Key Principles of Effective Stakeholder Engagement

I’ve seen the good and the bad of stakeholder engagement – from getting support and buy-in to heated exchanges that quickly turn nasty and result in reputational damage.  Having outlined 7 Benefits of Stakeholder Engagement, I want to turn attention to some key principles.

Keep these principles in mind when developing and reviewing plans. A good engagement plan will grow and adapt to reflect both inputs received as well as further steps to be taken.

‘The single biggest problem in communications is the illusion that it has taken place’ George Bernard Shaw

Plan

You need to be asking a number of questions when developing a stakeholder plan. These include but are not limited to:

• What is the purpose of engaging with stakeholders? What are your objectives? Do you want to provide information, consult, involve and/or collaborate?
• Who are your stakeholders and how are you assessing them in terms of relative importance?
• What does implementation look like? Are you running a consultation, a series of face to face sessions, meetings, phone calls? How are you using digital technologies? How are you ensuring accessibility?
• How are you evaluating results?
• How will you adjust and correct your approach based on feedback?
• How do you ensure your plan is actionable and reviewed on a regular basis by the right people?

There are many more questions to add but the key to effective stakeholder engagement is developing a robust plan that can be adapted as needed and is regularly reviewed.

How you do this is unique to your programme. There are many widely available tools that can help. The Boston Matrix is one of the most commonly used of these tools.

Consult early and often

It is critical to engage as soon as is practicable – having an early indication of whether or not your approach is the right one can save a lot of time and hassle and help get buy-in to your programme.

Consultation can be both informal and formal in nature and there are real benefits of both.

Early informal engagement can provide you with a real sense of whether or not your heading in the right direction and flag anything you are missing.

I did this at the early stage of a high-profile policy by developing a set of principles that framed a large and complex programme. I then attended a number of events with experts who were very keen to engage. There was little information available and people wanted to hear more. Through informal conversations, I was able to test the principles and identify gaps in thinking. These conversations also gave me the opportunity to identify key risks and issues and shaped the programme going forward.

The right language

Nothing will frustrate your stakeholders more than the use of overly complex language and jargon or using unnecessarily technical terms. How many times have you been part of conversations or meetings only for it to remain unclear as to what someone is saying? It can feel patronising and a waste of your time and energy.

I can’t overstate the importance of getting your language right. This links to be above point – through informal consultations with stakeholders, it was possible to test both language and understanding.

Communications need to be clear and tailored to the audience. This is not about changing the message or ‘dumbing down’ – try this and there will be repercussions.  Instead, it’s about ensuring you understand the language people are using and tailor your discussions to that.

The right setting

Just as communications need to be fit-for-purpose, so too does the setting for any engagement, whether that be remote or face to face. Different audiences will have different needs. There is nothing worse than getting meetings off on the wrong foot simply due to a poor choice of venue or starting at an inconvenient time.

And I have seen this – meetings starting at 9am when stakeholders need to travel to London from all over the country; or venues that are difficult to get to or have issues of access.

Pick up the phone

I’ve often seen a reluctance to use the phone to sort of minor issues. Emails go back and forth with everyone involved getting increasingly irritated and issues escalating. It doesn’t take much to pick up the phone.

As emails are often required for audit purposes, think about having a phone call and then following up with an email noting the key points of the conversation, any decisions reached and actions agreed.

Active listening

Active listening is a way of listening and responding in a way that demonstrates mutual understanding. It is a practiced skill and a critical one. It can just be a case of ‘So my understanding of what you said is x. Is that correct?’

Nothing will frustrate a stakeholder more than being misunderstood or their words being used in a way they didn’t intend.

Effective feedback and follow-up

In any stakeholder engagement, you need to be clear about what the outputs will be. If you commit to responding to stakeholders, do. At a minimum, think about how you can provide feedback on if and how your engagement altered the approach – it helped shape the programme, or the evidence base. It’s also important to provide updates on progress and the final result.