Understanding project/activity stakeholders

Before stakeholder engagement commences it is important that companies and practitioners have a preliminary understanding of the local context – particularly when entering new locations/areas.

The first step in this process is stakeholder identification – determining who the stakeholders are, and their key groupings and sub-groupings (e.g. gender, age, culture, religion). This includes identification of disadvantaged and vulnerable groups.

Key questions that can be used to help identify stakeholders include:

  • Who is impacted by the project/activity?
    For example, neighbours, landowners, rightsholders, local businesses, the local community.
  • Who may influence the project/activity?
    For example, local/provincial governments, community leaders, politicians.
  • Who has knowledge about the project/activity?
    For example, the academic community, NGOs.
  • Who has an interest in the project/activity?
    For example, local community groups, special interest groups.

Once stakeholders have been identified they can be analysed in the context of the local socio-cultural environment via a stakeholder analysis. This stakeholder analysis will provide a more in-depth look at the interests and priorities of stakeholder groups, how stakeholders will be impacted by a project/activity and to what extent stakeholders may influence a project/activity.

The outcomes from the stakeholder identification and analysis process provide the basis from which a stakeholder engagement strategy/plan can be developed.

LightbulbTip: When identifying stakeholders for a project/activity it is important to draw upon existing company knowledge, as well as the insight of technical experts to develop a preliminary list. Stakeholders can then be validated and/or additions made as an outcome of initial engagement conducted with stakeholders.

Stakeholder engagement strategy/plan

Once stakeholders have been identified and analysed, a stakeholder engagement strategy and/or plan, can be developed. A stakeholder engagement strategy establishes the objective of the engagement, while a stakeholder engagement plan provides details as to how and when the engagement will occur.

A stakeholder engagement plan should address the following questions:

  • What are the strategic reasons for consulting with stakeholders, and what is the purpose of the engagement?
  • Who needs to be consulted, and what are the priority issues for these stakeholders?
  • What will be the most effective techniques/tools for engaging with stakeholders? Are differentiated measures required for particular stakeholder groups?
  • What communication methods/channels will be used? What are the key messages? What information needs to be provided to allow stakeholders to provide constructive feedback? How will this be presented to respond to stakeholder requirements (e.g. written, oral, pictorial, digital)?
  • Who within the company is responsible for what engagement activities?
  • When and where will engagement activities be carried out?
  • Are there other engagement activities planned or underway in the local area? Are there opportunities to collaborate in these?
  • How will the results be captured, tracked, reported and disseminated amongst the company and to stakeholders?
  • How will grievances be managed? What process is in place to receive and manage grievances? How will the grievance mechanism be communicated during engagement?

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