Stakeholder Management: Map Influence, Then Match Engagement
Identify and analyse
Stakeholder management begins with identification across internal and external, primary and secondary, and decision-maker, influencer and user categories, followed by analysis. The power–interest grid is the workhorse: high power and high interest means manage closely; high power and low interest means keep satisfied; low power and high interest means keep informed; low power and low interest means monitor. The salience model adds legitimacy and urgency to power.
Choose the engagement level deliberately
Engagement levels run from inform, consult, involve, collaborate to empower. Pick one per stakeholder and record it in the communication plan with an owner, channel, frequency and feedback mechanism.
Traps to expect
Questions often imply the sponsor outranks the organiser on operational decisions. The sponsor approves scope and budget; the planner runs delivery. Host committees are frequently dismissed as decorative when they actually control local relationships, permits and goodwill. Sending identical messages to every group is another standard error. Conflict-of-interest disclosure and VIP protocol are also testable.
Rule of thumb
If a stakeholder's opposition could stop the event, they get a named owner and a scheduled touchpoint, not a newsletter.
Worked example
A city tourism bureau holds high power (permits, subsidies) and moderate interest, so it sits in keep satisfied. The plan is a quarterly briefing from a single account manager, plus early notice whenever outdoor programming changes, because changes affect street permits the bureau controls.