Managing Stakeholders
Strategy work conducted in isolation from those that it
will impact is unlikely to deliver any benefit. It is therefore essential
that strategy is developed with implementation in mind at all times. The
team should pay great attention to managing relationships and
communicating with those outside the team who have an interest in the
project's outcome.
Stakeholders are the individuals and groups affected by
and capable of influencing the development and implementation of strategy
and policy proposals. Identifying key stakeholders
and their issues is therefore a very valuable exercise that should
be conducted as early on in the project as possible.
Stakeholders, including the public and frontline staff,
can make an extremely valuable contribution to the success of a project. Effectively
engaging with stakeholders is key to motivating them and obtaining
their commitment, and should be done through contact and involvement
throughout the project - engagement from early on in the project lifecycle
should help to reduce the risk of any surprises later on. Developing
a stakeholder engagement plan is a useful way of planning how to
effectively engage with each stakeholder.
Managing Communications
The importance of communicating effectively with those
outside the team is clear. Successful communication is about sharing the
right information, at the right time, with the right audience. Drawing
up a communications plan helps to
structure how to go about this in the most effective and efficient way.
Communication with the media,
who have significant influence over public opinion, is key to ensuring
favourable coverage of the project.
Once the message has been agreed and communicated to
the audience, it is important to go through a process of evaluating
communications for their effectiveness. Communications planning
must begin on day one of a project and continue until the project has been
completed. Evaluation will help the plan to keep evolving through each
stage of the project.
Direct communication with stakeholders often takes the
form of a presentation. Preparing presentations
to a high standard and tailoring them to the audience is crucial to
getting the message across.
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