Understanding Your Stakeholder
How many times do you walk out of a meeting feeling unheard? You had an agenda for it, you pushed hard, but nothing was accomplished. In this world obsessed with instant gratification, we forget to intently listen to our key stakeholders.
Stakeholder management for the long term starts with actively listening, and understanding context. Here’s my go-to process flow for stakeholder management.
As part of this article, we’ll be focusing on the the first step. Before we begin, why do we even need to understand stakeholder’s world? The simple answer to that is to drop the assumption that your interests are aligned with that of your stakeholder. You are dealing with a human being who comes with her/his world views, working styles, perspectives — all of which mostly (or not) influence her/his work.
Now, that we’ve established the need of understanding your stakeholder’s work, how do we go about it? Here are few ways I do it.
I. Anxieties & Questions
Ask the stakeholder upfront of their anxieties and questions about your proposition. This helps understand their fears, and gives you an idea of what success looks like to them.
II. Background Research
Frame your questions. Talk to people who’ve worked with him/her. Read up about the projects he/she has worked on.
III. Active Listening
IV. Stakeholder mapping
In the scenario where you are starting to work with multiple stakeholders, or a new organization (more so in the case of working with government), map them on the grid below. This is crucial for you to know how to deal with which stakeholder
Now that you’ve understood and mapped your stakeholder, learn how to communicate with them here.
