Stakeholder Engagement
Objective¶
Foster collaboration, gather input and ensure alignment between the delivery of successful outcomes and stakeholder expectations.
Responsibilities¶
| Owner | Responsibility |
|---|---|
| Delivery Owner | The Delivery Owner is accountable for ensuring that effective stakeholder engagement is happening at appropriate times and the results are both accessible and effectively communicated with colleagues and stakeholders |
| Delivery Team | The whole Delivery team is collectively responsible for effective stakeholder engagement |
Triggers¶
Effective stakeholder engagement is a 2-way flow that should continuously enable faster feedback loops, resulting in the delivery of successful outcomes sooner, safer and happier.
The team responsible for a problem will need to determine and document why, how and when stakeholder engagements should occur. Here are some typical triggers that can prompt stakeholder engagement activities throughout the design and implementation:
- Major milestones / Key Decision points
- Change requests
- Risk, assumption, issues, dependency identification and mitigation
- Critical issues
- Deliverable reviews
- Quality Assurance
Communication Plan¶
The team responsible for a problem will need to determine and document a communication plan for effectively engaging with stakeholders, ensuring expectations are clear and guidance is available and accessible to support effective engagement.
A stakeholder communication plan typically includes the following:
- Stakeholder Analysis - identify all stakeholders involved in the project, including interests, expectations, influence and communication preferences.
- Objectives and Key Messages - define communication objectives and key messages that need to be conveyed throughout the project lifecycle.
- Communication Channels - defining appropriate communication channels for reaching each stakeholder group e.g delivery governance artefacts: project health dashboards, synchronous or asynchronous project status updates, emails, dedicated stakeholder portals (teams).
- Frequency and Timing - establish a communication schedule detailing when and how often updates will be provided to stakeholders. Ensure that communications are timely and aligned with project milestones and events.
- Content and Format - determine the content and format of communication materials, ensuring they are clear, concise, and tailored to the needs of the intended audience.
- Feedback Mechanisms - establish mechanisms for eliciting feedback from stakeholders and providing opportunities for them to ask questions, share concerns and provide input. This could include surveys, feedback forms, dedicated feedback sessions, or one-to-one meetings.
- Responsibilities & Roles - clearly defined roles and responsibility for communicating with stakeholders, including who who will be responsible for drafting communications, delivering messages, and responding to enquiries.
- Escalation Procedures - outline procedures for escalating issues or concerns raised by stakeholders to the appropriate level of management or decision-makers for resolution.
- Risk Management - identify potential communication risks and develop strategies for mitigating them. This could be addressing communication barriers, managing conflicts, or addressing stakeholder resistance.
- Evaluation & Improvement - establish mechanisms for regularly evaluating the effectiveness of communication efforts by gathering feedback from stakeholders and addressing whether communication objectives are being met. This feedback can be used to make adjustments and improvements to the communication plan as needed.
Toolkit¶
Toolkit