Understanding your stakeholders
It’s not an overstatement to say that managing stakeholder relationships represents one of the biggest responsibilities of an organisation’s leadership. It’s not just about raising awareness of organisational developments, rather it also extends to actively engaging with those who have the power to influence your success.
For instance, when you’re going through a structural or organisational change, employees need to be kept in the loop and have their concerns addressed in order to maintain morale and ensure a smooth transition. On the other hand, you might be developing a product, meaning you must have a strong stakeholder communication plan to allow for customer feedback, beta testing, surveys and everything else involved.
Stakeholder analysis & segmentation
So, when putting together your plan, it’s vital that you understand the needs and interests of your stakeholders in order to facilitate a smoother decision-making process. The foundation for this kind of efficient communication is analysis and segmentation, allowing you to decide which stakeholders to engage deeply with and those to simply monitor.
Stakeholder mapping is an invaluable tool for this kind of process, providing a visual representation of both influence networks and the relationships within an organisation. If you want your communication strategy for stakeholders to have a firm basis, this information is very important.
Setting clear objectives
The next foundation stone that needs to be laid when compiling your stakeholder communication plan is the setting of clear objectives. These objectives provide a roadmap, guiding the over-arching strategy and ensuring that all of your efforts are aligned with your broader organisational goals.
For instance, MCI assisted the European Hematology Association (EHA) in growing attendance, for their annual conference, as well as improving delegate experience and enhancing its scientific content. Without setting these defined objectives at the outset, and clearly communicating them to everyone involved, achieving them would have proved difficult.
Whatever your goals might be, they should have a distinct timeline and numerical value. You might, for example, look to ‘achieve 90% stakeholder satisfaction in annual surveys’ or ‘increase stakeholder engagement by 30% in 12 months’. Once agreed upon, these goals should be communicated and monitored closely.
Crafting your message
Naturally, what’s in your communication is just as important as how you communicate it. The key is to create a stakeholder communication plan that includes messaging that drives engagement and builds trust with every member and customer who sees it.
The way your messaging is crafted can significantly influence how it's received and acted upon by stakeholders, here’s a few ways to do it:
- Keep it simple - your primary goal when it comes to your messaging is to keep it simple, even if the subject matter is complex. Simplicity means clarity, which is crucial in ensuring that no stakeholders misinterpret, or are confused by what’s being communicated.
- Make sure it’s relevant - it’s also essential to ensure that what you say is tailored to the specific needs and concerns of each stakeholder group. A one-size-fits-all approach will likely result in some people not feeling like you’re speaking directly to them, reducing the likelihood that they’ll engage, pay attention and respond positively.
- Consistency = Trust - if you want your messages to be perceived as being trustworthy and credible, it’s imperative that they’re crafted carefully and consistently. If you don’t, and you put out poorly constructed or inconsistent announcements, you’ll probably be seen as being disorganised or unreliable, something that erodes trust.
- Emotional Connections Through Storytelling - a great element to include in your communications is storytelling, as it serves to evoke emotions and motivate your stakeholders into taking the desired actions. As well as inspiring actions, messaging like this can foster a deeper connection with your organisation.
Customising your messaging will ensure that what you’re trying to communicate is received loud and clear. Focusing on creating the right tone, language and medium is also critical for your stakeholder communication plan to hit the mark.
Choosing the right communication channels
Another decision you’ll have to make to implement the communication plan with stakeholders examples we’ve covered so far is which channels you’ll be using. As you’ll know, there are a variety of options available, from emails to meetings to social media, reports and more.
There’s no right or wrong answer in general, as each channel has its own strengths and it will come down to which particular audience you’re speaking to. Take email, for instance, which is great for communicating detailed information and updates to stakeholders like employees and partners. On the other hand, virtual and in-person meetings are better for interactive discussions, and reports are useful for delivering in-depth information.
An on-going process
While you may agree upon your preferred communication channels for your stakeholder communication plan right now, assessing the efficacy of each one is an ongoing process. It involves monitoring engagement metrics, in much the same way you would when running a marketing campaign.
The aspects of confidentiality and data security are also critical, particularly when disseminating sensitive information, so the channel chosen should ensure that data is protected along with stakeholder trust. You’ve also got to think about how to deliver the right messages to the right audience at the right time and in the most effective way.
Ensuring two-way communication is possible
Once your outward-bound stakeholder messaging is aligned, there’s more to consider, as only half of the communication flow has been addressed. It’s not just about delivering messages, as listening to stakeholder feedback is equally as important. Without this valuable insight, you’ll struggle to understand their concerns, expectations and points of view.
As such, it’s vital that you ensure your stakeholders feel both valued and heard, and feedback can be gained in a variety of different ways.They include:
- Paper-based and digital surveys delivered to gather quantitative and qualitative feedback on specific issues.
- Small focus groups with selected stakeholders to explore specific topics in depth.
- Workshops and forums held in-person and online where various subjects can be discussed with key personnel.
- Forms at meetings, events or even websites for opinions to be shared.
- Social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter can be used to elicit feedback directly en masse.
- Real-world and digital suggestion boxes for anonymous feedback.
- One-on-one interviews to obtain a detailed, personalised view.
Building trust through two-way communication as part of your stakeholder communication plan involves more than simply collecting feedback though. It’s also about acting on the feedback, as well as sharing your findings and demonstrating how their opinions influence leadership decisions across your organisation. The natural result of this approach is typically increased loyalty and engagement.
Monitoring your plan’s efficacy
Every industry evolves and changes over time, meaning that your plan needs to adapt along with it. A well-crafted stakeholder communication plan that’s fit for purpose today might not be appropriate six months later. By monitoring your efforts, you can make any necessary adjustments based on the efficacy of your strategy.
By analysing specific values like open rates, click-through rates, meeting attendance and other engagement metrics, you can gauge stakeholder interest and how much each party is participating. It’s also possible to gain an insight into the quality of the feedback being provided, and industry patterns and trends.
Is your organisation’s stakeholder communication plan as effective as it needs to be?
Being able to communicate effectively with all stakeholders is imperative for any organisation, and doing so requires structure in terms of how, and when it’s done. Disseminating information quickly and accurately is crucial, as is gaining the varied perspectives of everyone you deal with, from your employees to your customers.
The question you need to ask yourself is whether yours is as effective as it can be. If you’re not 100% sure, now is the time to review your current processes and look for areas for improvement in line with all of the points we’ve covered here. If you lack the time or the expertise to hone your approach, it’s important to partner with the right engagement experts.
At MCI, we have years of experience in inspiring people to engage, whether talking about events, marketing or organisational meetings. To find out more about us and the work we do, take a good look at the array of engagement services we offer to meet your needs. Alternatively, to talk directly with our team about how we can help, simply enter your details into our contact form, and we’ll respond directly.
MCI Content Team
