The Value of Stakeholder Perspective

James Boyle
Sep 8, 2018 · 4 min read

When you look at your society as a chairperson, or your business as a business owner because I think a similar idea would apply there too, you probably see it as a very fixed perspective. This could be for many reasons. Maybe you have been there so long that you can’t see it any other way or maybe your vision is so strong you won’t sway from your perspective and that’s actually very common in Societies but tonight I want to talk to you about the value of stakeholder perspectives and how the ones who take stakeholder perspectives on board and offer more value to all stakeholders will be the ones who are rewarded.

I’m going to go through steps for this one because I think that’s how you will get the most value out of it.

Step 1 — Identify your stakeholders

Right step one is pretty straight forward. Who are your stakeholders?

Definition : a person with an interest or concern in something, especially a business.

Internal

In our case its a society. So who are the people who have an interest or concern in your society within the college. Start by looking close to home. The committee of any society will be a large stakeholder but their perspective is hopefully something you have easy access to through committee meetings etc.

Then of course the general student population is a huge stakeholder. They are your active membership and one of the only stakeholders that can show you if what you and the committee are doing is right. If there are a lot showing up, that’s right! If not then revise and see whats going wrong.

Other ones that some societies may often forget about are Staff and Alumni. I didn’t start a staff and alumni newsletter this year for my health. Its to keep stakeholders in the loop, keep them updated, informed, in the know!

If a stakeholder cares about you then you and your society need to care about them.

External

Its important to note that not all stakeholders will be close by. Some will be in the local community. These come in many different forms such as small businesses, sponsors, Alumni etc.

It can be just as important to keep these stakeholders in the loop too in order to keep relationships strong. I sometimes see one year of a society work hard to create relationships only to have the next committee not focus as much on it which can be damaging for relationships internal and external.

So don’t forget about external stakeholders.

Step 2 — Communicate

Okay so you have identified your stakeholders, games not over yet! You now need to communicate with them in order to get insight into their perspective.

As said previously, committee meetings are a perfect forum to discuss ideas within a committee. They’re powerful so have them on a weekly to bi-weekly basis.

For students, a lot of it comes down to events followed by feedback. It can be difficult to get student insight as you are more than likely dealing with very large numbers so use the feedback method and continue to adapt based on what you find. The same goes for Alumni on this one. You may be dealing with large numbers so surveys and feedback can be hugely beneficial here.

For other stakeholders outside the two above, sitting down over a coffee with a notebook is often the most powerful way to do it. Listen. Just listen to what your stakeholders have to say. Don’t interrupt if you disagree, just listen. Sometimes a stakeholders perspective may not be what you want to hear but value all inputs because if one person feels like this, chances are others could too, and it all comes down to looking for opportunities to improve.

Step 3 — Maintaining Relationships

Its important to keep stakeholders in the loop, be it through meetups, newsletters, events etc. Remember that a stakeholder is anyone who has an interest or concern in your society so chances are they want to be kept in the loop.

For external stakeholders (and internal too depending on how you want to work) doing up an easy newsletter on canva.com can be a good way to update and inform people. All you need is a few updates on whats happening.

For internal stakeholders events and meetups are the best way to create and maintain relationships but you have to make sure to listen to them at these events or after them through feedback in order to ensure their perspective is valued.

Alumni Networks are another way to keep in touch with past members and offer them value after they have moved on. This can be easily done by making a LinkedIn or Facebook group and having them gather there.

In conclusion, creating and maintaining relationships with stakeholders can give you huge insight into their perspective. Most importantly it doesn’t have to be as hard and complicated as you might think, keep it simple and listen and you’ll be surprised the opportunities that may surface.

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