to the opposition.
My experience is that Stakeholder Engagement is an important process that is used to win support from others. It helps ensure that projects succeed where others fail. I was a Statewide Stakeholder Engagement Manager in my government career.
Here are my 10 tips for the week
1. Ensure stakeholder engagements is a strategic corporate objective, if not ask, why not?
2. Train people in how to engage stakeholders, it is not an innate skill, its rarely taught, people
fear engaging, they might lose something… trust me.
3. Engage in matters that matter, never make assumptions.
4. Inform, consult, collaborate, involve, empower along the project.
5. It’s seen as a soft skill, with proven methods and processes and research base behind it,
call me if you need help.
6. Governance is critical, get it right.
7. Communicate using all mediums including social media.
8. Make friends with enemies, you need them. Don’t avoid them; what you avoid is what you
get.
9. Communicate timely, transparently and truthfully.
10. Assess, plan and evaluate your engagement strategies, one size does not fit all and people
talk. It’s called WOM, word of mouth, it can bring you down, or hold you up, be careful.
I'll post more on stakeholder engagement best practice in the future. Until then.....
Journey well,
Matt Cartwright
Inspiring People, Inspiring Business, Inspiring Results
© Copyright 2008 -12
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